The gang over at b5media is doing everything possible to increase the number of page views on their blog network and have recently released the b5media Toolbar.

The b5media Toolbar is a browser add-on that allows you to:

• get to any page on the main site easily
• get to various areas of the forums quickly
• chat with other b5 users in the toolbar chatroom
• read content from across the network right in the toolbar (and then click through to read more)
• receive alerts
• get regular features such as a popup blocker, search, e-mail notification, and the weather.

b5media launched 3 new blogs in their Home and Dining channel yesterday, Baking Delights, Chocolate Bytes, and Mother Earth’s Garden.

No… not this one. The other one owned by BlogMedia Inc Problogging Inc.

Actually, there has been a lot going on over at Problogging Inc. They’ve recently changed names and sold off most of their sites, the latest being The Blog Herald, BloggerJobs, and BlogNetworkWatch.com.

According to Matt Craven, Problogging Inc, is refocusing on consulting work…

Its with a whole bag of mixed feelings that I find myself writing this post. Many of you have noticed over the last few months that we’ve been working on refocusing our company. Our core business has always been the consulting work that we’ve been doing since 1994 in one form or another. We also found ourselves not enjoying the blog network business as much as we used to do.. and with a hot market right now for existing blogs – it looked like a good time to divest ourselves of some of our sites.

We wish Problogging Inc, well.

In our last post we told you that we want to join a blog network and I was just reminded that 9rules is about to have their 5th round of submissions on October 25th. I have followed 9rules off and on since the beginning and one thing that I like about them is that they leave control of your blog with you.

9rules is definitely one of the big boys on the block when it comes to blog networks and they don’t just let anyone join. That is why I have decided with one week to go to launch a campaign to get accepted into the 9rules network.

I figure that my best chance to get accepted would be with my BlackBerry news and opinion blog RIMarkable. I have been posting to it regularly for about 2 years and it is fairly popular as far as blogs about BlackBerrys and wireless email devices go. I think that RIMarkable would fit nicely in the 9rules Technology Community.

October 25th is just a week away and I will definitely be submitting RIMarkable in the 24 hour window just like everyone else that wants to join, however, I have wondered what else could I do besides write great content that might just push me over the top. I heard a campaign commercial for the upcoming elections on the radio this morning and the idea of starting a campaign for acceptance into 9rules kind of hit me all of a sudden.

Like with any other campaign, my campaign to get accepted into 9rules needs campaign contributions and your help. I am not looking for any financial contributions, however, I could use all the links, trackbacks, pingbacks, comments, etc. that I can get. I really want to join 9rules and if enough people link to this post with vote of confidence for my BlackBerry blog, news of the grass roots movement to make RIMarkable a member of 9rules is bound to get back to Scrivs, Tyme, or any of the other folks running 9rules.

So, with all that said, I leave you with a request for you vote of confidence in the comments and campaign to get accepted into 9rules contributions in the form of a link.

So, after 9 months with nary a post, why did we decided to bring Blog Network Watch back to life? Well, because there is no “we”. There is just “me” and “I” would like to join a blog network. I’ve been a lone blogger for the last two years and even though I have done quite well with several of my blogs, I am getting lonely.

The big business side of blogging seems to be very interesting right now so we, and when I say we I really mean me, so, I guess I should say I, want to know more about how these blog networks and the companies that are being created to support them will operate. What better way to find out how a blog network runs than to join one? Maybe creating one, but, that is for another post…

I read something today that made me bring Blog Network Watch out of retirment. b5media has just raised $2 million in funding from Brightspark Venturs and J. L. Albright Venture Partners.

I just read a press release about brand new blog network that one man, Dave Ward, with the help of a few of his friends, started on an initial investment of only $1000 dollars. BigBlog Media was officially launched on January 19th.

Dave has a simple formula for making his blog network a big hit. Traffic + Revenue = Success.

I am not saying its going to be easy but it is possible,” said the 41-year-old father of two. While the $1000 will obviously not support the business; it is, in his opinion, enough to get the business up and running. Beyond this point, he is very clear that its about bringing in sponsorship and good management.

Dave will journal the building of his $1000 blog network over on his personal blog WadBlog. This is a blog network that we will definitely have to watch.

It took some mighty powerful news for us to come out of our 3 week postless hibernation. BlogNetworkWatch.com, not us, the first one that was started, stopped, started again, stopped again, sold, started for a third time, and then taken to the next level, is now part of a blog network.

BlogNeworkWatch.com’s parent company BlogMedia has officially announced the launch of not one, but two blog networks. First your have BlogMedia Network which currently consisists of 14 different blogs on their own domains, including BlogNeworkWatch.com.

The second network is called Erati Media and is lead by David Krug. Erati currently is a list of 7 blogs that are all subdomains of the Erati.com. The network brands itself as a Community of Creators.

BlogNetworkList is put into it’s own section called Blogmedia Services. It looks as though Blogmedia may come out with additional services but also avoids any conflicts of interest by not including there blog ranking utility in one of their blog networks. My guess is that BlogNetworkWatch.com won’t have to many posts about the BlogMedia Network passed the occasional announcement here and there to maintain impartiality there as well.

After two months of insulting every blog network owner on the Internet, twice, including the owner of Fine Fools, Jack of all Blogs has been suspended. Not to worry though. If you were a fan of David Krug, a.k.a. Cowboy’s writing style, you can find him on Where’s My Vote, a political blog where his commentary won’t be wasted on blog network management teams. Somehow I get the feeling that Cowboy’s writing style is suited just right for a political blog.

One of the first posts here on BlogNetworkWatch.net was about the definition of a blog network. It was based on a post from Martin Neumann where he asked the question “What is a blog network?” At the time I liked Paul Scrivens from 9rules answer because it was short, sweet, and pretty much all inclusive. He said that a blog network was simply a “collection of blogs under the same banner”.

We are revisiting our blog network definition because I am beginning to wonder if is a bit too inclusive. Does a blogger that has 2 or 3 blogs that are all linked to each other constitute a blog network? Do we need to qualify by saying a collection of blogs by multiple bloggers under the same banner?

What is your definition of a blog network?