The Real Blogger Status

For a long time, blog owners have been requiring the ability to delete their blogs. In the beginning, people would delete a blog - whether intentionally or mistakenly - then change their mind, or realise their mistake. I did not really want to delete my blog. And the inevitable question. How do I get my very important blog back? Surely, it's in your computer somewhere?? But this question was not always answered, with encouragement.

Blog owners do not always understand the reasons behind the mysterious blog security check (following "suspicious" / "unusual" activity account lock). We see periodic complaints about deleted blogs and locked accounts - and the inconvenience involved, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue . I get the security and all - but I don't get how a blog is just deleted. This blog owner, like so many, does not understand how Blogger is trying to keep our blogs under our control - even after detection of "suspicious" / "unusual" activity.

We see too many problem reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue , about locked accounts and deleted blogs. My Google account was suspended because of 'suspicious activities'. Last month, I realized that my two connected blogs, to that account, were also put offline! Somebody else was unable to use the supplied account / blog recovery tools - and tried guessing what could not be remembered .

Some blog owners delete or rename a blog, without proper planning - and later regret their action. Some spammers track blog name availability - particularly with blog names that contain "English" (and some non English) language words. If a spammer discovers that a given blog name has recently become available, he will publish a stub blog to that name - and later, add spammy content. Why is a spammer interested in recently available names?

We deal with a lot of "lost blog control" complaints, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue . Lost blog control complaints, that involve blogs published using a dynamic template, are not easily resolved.

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.

Too frequently, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue , we try to advise blog recovery for a legitimate blog, unrighteously deleted by Blogger. Occasionally, when advised to Find a dashboard link labeled "Deleted blogs" / "Locked blogs". then Having found the link, you submit a Review request. The response is There is no dashboard link, referencing 'deleted blogs / locked blogs'. There are several causes of this condition - but there is only one real solution. The (would be) owner has to login with the right Blogger account , and find the necessary "Deleted" / "Locked" blogs section, of "My blogs".

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.

Every day, blog owners report that their blogs (or posts) were deleted by Blogger. Most blog owners have some idea why a blog (post) is deleted - but not all. Some even insist that they received no notice from Blogger - the blog (post) just vanished.

A deleted blog can be restored, only after an owner successfully requests restore / review. Since only a blog owner can request blog restore / review , deleted blog recovery can only start from the owner dashboard, with proper use of the "Restore" / "Review" button or link. The dashboard requirement ensures that no blogs will be restored, without being under control by the owner.

Every month, we see a concern about content theft or impersonation, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue . I deleted my blog last year! Now, I see it online again, using my name - but it's not in my dashboard! or I renamed my blog, last month! Somebody else is publishing it, this month!! These former blog owners have discovered the unpleasant reality of never ending spammer activity. URL recycling (a feature begged for, by many), plus blog content and feed caching (a reality, with most blogs), can lead to spammer harvesting and resurrection. And in some cases, to identity theft.

Many blog owners would like to retrieve deleted blogs - or contents of deleted blogs - or contents of live blogs, deleted. Some folks just deleted their blog, and immediately realised a mistake. Others deleted a blog, long ago. Some had their blog, deleted by Blogger - and just want the content back, so they can "start over". Some may delete a post, and realise that mistake. Others make a mistake with content, and find Blogger deleted the blog. And some get a new job, graduate from school, get a new ISP - and realise, too late, that they forgot to update their Blogger account to use the new email address for account recovery.

Part of the spam review process involves verifying that a spam review request is needed. Not every blog owner understands the reason for not requesting spam review, needlessly. A blog has to be owned under the Google account being used, and locked as a suspected spam host, for a spam review to be useful. A spam review, when properly conducted, starts with the "Restore" / "Review" buttons, in the "Deleted blogs" section of the personal Blogger dashboard. As of December 2014, the "Restore" / "Review" buttons are not working for everybody - and this is causing some confusion.

We have numerous problem reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue , about a problem with the "Deleted blogs" section of the dashboard. I can't restore my deleted blog! and I can't request spam review! These owners are concerned, because the "Restore" and "Review" buttons appear to be broken. Nothing happens, when clicked.

Deleted blog recovery requests come in many forms. I can't access my blog! or My dashboard is empty!! or Somebody deleted my blog!!! A successful deleted blog recovery starts from the dashboard button or link, to "Restore" or "Review" the blog. When the blog was deleted by the owner less than 90 days ago , and the owner is able to login to the right account, the "Restore" button will bring the blog back, as the owner watches. If the blog was deleted by Blogger / Google, and the owner is able to login to the right account, the "Review" button starts the recovery process. If use of the "Review" button brings no results - or if there is no "Restore" / "Review" button at all, things get interesting .

Sometimes, blogs which are under legal action by Blogger / Google can be under action, simultaneously, for multiple, valid reasons. Occasionally, we get angry complaints, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue . I got a DMCA Complaint email from Google. My blog was deleted, my dashboard is empty, I got no email from Blogger - and ChillingEffects has no complaint detail. How do I get my blog restored? Since we don't review DMCA cases in Blogger Help - and with no dashboard or email records of a non DMCA deletion, the blog owner is left with no options.

We see many questions in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , about blog content, and (lack of) appreciation by the readers. Occasionally, people become concerned about activity of the people reading their blogs - why they get so many new visitors (but nobody returns later, to read more), or why the main page is so well read (but nobody reads the archived posts). In other cases, they wonder why the blog was deleted - even though it had the required warning protecting it - or maybe why the content warning is there . And sometimes, they may wonder why so many people read the blog, but nobody comments on the posts.

We've been discussing deleted blogs, resulting from Blogger accounts locked after suspicious account activity is detected , for some time. Recently, we've seen a variant on the account lock / deleted blogs problem. I made one of my friends an admin for my blog. When Blogger deleted His Blogger account and his blogs, they deleted my blog also. Here, we see the possibility of detected hacking, affecting other members in a team blog ownership.

Even though being the victim of a hacking attack is not (always) the fault of the account / blog owner , the blog owner may have to bear some of the responsibility. Since hacking detection is a fuzzy process, it's not always going to be detected immediately. The previous article discusses what happens when Google does detect a hacking attack - and in some cases reacts too diligently. If Google is not able to detect an attack, in some cases, an attack may be successful.

We've been helping Blogger blog owners deal with spurious fuzzy content classification , for many years. We started out, long ago, with blogs deleted because of spam classification. Later, Blogger added malware classification - and most recently, porn classification ("adult content", with objectionable advertisements). These three classification categories involve fuzzy blog content analysis.