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Perhaps one of the most influential realities of the Web is metrics. The details of traffic and audience online have so rapidly become expansive that they have likely not yet been entirely harnessed.

Arguments still rage around the accuracy and importance of a myriad of Web analytics, but, away from page views, an increasing standard is to compare sites by their monthly unique visitors, though that number’s efficacy has no doubt come into question.

Until now, very little attention has been paid publicly to comparing Philadelphia’s many competitors by way of traffic comparison. With the first numbers for 2010 released this month by public Web analytics company Compete, Technically Philly decided to compile the first such digest.

Disclaimer: Web analytics are messy indeed, particularly open information like Compete, which uses less than bulletproof means to collect its data. Let it be made clear, that almost universally users complain that Compete undervalues — by some accounts, drastically — internal traffic information.

Indeed, the Compete numbers for Technically Philly — yup, we included ourselves in this below — are a sizable dip from our internal figures, like many included in this list, being relatively low traffic sites. It should also be noted that Compete cannot compare subdomains to others, so individual blogs of newspapers on, say, Philly.com cannot be compared, nor could local content from national sites like ESPN.

Therefore, these graphs should be used exclusively for comparison between sites, not explicit traffic numbers or pronouncements. In all cases below, click on the graph for a larger, more detailed version.

PHILADELPHIA’S (SECOND) DESTINATION SITE

Phila.gov versus GoPhila and VisitPhilly

Let it be known, that Philly.com is top dog, by far. But, what site is the second most influential — the city’s or the region’s hyper-Web-active booster, the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Corp.? Looks like folks around here are clicking around Phila.gov more than outsiders are flooding GoPhila.com, even when taking into account the bump of new traffic that GPTMC’s newly launched, primary domain VisitPhilly.

ONLINE TV STATIONS

NBC10 versus Fox29 versus CBS3 versus 6ABC

The region’s Bala Cynwyd NBC affiliate has been the only news site in the region to challenge Philly.com’s hegemony last year, and so it also remains chief in its class of TV station Web sites.

See the details here.

LEGACY MEDIA ON THE WEB

Phillymag versus WHYY versus KYW versus 610 WIP versus Metro

Take the big radio players, the city’s most circulated daily newspaper and a monthly magazine and toss them on the Web and who comes out on top? Looks like Philadelphia magazine bests the city’s NPR-affiliate, news radio, sports talk radio and Metro, though the latter shares a domain with editions in Boston and the67thward. [Full disclosure: this author has contributed to many in this category.]

See the details here.

ALT-WEEKLY LANDING NEWS SITE

CityPaper versus Philly Weekly

Perhaps the city’s purest, most active publishing competition around doesn’t appear to have been much of a competition — at least online — in at least 18 months or so. Second Street’s City Paper bests its Sansom Street foe Philly Weekly by nearly a third in Web traffic for most of the archived data Compete shares. Though its traffic influence has waxed and waned, PW has seen secondary domain PWBlogs.com register on Compete enough that it could make the numbers funnier than usual, but nothing looks like it’ll overcome the recent divide. [Full disclosure: this author has written for both publications.]

See the details here.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS

Chamber of Commerce versus Innovation Philadelphia versus the Economy League versus the Science Center

The crowded field of organizations devoted to richer business and economic communities is a tight race at the lower end of the traffic spectrum, according to Compete. Innovation Philadelphia, once a content creator, has given up top rights to a more present Chamber of Commerce, which launched a WordPress.com blog late last year.

See the details here.

ART, CULTURE AND NIGHTLIFE SOURCE

uwishunu versus Geekadelphia versus Phrequency versus McJawn versus the Art Blog

The two most trafficked of this group have the same man at the helm, GPTMC staffer Eric Smith, but — perhaps fortunately for him — his day job gig at the tourism board’s popular nightlife and events blog uwishunu remains the region’s staple for seeing what to do and where to go. [Full disclosure: this author is a contributor to uwishunu and a friend of Smith.]

See details here.

MAJOR CULTURE BLOG

Philebrity versus Phawker

Joey Sweeney’s buzzy and snarky Philebrity has largely outpaced former alt-weekly brother Jon Valania’s Phawker for much of their competing histories, though Compete suggests things are getting competitive.

See the details here.

PHILLY’S (SECOND) SPORTS BLOGS

the Fightins versus Phillies Nation versus the Iggles Blog versus Recliner GM versus All Philadelphia Sports

Like our region’s landing page category, one sports blog stands above the rest. The grand old lady of the region remains the700level.com, which is exponentially better trafficked than the rest. So what’s second, you ask. Phillies-specific the Fightins, according to Compete.

See the details here.

FOOD AND BEER BLOGS

Foobooz versus Phoodie versus Unbreaded versus Two Guys on Beer

This is a city that likes to read about eating nearly as much as it likes to eat. The stunningly crowded field of indie food blogs, about which we’ve touched in profiling a video blog, has two leading the wave, Philebrity’s growing Phoodie and its bigger brother Fooboz, which retains its crown.

See the details here.

STATE POLITICS NEWS SOURCE

pa2010 versus GrassrootsPA versus PoliticsPA

The state’s politics scene has its share of Web publishers, a competition between which has heightened as primaries loom. In that lead up, the year that its name shares looks promising for pa2010.com, which is now the most trafficked independent Pennsylvania state politics site on the Web. [Full disclosure: this author is friendly with contributors to both pa2010 and its competitors.]

See the details here.

And one more for transparency’s sake:

TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION NEWS

Technically Philly versus Keystone Edge versus Philly Startup Leaders versus Phillypreneurs versus Start Philly

The region’s rich technology and innovation communities are well known enough to attract a variety of industry-specific coverage. Currently, Compete reports that Technically Philly’s traffic is a touch better than statewide-focused Keystone Edge, which is a product of Michigan-based Issue Media Group.

See the details here.

What traffic competitions did we miss?

This is a semi-regular department we may or may not call Top Ten Tuesdays. There’s no judging in brainstorming. See others here.