What shall I exploit today?

Persistent bloggers with decent traffic now have a good chance at bringing in decent ad revenue, reports the Associated Press.

For bloggers hoping to fast-track on the bonus train, it pays to go Gawker. Valleywag — a Gawker property — reports on a flashy new business model for those that can generate strong traffic.

Overall, advertisers are less skeptical of buying inventory on self-published sites. Some have found that ads on niche sites bring in more, and higher quality, clicks because of the likelihood of a passionate audience.

Spending on online advertising in the first half of '07 hit almost $10 billion, up 27 percent from the same period in '06, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau.

Most of the spending — and subsequent revenue — is from programs like AdSense, BlogAds and others.

Sites still need to rack up a readership of thousands per day in order to bring in serious income. Accomplishing that on a regular basis, a blogger can expect to bring in at least a couple of hundred dollars in revenue per month.

Perhaps the best proof of bloggers' growing status as plush pets is a new reward system for Gawker Media bloggers.

The model brings salary and bonuses to writers that generate strong traffic, according to ValleyWag, which is part of the Gawker blogging community. It applies to guest writers on Gawker sites — including Wonkette, Gizmodo and Defamer — as well as regulars. See a condensed version of the salary and bonus structure.

Jason Calacanis sees the model as a quality-killer over the long-term, according to USC Annenburg's Online Journalism Review.

"I'd rather our bloggers focus on creating unfiltered, honest content," he said. "Chasing 'nip slips' is good ratings, sure, but I wouldn't build a brand around them."