Placeblogger, "officially" launched to newcomers some time around New Year's Day (and first noticed at Mike's Corner), is another manifestation of the "hyperlocal" blog aggregation that I had inferred in my New Year idea ramble. Affiliated with the Center for Citizen Media, Placeblogger is not a real estate play, its mission is to provide a journalistic forum for local content with limited national interest.

Bloggers and local websites simply submit their profiles into the cities they cover and eventually their feeds start churning article lists (i'm assuming this). Many of the initial local websites were seeded by the Placeblogger management.

As a journalistic effort, Placeblogger takes square aim at local newspapers and alternative weeklies... and many of the online versions of these publications have already been seeded. No social networking features seem to exist, but this could easily be added due to the local networking that could potentially thrive (maybe the Center for Citizen Media is afraid of creating a "date site"). Placeblogger is positioned as a local portal - all content links out directly to the websites.

My opinion - Placeblogger, with its seemingly impartial non-commercial feel, will become a destination to find local resources easily. I would use it consistently when all the local San Francisco online rags (perhaps even the SF Chronicle) are in one place for a comprehensive view.

Here's the real opportunity for Realtor bloggers - this is a journalistic effort without "sales-y" overtones. Get your blog profile up in your Placeblogger city - put up a page with events information like this - and watch all the consumers bookmark your site for things to do in your City. That's real marketing without any sales pressure.