Once upon a time, the arrival of Technorati’s annual ‘State of the Blogosphere‘ report was one of the most exciting and important announcements within the interactive space. Though the launch yesterday of a preview that contained top-level issues has appeared to go down a storm at Blogworld (an annual conference held each year specifically for bloggers), outside of those attending, it’s not really had much impact.

This could however, simply be reflective of the sheer weight of research, analysis and content available on this topic at the moment. When the company (which provides ‘real-time search for user-generated media’) first launched the report in 2004, there were few places to find this kind of information and the results were unquestioned. This year, the 2009 preview hasn’t shown the industry anything they didn’t already know – or at least suspect.

It was for this very reason that some bloggers spoke out last year, with one stating that ‘Technorati is just not reliable enough to be relevant’ and Tish Grier attacking the methodolody and product that the report’s data is extracted from. Those familiar with the digital space may already be aware of, or at least understand, this point of view and are unlikely to take the report as verbatim.

However, Technorati is best known for its billboard of most popular blogs, which is a benchmark for many communications professionals when searching for a quick overview of top tier influencers. The company’s reach is far and wide, so the findings are likely to be referenced in new business pitches and used as ‘the voice’ of the blogosphere – whether it’s truly reflective of the space or not.

Is this such a bad thing though? Robin Grant, MD of social media specialists We Are Social told us that the report reinforces the fact that engaging with bloggers is not the same as sending a press release to journalists. “The vast majority of blogs (72%) are run by self-declared hobbyists, with another 15% running their blogs to supplement their income – with only a tiny minority (~3%) viewed as ‘professional journalists’. Journalists have to create ‘news’ to a schedule – bloggers write about stuff as and when they feel like based on what they think is interesting, and unlike journalists, are free to bite back in public at brands and PR agencies who offend them.”

Though Technorati has stated that it has looked at the ‘broader scope of the blogosphere’ this year, it has still focused on pro-bloggers, which does skew the findings somewhat. As Grant says, the majority of those that blog have another job and write because they enjoy it or have a strong opinion about something. Those that manage to monetise their blogs, or raise their profile to the level where they can make a living from their consultancy, are few and far between.

Another explanation could be that people are waiting for the full report before making a judgement. If that’s the case, it could be positive evidence that people are producing more informed commentary before jumping on headline-grabbing results. This can only be a good thing in terms of educating the broader communication space with regards to online activity, but time will tell.