It's been more than seven months since I first asked Google to tabulate the most popular feeds, and the most popular shared items on link blogs within their Google Reader service. While Google has made improvements to Reader in that time frame, including the long-awaited addition of search, and integration of Trends data, the statistics many hold dear are still missing.In that vacuum, A-List bloggers, including Michael Arrington of TechCrunch, Robert Scoble and Gabe Rivera have teamed up to use their own resources, and make a faux Top 100 of their own.
Arrington posts a note today of the Top 30 list he and Gabe came up with (Top Blogs On Google Reader). The list shouldn't surprise you - Engadget and TechCrunch lead, with Wired, Slashdot, and other household names following behind. Meanwhile, Scoble does his own number crunching, and also puts TechCrunch and Engadget among the leaders.
Though he asks, "How many Google Reader Subscribers Do You Have?", I don't exactly want to answer, for I am but a small speck in the blogosphere, in the double digits, when some of the mega-blogs are over 100,000.
But truthfully, while the A-List titans likely enjoyed putting the numbers together, it's a mockery that they're left doing this independently when Google obviously has enough resources to deliver the data. It comes down to either not knowing how (unlikely), not wanting to (maybe), or choosing to do something else. So what is it they're doing?