Article about Blogging on CNN

provides some clues as to why Google bought in

[Buckley]

[cnn.com...]

[heini]

Ya, it's going round the mainstream press.
TerraLycos was the first of the web big boys to embrace blogging, AOL is to follow.
After all it's a new billboards for cheap paradise.
Notice the last para?

To create a buzz ..(they)... culled through 300 blogs to find the ones that appeared most influential.

The teens writing the blogs, including the likes of boymeetslife.com, italianize.com and sparkley.net, are getting some merchandise and Amazon.com gift certificates in exchange for testing the milk and expressing their opinions online during the next few months.