The people running Guardian Unlimited, both on the business and editorial side, have the savviest team...I would also venture to say that maybe all these moves are not direct-ROI moves as most other online newspapers and publications are obsessed with (Gaurdian may argue that it is going for ad-supported blogs), but in the long run, they will reap way more rewards than you can imagine now. Of course, Guardian has the leeway to experiment, due to its background.

Now, to the news: Guardian, as if it wasn’t doing enough with blogs, is moving to launch new custom blogs on niche topics, the first one being a computer games destination blog which will go live in on Monday. It will also launch a range of sites due to go live over the next six months. It’s also looking at giving its columnists their own weblogs.

“Blogging is a really important trend for us in the way that we publish on the Web,” said Simon Waldman, director of digital publishing at Guardian Newspapers. “Commercially, it allows us to work with niche areas, giving advertisers a very focused solution while providing the exposure offered by a mass publisher.”