Darren Rowse is one of my favorite bloggers, as he writes about blogging itself. As someone who keeps his finger on the pulse of the blogging scene, he’s what I consider a trusted source. He’s also in the enviable position of being a writer’s writer. For those of us who are a bit further in the trenches in the word game, his perspective is quite interesting. I myself have to play catch-up with blogging trends in between gigs and try to keep up with the changing face of the industry. Rowse makes it his day to day business. Nice one, mate.

A recent entry by Rowse draws a comparison between bloggers and chess pieces. Rowse reposted a great piece by Nadeesha Cabral who says bloggers are pawns, with the playing field clogged with a great number of useless pieces at first. As the pawns drop out of the game, the remaining pieces become more valuable. The ones that make it to the end of the chess board naturally become incredibly valuable and can navigate the game in more powerful roles.

One thing Cabral doesn’t mention is the flip side of the comparison to bloggers as pawns;

The piece doesn’t talk about how bloggers who try to monetize their sites are also pawns of the online advertising game. Even this blog sports a few Google ads and affiliate links in an attempt to offset the costs of running the damn thing. The large number of blogs in the early stages of the chess game is very good for advertisers. As the weak blogs die off for various reasons, the stronger ones become more valuable to the affiliate ad companies. Increased power in the “blogosphere” (a term I hate) means more money for both blogger and advertiser.

There’s nothing wrong per se with being a pawn in this manner, but I think it’s very interesting that it’s not discussed more. Affiliate advertisers surely don’t want much attention to any of this for the obvious reasons. I wonder what would happen if there was a sudden move away from affiliate ads in favor of a more traditional model where blog owners actively solicit and sell ad space on their sites for a more direct profit. It would seem to do more to increase the value of the blog for a successful writer, and upset the playing field a bit in terms of who could continue a blog and for how long.

Then again, perhaps affiliate ads are a direct reaction against advertising 1.0 practices. Are both sides of the equation in active revolt against those old practices? I’m willing to be there’s not quite that level of examination of the game, but I am sure a few keen thinkers out there have turned these ideas over in their minds at least once.

As the economy turns downward, I wonder about the future of the entire landscape. It’s interesting to see how online shopping–with generally better prices and hassle-free ordering in the best cases–trumps the bricks-and-mortar stores. What I do NOT see at present is a wave of negative press in blogs about shopping in person. It’s my contention that shopping in person is B.S. these days. Look at Borders prices in-store compared to Amazon.com’s prices online. Borders DVDs are ridiculously more expensive. This is a store with a limited time to exist, if price tag comparisons are any indication. Buying CDs at Best Buy is a or any other big box retailer is a joke compared to iTunes. The fun days of shopping are over.

Realizing that I’ve gone pretty far afield of where I started with this post, I’ll end here, but in closing I’ll say that I agree with Mr. Rowse and Nadeesha Cabral. We ARE pawns. Who among us will make it to the final row of the chess board?