The Real Blogger Status

Some time ago, I discovered an odd type of comment spam, which I termed "Nice Blog" spam . Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often. This spam, from what I can tell, has been published by the millions, in various blog comments. It's likely that this particular spam is being published as a very imaginative form of email address mining. The phrasing started out almost identical to the above example - but recently became rather imaginatively worded .

One of the most intriguing subjects discussed in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken involves the seemingly purposeless spam which torments us in our comments and our Stats logs. I see this random garbage on my blog - and the sites advertised are complete junk. Is there any actual reason for this? Interestingly, both nice blog spam (in our comments), and referer spam (in our Stats logs), have purposes - though with the continually varying content used in both, it all looks very much like random garbage. If we analyse the content, structure, and volume of the various spam attacks, we can see patterns - and an understanding of the overall purpose of the spam.

One recently identified cause of deleted Blogger blogs appears to involve brute force hacking against our Blogger / Google accounts. We've known, for some time, about blog owners receiving alerts about "suspicious" / "unusual" account activity. The alerts frequently involve locked or deleted Blogger / Google accounts - and generally include the owner having to change their password, solve a CAPTCHA, and / or provide their phone number (mobile or home phone) to login. Later, people started reporting that their blogs were being deleted - possibly as a result of having to change their password, solve a CAPTCHA, and / or provide their phone number.

In 2009, we discovered an odd style of spam comments which, from all appearances, served no purpose. I recently came across your blog, and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often. When discovered, Google Search suggested that over 22,000,000 copies of these comments had been successfully installed, on various blogs and websites. A couple years ago, I suggested a possible reason for the spam - and later showed how Google+, and various Blogger security measures , were making the spam less useful. Last month, we began to see suggestions, from some blog owners, that this "nice blog" spam was morphing, into more obscurely phrased and structured styles. A lot of spam comments are being published on my blog. This problem started a few weeks ago - though previously, Google almost always put them in my Spam Folder. Upon examination of exa...

One constant activity in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken involves blog owners whose blogs were deleted - either righteously or spuriously - as part of the ongoing battle against spam , in Blogger blogs. Generally, the problem comes directly from the blog content . Sometimes, the problem is more subtle. When I tried to login to Blogger, I got a screen that said my account needed to be verified, due to "unusual activity on my account". Having verified my account, I see that my blogs have been deleted. This is part of one of the more intriguing episodes, in the never ending fight against hacking and spam , in Blogger.

Some Blogger blog owners use their Blogger blogs as the center of their peer to peer networking life. Many blog readers are expected to post comments - and to leave their email addresses, as part of their message or profile, to allow direct contact. Long ago, I used the email address of my commenters, as part of an easy "Contact Me" form , on this blog. Recently, we've been noting that Blogger comments don't always include a useful email addresses - many comments simply describe the commenter as noreply-comment@blogger.com Not all blog owners - and readers - appreciate this change. When I leave a comment using my google profile, it isn't linking my profile with my email address. How do I get my email address properly displayed? and Why do so many comments, published to my blog, show the email address of "noreply-comment@blogger.com"? How do I email my readers?

We see the pain, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , of blog owners who do not understand the need for keeping the name of their Blogger account a secret. I forgot the email address that I was using. Why can't Blogger just tell me the address?? and some ask How did this unknown person "xxxxx xxxxx" get control of my blog? Years ago, the local police would have to convince home owners Please, stop leaving a spare key under a rock, near the door! Both many blog owners (today) - like some home owners (years ago) - had the same basic problem - naivete.

In terms of Blogger problems, which occur seemingly randomly and have no obvious user solution, I can't think of too many that bring more dread into peoples hearts than 403 Forbidden That message is actually where I started this blog - many, many years ago . It's come up, in discussion, several times . The message "403 Forbidden" is literally a response by a computer somewhere, saying that you are not permitted to access this computer . For Blogger / Google customers, it generally has a slightly different origin.

I moderate my comments to my blogs, avidly. I was, therefore, flattered to get this first bit of praise, months ago sheela has left a new comment on your post "Publishing Your Blog Externally": I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often. Kaylee http://www.(spamurlremoved).info This looked a bit light on detail - but it was positive in general, so I Accepted it as a comment. A few hours later, another comment, worded the same, hit another post. And the following day, a third comment, with a third post targeted. By then, it was looking pretty obvious. I went back and deleted the other two published comments, and I figured that would be the end of it. Not. I recently went back through my Comments Inbox, and checked for "Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.". I h...