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In the decade or so since they first appeared, Web logs -- blogs for short -- have turned from an information-sharing vehicle for techies into a grassroots phenomenon, with a strong and growing following.

As more and more blog writers -- from lawyers to teenagers to a host of others -- jot down their thoughts in these regularly updated, on-line journals about anything from the fight against terrorism to their personal lives, marketers and companies doing business over the Web are beginning to sit up and take notice.

"Blogs are a major new development on the Internet, something we should be seriously considering," says Ken Schafer, Toronto-based president and chief executive officer of the Association of Internet Marketing and Sales (AIMS) Canada, which has about 4,500 members -- and its own blog for discussing trends.

Dave Winer, a California software developer and blog pioneer who runs the blog site Scriptingnews.com, says there are now hundreds of thousands of blogs, and scores of new ones being created daily, with many containing links to other sites.

Jupiter Research, a division of Jupitermedia Corp. in New York, is tracking how U.S. companies use blogs to build brand awareness. So far, it's found mainly publishing companies are experimenting with the form, says Jupiter senior analyst Rudy Grahn.

For instance, a regular columnist will also write a blog to express ideas in a more shoot-from-the-hip style, hoping to attract more readers, Mr. Grahn says.

But he sees the potential for all kind of companies to have enthusiastic employees talk up their products in such a free-form forum. "You could see someone on the design team for Harley-Davidson logging the progress of a new model, or a colourful CEO building a following," he says.

Mr. Schafer sees blogs as a soft marketing tool that can augment a company's Web site -- a way to connect more openly with customers. After recently polling members, Mr. Schafer found some are using blogs as promotional vehicles for their consulting work and proposing them to clients.

Toronto Web consultant Alexander Bosika launched a blog site at futureparadigm.com in July to build his client base. He says he's now averaging more than 600 hits a day from around the world. "People see I have a wide breadth of strategic knowledge about technology from reading my blog and they're inquiring about doing business."

Kent Wakely, who runs a one-man consulting shop, Xaccute Interactive, in Toronto, recently sold a client, a Web-based interactive media company, on the idea of including a blog in its marketing mix.

"We've finalized the design and strategy and it will probably launch in January, 2003," he says. "It's a nice way for them to position themselves as experts in a particular niche."

In a company blog started two years ago, Chicago Web designer 37signals LLC has covered all kinds of subjects that have nothing to do with business. Despite the off-topic discussions, the blog is there for a purpose.

It's a great vehicle, says 37signals design and usability expert Matt Linderman, "to promote our offerings, brag about successful projects, advertise upcoming events, and attract subscribers to our mailing list."

To date, there are relatively few ads in the blogging world, even on major blog-development and hosting sites. For example, about a year ago, Blogger.com launched what's known in the on-line world as "microads" -- small, unobtrusive ads that surfers have to click on.

This isn't exactly a major money maker. Users of the service can place a microad on the Blogger home page for a minimum $10 (U.S.), which buys 12,500 impressions. Sites like Blogger finance themselves mostly through donations and selling upgraded services.

Budapest-based Pressflex LLC began testing a service in August called Blogads, which develops ads for blog sites. Pressflex CEO Henry Copeland believes that committed followers of many blogs would be very receptive to appropriate services and products.

Mr. Copeland gives as an example a site by a French journalist living in Los Angeles that attracts 3,000 francophone media figures, and programmers.

So far, though, only about 200 Blogads have been sold, mostly promoting books and local events and services. Mr. Copeland concedes it will be awhile before mass adoption.

In fact, many marketers and Web watchers see blog sites as way down the list of ad venues. "Major news organizations that produce a superior editorial product are having a hard time selling ads. I wouldn't get into the blogging business to make a mint on advertising," Jupiter's Mr. Grahn says.

Some feel advertising goes against the very grain of blogs. "You always run the risk when you exploit something that people take very seriously for personal purposes. You have to make sure you don't anger the people you want to attract," says Cass Enright, interactive strategist with Proximity Canada Inc. in Toronto.

Avi Goldberg, an assistant marketing professor at the University of Toronto who has studied blogs, says they don't have enough mass market potential.

"There are companies trying now to exploit blogs, but the problem is there are a lot of people writing blogs, but not that many reading them. They represent less than 5 per cent of Web traffic."

Still, what starts small and humble often ends up large and far more sophisticated, Mr. Grahn points out.

"In almost every case, individual organic phenomena are eventually co-opted into bigger mass market vehicles," he says. "The idea that blogs will be absorbed for marketing purposes is a foregone conclusion."