The Real Blogger Status

Over the years, we've seen various problem reports mentioning attempted use of SMS for identity verification, for emergency Blogger account access. It's possible that SMS based identity verification is one more service that has been replaced - by Google 2 Step Verification.

AdSense uses various techniques to protect their content quality - and when they take action, they don't always give you a lot of clues about their actions, or warnings before taking action. Both AdSense and Blogger use fuzzy analysis to classify unacceptable content and practices . Neither AdSense or Blogger can publish definitive policy advice, each time they classify or suspend an account.

We see occasional queries, from blog owners who require separation of their blog ownership from their real lives, in Blogger Help Forum: Learn More About Blogger . I want to have myself anonymous, so that people do not know who I am when I blog. i think it will contribute to a more exciting blog! An air of mystery is OK, as long as it's not being used to mask criminal activity.

Blog owners periodically report seeing "their" blog online - but not being able to access Blogger, to control it. It's my blog - but when I login, I'm forced to an older blog, that I don't care about! The person reporting this discrepancy may or may not own the blog in question - and we need to diagnose the reason for the discrepancy . Similar to spam review , we employ a diagnostic technique known as triage. Triage starts with standard diagnoses.

One of the more mysterious causes of blog loss involves deleted blogs, with the owner being forced to recover account access because of "suspicious" / "unusual" account activity . In general, with the report made in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue , we may dismiss the owner as a "hacking victim". We may suspect just one more botnet in operation, stealing peoples accounts and blogs - and the victim unwisely revealed his email address. Sometimes, the story is more bizarre.

We see odd abuse issues reported in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue - like blog owners reporting a blog with recycling abuse status. My blog was locked one day, unlocked the next, then locked again the following day. Help! Generally, this will be a simple case of borderline abuse / spam content or techniques . Sometimes, the cause of the recycling status is more subtle, than being solely the fault of the owner.

We see the frustration, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue , almost daily. My blog has disappeared from my dashboard, and my subscribers are getting spam! How do I get my blog returned to me? and I got a new computer, and now I can't access my blog. Who can I call at Google, to get this fixed?? These are two blog owners who have the same problem, but do not understand the connection.

We see occasional evidence still of confusion about blog ownership, and dashboard access, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue . I can find my blogs on my profile page, and by Googling them - but I can't update them, post in them or access them in any way - even though the system says I'm logged in. This blog owner is logged in to the wrong account - but has no way to recover, because the blog is offline.

We see many complaints, worded in various ways, about "missing" blogs, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue . My blog is not on my dashboard! or I logged in this morning, and I see Create your blog now You are not an author on any blogs yet ... Help! There are many reasons for these reports - and not all may be what they seem . The causes of "missing" blogs vary widely, from blogs deleted by Blogger (or the owner) to blogs owned under another account (the claimant or a third party). Chances for recovery may vary, similarly.

Every time I carry this computer with me, and login to Blogger or Google from another location - and get the repeated demand that I Insert my USB key, and touch the button. I growl just a bit. Then, I consider what using Google 2-Step Verification means, to me. Many blog owners become unhappy, when they use Blogger. I tried using Blogger from my friends computer - and I have to tell them when I setup my Blogger account! or I need to recover control of my blog - and even though I supplied the right phone, and got the recovery email message, I have to check off which Google services I have used, in the last month!! WTF?? These are simply people who do not use Google 2-Step Verification - and have to prove their identity, in a different way.

When you have a Google+ profile, and you use it with your Blogger blog, it replaces your Blogger profile - and becomes the public part of your Blogger identity. Google+ displays your profile more transparently than Blogger displays your Blogger profile . Your Google+ profile is clearly and consistently linked to your Google+ comments and posts, for your readers to view - and it's part of the Google+ desktop, for you to view and to edit. And Google+ lets you display or hide sensitive portions of your profile, with more options than Blogger provides. As a Blogger blog owner, you can probably find your Google+ profile , as attached to your Blogger dashboard. All that aside, Google+ is not completely obvious, in letting you view and edit all profile content. One of the challenges of Google+, and showing and editing your profile, is that Google+ is being updated, right now - and there are now two Google+ desktops.

Your Blogger profile is the public part of your Blogger identity , that can be seen by others. You will want your profile to provide the best representation of you - but do not display too many details. Revealing account names and email addresses , for instance, can put your blogs at risk of theft.

For blog owners who have forgotten the Blogger account name or the password, the "Forgot your username or password?" wizard is an essential tool. You can try to recover account or blog control, by using either a BlogSpot URL or an email address. Both options work only under specific circumstances. Both options are blind recoveries. You enter a blog name or email address, with no assurance that what you enter will lead to a blog. Only when you enter a valid blog name or email address will you receive a recovery email.

We see the potential for self induced stress, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue , every week. How do I publish a blog, without identifying myself? Then later I forgot my account name / password, and I am not getting any email from "Forgot?"! These are two hypothetical problem reports, that are all too real, for many blog owners.

Every week, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue , we see signs of improperly managed company blogs . The person who developed our company blog left our employment - and did not give us access to the blog. How do we recover our blog? If the former employee published the blog from a Blogger account that uses cloud based email, such as GMail, the blog may be legally his property. A Blogger blog is owned by the person who controls it . If your company uses company owned email, however, you may be able to take control of the Blogger account, and the blog.

Besides the problems discussed, when trying to research ownership or retrieve content from deleted and private blogs , we have problems researching ownership and retrieving content for blogs published behind an interstitial warning. The interstitial warning is actually one reason why private blogs are so hard to research and to retrieve. Any blog, published behind an interstitial warning, becomes a challenge - both for ownership research, and for content retrieval.

Too often , we see the report, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue . I can't login to my Blogger account! or My blog was just deleted!! Neither of these problem reports are unusual - and generally, there are various control and diagnostic options which may be available, to help us recover control of the account or blog in question.

Too often , we see the report, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue . I can't login to my Blogger account! or My blog was just deleted!! Neither of these problem reports are unusual - and generally, there are various control and diagnostic options which may be available, to help us recover control of the account or blog in question.

Google has been playing games with their online products, so much, that some people seem to ignore the seriousness of the issues. We see the occasional naivete, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue . I feel like Google has gone over some sort of security event horizon -- trying so hard to evade hackers that too many authentic account holders are getting locked out, irreparably. This would be blog owner (or possibly, blog thief) feels that she should not be responsible for remembering the necessary details , to login to her Blogger account. Alternately, she should cruise through account recovery, with no challenges.

One intriguing blog theft technique is tried also by people who have recently lost control of their blogs. I recently changed my email address (and forgot my password) . Can Blogger please send a password reset to my new address "xxxxxxx", instead of "yyyyyyy"? The blog owner is overlooking the obvious - that this is exactly what any blog thief might try, too. Too many blog thefts start with the owner unwisely advertising the email address .