The Real Blogger Status

Not all blog owners are willing to accept their blog being accessed behind a reader applied Content Warning. We see occasional signs of lack of understanding, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue . Why is my blog blocked, by Google? It is a legitimate blog, with a serious subject!! This blog owner considers the needs of his blog above the general Blogger reader population. For best results, the desire to display, without the warning, needs to be accompanied by a willingness to remove content, when necessary. Right now, the readers have spoken .

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.

Some blog owners keep coming back, requesting review, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue . My blog has been deleted and restored, repeatedly. Last time, after Blogger unblocked my blog, I received this email ....Upon further review we have determined that your blog was mistakenly marked as a TOS violator by our automated system and, as such, we have reinstated your blog... That was just last month. This month, the same thing, my blog is gone again. This blog owner is failing to read the handwriting on the wall. Unfortunately, to have any future, a blog requires continual new material.

Spend some time surfing Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue - both in detail, for recent periods - and random sampling, over long periods. Read the comments, and questions. You'll see both complaints about spammy (aka "abusive") content - and objectionable (aka "adult") content. And, you'll see review requests, referencing previous abusive and adult content penalties. Given enough surfing, you'll discover that each is simply the other side of the same coin.

We've been providing advice for blog owners, unhappy about unfair spam classification, for a few years, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue . Some blog owners have similar questions about unfair objectionable content classification. Content Warning Some readers of this blog have contacted Google because they believe this blog's content is objectionable. In general, Google does not review nor do we endorse the content of this or any blog. For more information about our content policies, please visit the Blogger  Terms of Service . These blog owners, seeing how objectively we are able to evaluate spam classifications, request similar service for content classifications.

Along with problems with comments and unwanted CAPTCHA forms, we're seeing some reports about problems with persistent and unwanted interstitial displays, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue . The interstitial display, and its use of cookies, is similar to the new mandatory anonymous comments CAPTCHA form . If your identity can't be determined, or your decision to view a blog can't be remembered, an interstitial warning is displayed - just as the CAPTCHA form is displayed, when your readers are preparing to comment.

Occasionally, we see a report in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue , that reflects on the reader audience - not necessarily only the blog content. Why is my blog behind a Content Warning? Some readers of this blog have contacted Google because they believe this blog's content is objectionable. Occasionally, a quick eyeballing of the blog in question may turn up some dodgy content, which may be suggested, in the forum, as problematic. This story may not end immediately. But, I've had that picture gallery, for years! Why did I just get the Content Warning? Here, the blog owner is not considering changing standards - or the possibility that the blog, becoming more popular, may be adding readers who don't appreciate a photo gallery started years ago.

Not all blog owners understand the necessity of having unique content , as the basis for a healthy blog. We see questions periodically, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue , about inappropriate use of content from other blogs and websites. Why was my Blogger account deleted? I never argue when given copyright notices! or Why don't I have any readers? I have great content - the other blogs, where I get the content, get lots of traffic.

A few blog owners are unclear about the relationship between private blog access, and abuse (malware, porn, spam) classification. In general, private blogs are not any less vulnerable to abuse classification, than public blogs. Blogs, designated as "private", are protected against being viewed by people who do not have permission. Blogs, designated as "private", are not protected against being scanned by robotic processes. Search engine indexing bots will surf blogs - private or public - equally well. That said, there are non imaginary differences, between indexing of private and public blogs.

This week, we're seeing some reports from a few blog owners who recently received a disturbing email message, mentioning their blogs and adult advertisements. I received an email stating I have adult content on my blog, and that a new policy will cause certain blogs to be deleted. Is my blog vulnerable to deletion, under this new policy? Like many spammers, these blog owners may be asking for a whitelisting of their blog - which is something that Blogger just won't provide .

Some blog owners find evidence of opinion from their viewers, but cannot accept the opinions expressed. Why is there a "Content Warning" on my blog? They don't understand the collaborative opinion being expressed, when this warning is displayed.

Periodically, in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I? , we see the naive request. Please, take a minute and let me know how safe my blog is. Here, the blog owner wants to know whether it's possible that his blog might be classified as a spam host, in the near future. This is a request that, no matter how genuine a blog, and a blog owner, may appear now, cannot be fulfilled with any degree of accuracy and authority.

In the latest round of controversy about the interstitial warning display, we see reports from more publishers of "adult content" blogs, reporting inability to try the dynamic templates on their blogs. Why are Dynamic Views not available for my blog? Is this yet another conspiracy against "adult content" blogs? From what I can tell, it's simply another scenario where the interstitial warning causes problems.

