Philipp Lenssen has made his blog, Google Blogoscoped, a must-go place to get information on Google and the tech world. He is also the author of the book 55 Ways to Have Fun With Google, which you can buy or download a free PDF version here. In our recent Enterview, he shared how he is having fun blogoscoping Google.

Tell us about yourself.
My name’s Philipp Lenssen, I’m from Germany, and Google Blogoscoped is run with the help of many, many people who send tips, help maintain the forum, or write articles.

What is your blog about?
Google Blogoscoped is roughly 80% about Google, the search landscape, and the various related Google products. There’s a 20% window for all the rest that may be unrelated, but interesting in different ways. Especially, I like stuff people can “use” in some way… like blogging about a new web tool (as opposed to, say, a news bit discussing a management personnel change at Google, which has very limited implications to anyone’s actual life out there).

How did you get started?
I started in April/ May 2003 from internet cafes in Malaysia. I was and still am intrigued by search engines and the possibilities they offer… but also the risk they pose when their makers abuse their power.

What is the source of your content?
A lot of it is from tips sent via email, or posted in the accompanying forum. Also, I’m reading search blogs (like Search Engine Land, to name just one), social news sites (like Digg), and browse & research the web. When I started out, I was the blog’s writer, but nowadays it’s often more like an editor job (which doesn’t mean it’s less time consuming…).

How frequently do you write / post?
Mostly daily, except for weekends, where I try not to blog too much (but often fail at that). A typical blogging day is spent reading emails and the blog forum half the time. But I definitely take time off for my other web projects. I also always try to see the horizon, and when you think about search too much, maybe you start to become wrapped in a box. I think if you want to cover any topic, you shouldn’t always think about this topic… in Germany we have a proverb for this, I’m not sure if it’s available in English: “You can lose sight of the wood if you see too many trees.”

How does your blog generate revenue?
Mostly from ads, but sometimes, people who got to know me from the blog also contact me for consulting, programming or writing work. In a way though, my other websites partly help finance the blog.

Who visits your blog? Tell us a little bit about your readers.
Good question. A lot of people who are webmasters, or interested in web technology, or people who are curious Google users. There’s a high percentage of bloggers among those who read Google Blogoscoped, according to a survey Federated Media did once.

Do you consider yourself successful in blogging? If so, what do you think “success” is, as far as blogging is concerned?
I’m grateful that the blog acquired a large readership and that many people actively help out in making it possible. So I’m very happy about Google Blogoscoped and I enjoy it a lot, though of course there are various problems associated with blog writing. What do I consider a success in blogging? To be able to bring fresh, original stories to the web, to filter through news to save readers time, to focus on the important stuff, and to keep an honest, direct voice when you’re surrounded by many influences.
I’d be self-deluded to believe Google Blogoscoped achieves all of that — I’d rather let feedback decide, and I think it’s important that as a blogger you don’t think about how successful you are, but about what you can do to improve the blog. And you need to listen to a lot of feedback when you want to do that.

Do you have another job?
I quit my web development day job in late 2005 and I’m working on my websites and blog ever since.

Any advice, suggestion, tips or a message you would like to give to other bloggers?
Don’t listen to other bloggers, find your own voice.
That’s the blogging part. When it comes to getting your existing blog known, my advice is to never believe that people will automatically find you just because you post great stuff — you need to think about who might be really interested in your stuff and then send them relevant pointers. And you need to be consistent about it and not just give up after a month, of course.

You have a loyal reader base. What sets you apart from other blogs?
I think there are so many great blogs out there. Some are good at talking about business or Wall Street, some have the inside knowledge on Silicon Valley, some are CEOs who can share bits and pieces of their interesting experience, some give you an “outsider’s view”, and so on. I guess every good blog has some parts which set it apart from all the rest, as well as a lot of overlapping stuff because we’re also a community of bloggers, to some extent.

Tags: Google Blogoscoped, Philipp Lenssen

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