The Real Blogger Status

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.

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 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.

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 .

If a Blogger account or blog has been dormant for a while, a sudden burst of activity can just as easily indicate a blog thief at work, as a legitimate owner, recently returned. When you go on vacation, and are going to be away from your house for an extended amount of time, you are urged to have the lawn attended to while you are gone, suspend mail / newspaper deliveries, and take other precautions. Why? So the house won't appear unattended. Just as burglars like abandoned houses, blog thieves like abandoned accounts and blogs. With no owner activity, the owner is not likely to inconveniently change the account password, or update the blog, while the thief is at work. With no owner activity, the owner is less likely to notice any changes - and to report the theft.

Supported legacy account migration ended in 2012 - after many years of repeated warnings. Blogger Engineering ended support based on unresolvable technical issues - and not without considerable deliberation . For a number of technical and operational reasons, we’ve decided to finally end our support for migrating legacy accounts and blogs after December 5, 2011. There were many technical details involved with "legacy" account migration, which prevented a more aggressive migration strategy . Blogger Engineering having gone with a more permissive migration (migrate when you feel the need), this leaves a few Blogger "legacy" account owners unable to migrate.

As account / blog hijack activity remains non zero, Blogger Engineers should continue to tighten down the account / blog recovery process. Some unhappy ex blog owners (or would be blog thieves?) insist that Blogger recovery standards are too strict, and need to be eased back , a bit. My suspicion is that, as long as thieves are able to steal blogs, with impunity, Blogger recovery standards are too lenient - not overly strict.

Someone publishing a blog, that supports a web based business, may use email to communicate with the customers - and possibly, to distribute the product. With a Blogger blog involved, use of email, to communicate with people who you don't know, creates a security risk . A blog, supporting a web based product, may look more interesting to hackers. If it's worth publishing by the owner, it's worth stealing. If the owner uses email, to communicate with customers or distribute the product, some owners may casually use their Blogger account email - and make their Blogger account vulnerable to brute force account hacking. Some owners may even include password hints, in the blog content - making the hackers job easier. At minimum, a successfully stolen blog may be worth a ransom demand, since the blog likely has commercial value. What enterprising hacker wouldn't invest a few extra dollars to buy a product, to learn an email address and possibly a Blogger account na...

We're seeing signs that Blogger is requiring more detail, in the account and blog recovery processes. Even when able to recover account or blog access properly - using a registered email address or telephone number - Google may ask more questions, to verify identity. Some (would be) blog owners,in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue , report that more secrets are required. I provided my email address - and after I got the recovery email, I was asked when the email account was setup! and After I gave my home phone, I was asked for a list of my other Google accounts! Apparently, Blogger / Google Security is trying even harder, to prevent blog theft .

Have you ever heard the old saying I had a friend, and I had a blog. I gave my friend control of my blog - and now, I have neither a friend, or a blog. If you have a blog, and it's yours alone, then it's yours - for eternity, or until you give up control . When you make your friend a blog administrator, you give up control of the blog.

Occasionally, we see a cry of anguish, about account recovery, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue . I need to publish my blog, but I forgot the password. I can access my WordPress account though - and my photo - -on my WordPress blog - clearly is me. Can I speak to a real person, so I can get my Blogger blog back? Here, we have a blog owner, who does not understand the relationship between Google, and non Google, services. Different companies, which use the Internet, and / or provide services which let people use the Internet, have their own standards for account maintenance and recovery.

As long as computers exist, and people are needed to provide technical advice, the one problem report that many of us fear is anguished, and brief. I got hacked! To many of us, this means that we have not been doing our job - because the first job of technical support is, unfortunately, security. Hillary Clinton got hacked, recently - and she was lucky. The hacker that attacked her was only poking around - and had no actual intent to cause harm. The owner of a successfully hacked Blogger blog may not be so fortunate. If you act promptly. and plan wisely, you can prevent long term inconvenience.

We see occasional tales of woe, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue . My friends are making fun of me, because my name, when searched in Google, comes up on a non complimentary blog. The owner of the blog has forgotten the password, and can't recover control. How do I convince Blogger to have the offending blog removed? The answer, here, is not promising. You can't. No laws have been broken, nor has Google TOS been violated. That's harsh reality, that is going to happen, a few times.

One of the hottest US National news stories, this month, is about Hillary Clinton and how she endangered the security of this country by using an insecure email address . One of her mistakes involved her having a friend who had her email address in his address book, when his email account was hacked. And that is how your friends email accounts can be used, to attack your email account. Even if your email account is not revealed, openly, a friend - or fellow blog owner - who reveals her / his email address, can have his / her Blogger account, blog, and email account stolen. And with the possibility that you and your friend exchange emails, there is vulnerability to your email account, your Blogger account, and your blog .

We continue to see complaints, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue , from people not receiving acceptable help in recovering account / blog control . Some supposed blog owners accuse Blogger of unlawfully denying them access to their blogs , when refused personal attention.

Long ago, Blogger Support used to provide personalised account recovery service, to blog owners who had forgotten their account names and passwords - and give "hints" in open forum discussion, reminiscent of the popular TV game show, Wheel Of Fortune . But reality intervened - and now, everybody who wants to recover access to a Blogger account / blog must use one of the automated account / blog access recovery tools - ignoring however defective they may appear to be.