Rank+Quest+(Demosthenes)

Overview
Rankings have several different definitions, but in general, rankings are a list in which individual pieces have a relative placement in relationship to others, which can be described in terms of "higher" or "lower" (or highest/lowest). Rankings are most frequently used to describe activities in sports and business, but they are also an important factor in education and entertainment. A large amount of significance is often placed on rankings. They tend to determine people's level of interest in the ranked item, the amount of endorsements and investments people/companies will make, the overall popularity, and the longevity of that item. For example, a sports team that is consistently ranked highly garners much more public interest and support than one that is ranked lowly. In college basketball, popular and highly ranked teams often play each other, which increases their prestige (even if it tends to lower the ranking of one or the other).

In the online sphere, several sites have come forwards with methods of ranking blogs. Popularity is always a factor, but there are underlying factors that contribute to the general umbrella of "popularity." On the Truth Laid Bear, a large "blogosphere ecosystem" contains a list of the most popular blogs, organized by page hits. Blogs are categorized into 16 different subheadings, ranking from the apparently appealing Higher Beings, Mortal Humans and Playful Primates to the much less appealing lowest categories of Wiggly Worms, Multicellular Microorganisms, and Insignificant Microbes. The site also provides a list of Hot Topics, which are currently popular debated/disputed issues in the blogosphere. In contrast, the Technocrati has an in depth ranking system by the so-called Technocrati Authority. This measures how influential a blog is within the blogosphere, and then ranks the top 100 blogs. This process occurs every day, so the top 100 is constantly changing. Blogs are judged based on their linking behavior, comments, and general amount of activity. As a result, a blog's position on the list can change drastically from day to day, depending on whether it is discussing a hot issue. The top 100 makes it easy to see who has moved up and down since the last ranking. The site also has a list of the top blogs in several different categories, including technology, business, entertainment, lifestyle and sports.

**History**
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**Opinion**
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**Future Trends?**
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