Suspect measures by the FT?

E-consultancy has an excellent critique on the measurement methodology used by the FT in an article this week which attempted to cast some light on the most influential blogs in the UK and Europe, though the methodology used to calculate the blog rankings leaves a little to be desired.

The piece was based on a study conducted by blog search engine Technorati and Edelman, the PR firm, but instead of using traditional metrics such as reach and audience share, it used the number of inbound links to determine a blog’s ‘influence’.


So what’s wrong with that?

Well, firstly it is certainly a case of grabbing the lowest hanging fruit. Technorati publishes a list of the ‘top 100 blogs’, using inbound links as the basis for positioning. Edelman, for the record, has an exclusive and slightly mysterious deal with Technorati.quote>


For the PR industry there is a big lesson to learn. If we use data then we have to be sure that that we use relevant and sound metrics. If not we will get found out. Fake PR is all around us and its being exposed. Fake reporting has the same fate awaiting.