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BlogSpot Published Blogs Being Accessed Using Country Code TLDs

Recently, some blog owners outside the USA have been asking about mysterious redirects which they (or their readers) are seeing, when accessing their blogs.
Why is "xxx.blogspot.com" now redirecting to "xxx.blogspot.com.au"?
and
Why was my blog address recently changed from ".com" to ".in"?

Blogger will host our blog content using country code relevant aliases, according to the unique laws of each different country.

The local country domain URL is determined using geolocation.

The relevant CC alias will be accessed automatically, according to the network location of the reader in question. These aliases are being added on a country by country basis, with Australia ("blogspot.com.au") and India ("blogspot.in") apparently recently deployed.

This will let Blogger remove content, that's illegal in one country, without having to remove that same content for all of your readers, worldwide. You benefit, because your blog won't go offline, for the entire world, when you publish something that's illegal in one single country.

A BlogSpot blog, with a standard header, will be indexed under "blogspot.com".

With any BlogSpot published blog containing a standard Blogger header, the blog will have a canonical reference to the "blogspot.com" alias. The search engines will index the blog, using the "blogspot.com" alias - even when following a country code specific link.

The search engine ranking of your blog won't be affected - except that a blog, left online in most countries, will get more traffic than one taken offline worldwide. When you check the Page Rank, you should continue to check the "blogspot.com" URL, because all search engine reputation will accumulate under the "blogspot.com" alias.

Owners of blogs with custom templates should check the template.

Owners of older or uniquely developed blogs, possibly using Classic or highly customised templates, may want to check the headers in their blogs, and make sure that they have a "canonical" tag referencing their "blogspot.com" alias.

Blogs published to non "blogspot.com" URLs, using properly setup and fully operational "custom domain" publishing, will not be affected - as the default "blogspot.com" URL is already redirected to the domain URL. While a newly purchased custom domain is "In Transition", the domain redirect will not be in effect - and the "blogspot.com" URL will be subject to CC alias redirect.

Any reader using a browser or computer that's affected by domain based filters will need to check all filters. Add "blogspot.com.au", "blogspot.in", "blogspot.jp", or any other relevant country, wherever "blogspot.com" is specified.

Note that geolocation will produce anomalies in odd cases.

Note that the redirect uses geolocation, to identify a relevant country code. Readers in small countries, or located near the border of other countries, may be using an ISP located in a different country, and may find their personal redirect reflecting the other country.

Any reader wishing to bypass the local alias can access a "no country redirect" alias using the URL of "blogspot.com/ncr". Similar to the "ncr" URL modifier used to bypass local language redirects of "blogger.com", this will give access to the U.S. English alias of the blog of your choice.

Comments

Chintan Jain said…
Hi,

I understand what you wanna tell. But m still not able to get the thing of having "standard blogger header". How can i now that wether my template has a standard blogger header. I have my BlogId. Is they are affected by any means??
Hi,

Following your instructions, I tried the "bypass the local alias can access a "no country redirect" but found it didn't change anything. The quick edit pencil was still absent.
Any idea of when this is likely to be fixed?
Thank you.
Nitecruzr said…
Blossom,

The quick edit pencil is provided to blog owners only. Blog owners are identified by a cookie - and access to the cookie is affected by cookie filters. You need to check all cookie filters - if you are in Australia, all filters that permit "blogspot.com" have to likewise permit "blogspot.com.au".

Ditto for India ("blogspot.in") and Japan ("blogspot.jp").

http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2012/02/country-code-based-aliases-will.html
HeidiSequim said…
Today I received an email from Australia which told me that they found my blog http://kohalacoastweb.blogspot.com as http://kohalacoastweb.blogspot.com.au
Even though I am a vivid blogger, I was NOT aware that Google had recently added the country code of Australia to my blogspot URL despite of me publishing in the US for many years now!!!

I tried to read up on the current redirect happenings but I am lost.

Provided BOTH blogspot URLs work, I'd be happy to have a bigger audience but in case I am losing my regular blogspot URL, I'd NOT be happy all.

Hope to get some clarifation right here from nitecruzr.

Aloha from Pua
Nitecruzr said…
Blossom,

If your problem is still active, please check your cookie filters.

Pua,

Please advise your reader to do likewise.

Right now, I'm aware of 3 aliases that are in effect. Readers in each of these countries need to check their filters. Blog owners will be most noticeably affected - but blog readers may see problems also.

Australia ("blogspot.com.au")
India ("blogspot.in")
Japan ("blogspot.jp")

http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2012/02/country-code-based-aliases-will.html
Geruman said…
The logic of and justification of the individual country domains are flawed. If content published on a political blog e.g. "banned.blogspot.com" is published which is illegal in e.g. Venezuela it won't suffice to only take of "banned.blogspot.co.ve". While visitors to "banned.blogspot.com" will get redirected to a blank "banned.blogspot.co.ve" if they have an IP address from Venezuela, they will still be able to access the "illegal" content under any other countny domain, e.g. "banned.blogspot.es" or "banned.blogspot.com.mx" ...
Nitecruzr said…
Photo,

You say "flawed", I say "compromise". Whatever.

It's still better than Blogger having the dual "choice" of deleting any number of "offensive" blogs (with new "offensive" blogs declared periodically) - or having various national governments declare Blogger / Google "offensive", and blocking the entire service, in their countries.

You do know that even the Great Firewall Of China was a compromise?

If Google can come to an understanding with the various "offended" politicians, and the politicians can avoid complaints from their citizens (every nation has citizens who want to use Blogger / Google), it's a Win - Win - Win for everybody. And everybody learns to live with the flaws.

http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2010/04/dissecting-great-firewall-of-china.html

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