comScore has just released a new market research report (co-sponsored by SixApart and Gawker) on Blogging Behavior. Lots of great great stats and validation of blogging industry. Some of the highlights include:

• Nearly 50 million Americans, or about 30 percent of the total U.S. Internet population, visited blogs in Q1 2005
• Five hosting services for blogs each had more than 5 million unique visitors in Q1 2005, and four individual blogs had more than 1 million visitors each
• Of 400 of the largest blogs observed, segmented by eight (non-exclusive) categories, political blogs were the most popular, followed by "hipster" lifestyle blogs, tech blogs and blogs authored by women
• Compared to the average Internet user, blog readers are significantly more likely to live in wealthier households, be younger and connect to the Web on high-speed connections
• Compared to the average Web user, blog readers visit nearly twice as many Web pages, and are more likely to shop online.