Deleted / Locked Blogs Have Several Causes, And Various Resolutions

Many blog owners are occasionally confused, by the effects of several Blogger / Google security processes, when they are simply trying to login to Blogger and work on their blogs. We see the agony, daily, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.

The side effects of the security processes are similar - and depending upon various owner specific details, can be easily confused for each other. The possibility of confusion requires careful initial analysis, when we are faced with an angry blog owner.

My blog was deleted, by Blogger. How could they do this? I do not publish spam!

This is a typical problem report, which can reflect any one of the processes, each requiring different action in the forums.

There are three Blogger / Google security processes, each of which will cause a Blogger account and / or blog to be unavailable for full access, at any time.

• Hacking detection looks for automated attacks against our Blogger accounts and blogs.
• Malware detection looks for malicious code installed in our Blogger blogs.
• Spam blog classification looks for Blogger blogs which contain spammy material or use spammy techniques.
• Owner deletion or rename may be confused with spam classification.

Each different process has a different effect on the Blogger account and blogs owned - and requires different attention by the blog owners, by the forum helpers, and by Blogger Support and Google Security.

Hacking detection

Blogger / Google network monitors are constantly analysing account login activity, and looking for signs of brute force password hacking. When hacking activity is discovered, the Blogger account - and all blogs owned by the account - are deleted and locked, pending account verification by the owner, and blog integrity checking by Google Security.

The blog owner, after changing the account password, solving a CAPTCHA, and / or verifying account ownership by providing various personal details, is left waiting for the blogs owned by the account to be examined for signs of abuse by the hacker. Until the blog(s) are returned to online status, they appear in neither the "Deleted blogs" or "Locked blogs" dashboard lists. The owner, even when logged in to the right Blogger account, simply sees the dashboard advice

You are not an author on any blogs.

In this case, neither the blog owner nor the forum helpers can do anything useful, except wait, anxiously - possibly, with no notice provided. The blog being offline may not be immediately observed by the owner - and this may cause more confusion.

Malware detection

Blogger robotic processes are constantly checking the various blogs, looking for malicious blog accessories, components, and scripts. When a blog is subject to "Malware" classification, the blog will appear in one of two dashboard lists, in sequence.

1. Initially, the blog will appear in the "Deleted blogs" list. While the blog is in "Deleted" status, the blog owner will be able to do nothing, except request "Restore".
2. Once the owner has requested "Restore", the blog is undeleted, and placed into the "Locked blogs" list. While the blog is in "Locked" status, all authors can access the blog to remove malware - but the blog remains offline, to all viewers. Once all malware has been removed from the blog, the owner can "Request Unlock Review".

If the blog remains in "Locked" status for over 48 hours, the blog owner may report this in the forums, and may request a manual review. The forum helpers, and online viewers, will generally see the blog displayed as "TOS violation".

This blog is in violation of Blogger Terms of Service and is open to authors only

Spam detection

Blogger robotic processes are constantly checking the various blogs, looking for signs of spam activity and content. When a blog is subject to "Spam" classification, the blog will be displayed in the "Deleted blogs" dashboard list. The owner can do nothing, except request "Restore".

If the blog remains in "Deleted" status for over 48 hours, the blog owner may report this in the forums, and may request a manual review. The forum helpers, and online viewers, will generally see the blog displayed as "Removed".

Blog has been removed
Sorry, the blog at xxxxxxx.blogspot.com has been removed. This address is not available for new blogs.

Owner deletion or rename

Mistakes made by the owner can be confused with Spam detection. When a blog is deleted by the owner, it will appear in the dashboard "Deleted blogs" list for up to 90 days. During the 90 days, the owner (or a team member, when applicable) may "Restore" the blog. After the 90 days expire, the blog will be removed from "Deleted blogs", and will be unrecoverable. Besides being unrecoverable, no other details have been determined.

If the blog is renamed (published under a different BlogSpot URL), the external symptom may be similar to deletion by the owner.

Blog has been removed

Sorry, the blog at myblog.blogspot.com has been removed. This address is not available for new blogs.

In this case, the blog will be listed in the dashboard "My blogs" list, under the right Title. The owner needs to setup a stub blog, pointing the readers to the new URL.

Because of anonymous blog ownership, loss of account control, team blog ownership, and use of inactive or non existent email addresses, any account or blog which is detected for hacking, malware, and / or spam may not be easily discovered or recovered by the owner. These issues cause further confusion and frustration.

These scenarios may appear, to the untrained eye, to be signs of fraudulent, malicious, and / or petty actions by Blogger - and are loudly claimed so by spammers with their own agenda. None of these accusations are true - the above processes simply represent Blogger and Google attempting, in the best possible way, to protect everybody against the various hacking, malware, and spam attacks which are constantly in progress.

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