ComScore Media Metrix estimates that Daily Kos had 212,000 unique visitors in April, compared to almost 30 million unique visitors to the New York Times web site. If so, that means nytimes.com had 140 times as many readers as Kos, the most heavily-trafficked political blog. It also suggests that the number of visits at a blog is an extremely poor proxy for the number of visitors, since many people visit the same blog over and over again. (According to SiteMeter, Kos got about 11.5 million visits in April.)

No one disputes that blogs are growing fast in both traffic and influence. But bloggers and even the MSM have a tendency to greatly inflate the size of the blogosphere’s audience. The comScore analysis offers a helpful reality check.

(Hat tip: Truth Laid Bear.)