It seems like, and was, only a year ago that Banterist was founded with a mission that wasn't entirely clear - other than thinking a weblog might be a good idea for some reason.

Since that time, more than 100,000 mostly pleasant people have come across it, either accidentally or on purpose. That's a lot more people than I have ever met in bars.

Banterist is not a link-to kind of blog, a quippy blog, a news blog, or a blog about what I had for lunch. Banterist is a blog of completely original content.

That makes it a more time-consuming endeavor, mitigated by the fact that it has resulted in newspaper and magazine assignments, an offer from a guy who may or may not be in the film business, invitations to review books for a publisher, free drinks at SoHo House, a lunch meeting with an intellectual rapper, and introductions to many people from civilized countries who share a similar sense of humor. On the negative side, there are a few Poles who write mean emails because they think I'm making fun of them. Which I'm not. I just find the Fiat Maluch an absolutely ridiculous car.

One of the more interesting aspects of having a weblog is seeing how folks found out you existed in the first place.

There are the sites that link here, and for that I owe many thousand thanks to the five most link-lucrative sites: Gawker, collegehumor.com, Ape Child, New Yorkish, and Bad Gas. A shout out to the now retired TMFTML is in order. They'll always be our #6.

The search engine is always a great way to find us. For months we topped the Google charts for searches under Nipplegate, a proud accomplishment. Sadly, the other top ways people found Banterist was by Googling bangbus, Paris Hilton, neckface and slim shady.

Search keywords always give you an interesting glimpse into the mindset of your audience. I am happy to have offered reading material to people searching Google about their green card interview, the scam artists University of Wexford, seeking tips for actors, details on the Nigerian email scam and Untitled John Stamos Project. Knowledge is power.

I am not as happy to have offered reading material for individuals Googling for African whores, ass shots, dentist sex, Rachel Hunter naked and celebrity gossip bitch. But I'll take the hits nonetheless.

Thank you for your readership, the kind words, the links and the advertising revenue.

©Brian Sack | Filed under: Banterist | 4 Comments | Email to a Friend
Tags: Google Bait