We study several properties of blazars detected in the γ‐ray energy range by comparing the Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) sources with a sample of radio blazars which can be considered possible γ‐ray candidates. We define three classes: non‐γ‐ray blazars, blazars with quasi‐steady γ‐ray emission and γ‐ray blazars with substantial activity level. We find that, on average, BL Lacertae objects show a relatively steady γ‐ray emission, when detected. On the other hand, most flat‐spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) show substantial γ‐ray variability. We attribute a γ‐ray activity index ψ=ψ−7× 10−7 cm−2 s−1 to all EGRET blazars, and show that FSRQs dominate the sample with non‐zero ψ in the range 0 < ψ−7 < 0.035. By combining the information of detected and candidate active galactic nuclei, we characterize the blazar activity, including the discovery of a region of consistency between the γ‐ray flaring duty‐cycle and the recurrence time between flares. We also find a possible relation between the activity index of FSRQs and their black hole mass. More optical and γ‐ray data are crucially important to test this relation.