This is interesting, I'd never heard about it. Time for some research, I suppose. Yahoo's gambit is reminiscent of a real-world retailer telling a customer to go to a competitor to find the product they really want (my local bike shop did that once, and won my lasting trust).
In the case of bloggers, though, there is another effect in play: blogs succeed basically on connectedness, so for a new or up-coming blog, the most important thing is tying into the network of existing blogs in the relevant domain. It makes sense that praising, referencing, critiquing, generally interacting with "competing" blogs is the best way to jack into the community.
In the case of bloggers, though, there is another effect in play: blogs succeed basically on connectedness, so for a new or up-coming blog, the most important thing is tying into the network of existing blogs in the relevant domain. It makes sense that praising, referencing, critiquing, generally interacting with "competing" blogs is the best way to jack into the community.