Just last month, we observed a problem with Blogger Stats displays, which was diagnosed to involve the "Content Warning" Interstitial display . The problem was escalated to Blogger Support - who fixed the underlying problem, and who is now working on a second problem , possibly a problem which resulted from the fixing of the first problem. Many blog owners who suffered from the first problem are also suffering from the second problem - and some blog owners are confusing the two problems. Some of the latter are not being objective, and are angrily accusing Blogger of ignoring them, in their hour of need. Very few of the people reporting the second problem have spent a great deal of time objectively evaluating the urgency of that problem. Stats is not a major functionality in Blogger blogs. It's a feature that helps the blog owner evaluate blog traffic. Lack of a Stats display (let alone one portion of a Stats display) does not affect blog functionality. The reader...

Last week, we observed a problem with Blogger Stats displays, which was traced to the involvement of the "Content Warning" Interstitial display . The problem was escalated to Blogger Support - who fixed the underlying problem, to some degree. Now, we have reports which show that Stats is now displaying figures for "Traffic Sources" and for "Audiences" - but not for Posts. The details of the displays for the different time ranges - "Now", "Day", "Week", "Month", and "All time" are interesting - and noting the varying reports, from the different blog owners affected by the problem, is also interesting. One of the more obvious observations comes from the nature of what has been fixed, to date. I see counts for Audience, and for Traffic Sources - but my Posts display still shows No stats yet, check back later. This is because the Content Warning interstitial display has apparently been corrected to allow...

I've been advising people with various problems with accessing and maintaining Blogger blogs, that involve cache and cookies , for a while. Recently, I explored the ongoing problem with Blogger Stats and the "Don't track my pageviews" setting . Besides the known (and widely argued) problem with blocked third party cookies , I discovered a similar problem, with cookies being cleared when the browser is closed . Besides Stats, it appears that the Blogger login process, and authenticated commenting, are also sensitive to blocked cookies / scripts - and to inappropriately cleared content. If regular clearing "cache and cookies" , which is now generally known as "private data", is part of your browser optimisation or security strategy, you may wish to examine your policies carefully. If you have a problem with cookie filtering, clearing cookies won't make your problem go away. If you want to avoid problems with Commenting, Login, and Stats...

Occasionally, a blog owner may find his blog prefaced by one of two possible content warnings. The two warnings may look the same (to some folks), but they are set - and removed - in completely different ways. Blog owners need to understand the differences.

In the modern legal system, justice is (supposedly) available to all citizens - regardless of colour, crede, or financial status - equally. In the Blogger legal system, justice (as in porn / spam classification, or URL availability ) is available to all bloggers - equally. If your blog is unjustly accused of hosting hacking, porn, and / or spam content, or if your blog is unfairly placed behind a content warning , you (the blog owner) are responsible for getting the wrong righted. Due diligence requires that the blog owner has to report any problem with any Blogger blog. Regardless of how many anxious readers your blog may serve, you the owner have to request a review, when the blog is unjustly classified, deleted or locked. And, you have to do so promptly. Blogger must serve owners of small and unpopular blogs equally, with owners of large and popular ones. The blog readers are not part of the review process. The only question is Does the blog host hacking, objectionable, p...

Magic shows have been around for centuries - the world is full of magic, when we don't understand what's going on. URL redirection is a Blogger magic trick , similar to the disappearing quarter - a common sleight of hand trick in stage magic performances. Another Blogger magic trick, and one which not all bloggers or blog viewers appreciate, is the interstitial warning display. Interstitial warnings pop up like magic, where you (or your prospective viewer) would least expect them. In front of a "private" blog, where you have to identify yourself to continue. In front of a blog that contains (or is reputed to contain) objectionable material (naughty pictures or such). In front of a blog that is (or appears to be) published off site. In front of a blog that has been blocked, for TOS violation, or maybe for hosting hacking content.

Recently, the political blog "The Girl In Short Shorts" was judged by a number of bloggers to contain objectionable visual content, and was flagged by a substantial number of would be readers. Its readers are now greeted by an interstitial warning, and are forced to click once on a button before being able to view the blog. Many readers of the blog are now protesting in Blogger Help Forum , in ignorance of the reasons for the interstitial warning. Their actions are similar to those of the readers of The Daily Coyote, last year . To the owners of the blog: You need to contact your readers, and advise them to knock it off. You aren't bothering Blogger (this is a weekend) - but you are interfering with other bloggers being helped, because of your Denial Of Service technique (intentional or not). If you don't want your readers to have to click on the interstitial button (once per reader, only), remove the problem pictures. (Update 7/21): Rick Klau, Blogger Product Ma...