San Francisco start-up Buzzlogic have developed an intriguing method of
searching through web forums and blogs to identify the key people talking about and influencing a brand.

Their proprietary software visually maps social online conversations in real time, producing top 10 lists of the most influential participants.

Marketers can then monitor these conversations to give themselves insight and keep in the loop of what’s being said about them by the most important advocates (or detractors) on the web.

A further development will enable influential blogs to charge for media space on the basis of how powerful their blogs are. Buzzlogic intends to develop a metric that moves away from cost per click and reach & frequency to one that uses the relative influence of web pages.