The gamma-ray band is the most energetic part of the electromagnetic spectrum. As such it is also where selection effects are most severe, as it can only be reached by the most extreme non-thermal AGN. Blazars, with their emission dominated by non-thermal blue-shifted radiation arising in a relativistic jet pointed in the direction of the observer, naturally satisfy this though requirement. For this reason, albeit these sources are intrisically very rare (orders of magnitude less abundant than radio quiet AGN of the same optical magnitude) they almost completely dominate the extragalactic gamma-ray and very high energy sky. I will discuss the emission of different types of blazars and the selection effects that are at play in the gamma-ray band based on recent results from the current generation of gamma-ray astronomy satellites, ground-based Cherenkov telescopes, and Monte Carlo simulations.