BLOG TRAFFIC PRE- AND POST-ELECTION: N.Z. Bear analyzes the trends. It’s worth comparing his patterns with this graph of overall annual traffic patterns from the Online Journalism Review. In part, it looks to me as if the election exaggerated an underlying pattern.

UPDATE: Why did InstaPundit peak in late September, instead of at the election like Kos and Power Line? InstaPundit’s traffic peaked with RatherGate, and specifically on the day of CBS’s press conference. It may have equalled that on Election Day (the server problems make that unclear) but InstaPundit is a media-criticism blog more than it’s a political blog, and I think the traffic shows that. It’s okay with me — RatherGates don’t happen every day, but there’s always plenty of media stuff to criticize!

ANOTHER UPDATE: Michael Totten discovers that SiteMeter is undercounting his site. Lots of people say that. I’ve assumed that it’s at least a useful standard of comparison, as I assume it undercounts everyone similarly. I wonder if I’m right about that, though? I don’t care if it’s wrong — I’m long past obsessing over daily traffic — but I always assumed that it was at least consistent.