It is not often than I find myself as part of a news story, but this certainly is one. When I am not writing here, I keep a small Google Blogger site where I like to rant and rave about whatever catches my interest. With an average readership of about 25 per day, you would hardly class this as a huge commercial success. So it was with some surprise that I received an email from Google, which informed me:
Your blog at: http://zzsimonb.blogspot.com/ has been identified as a potential spam blog. To correct this, please request a review by filling out the form at http://www.blogger.com/unlock-blog.g?lockedBlogID=xxxxxxxxx
Your blog will be deleted within 20 days if it isn’t reviewed, and you’ll be unable to publish posts during this time. After we receive your request, we’ll review your blog and unlock it within two business days. If this blog doesn’t belong to you, you don’t have to do anything, and any other blogs you may have won’t be affected.
Of course my first thought was that this was a phishing scheme, but logging on I discovered that was the ‘full meal deal’. So I went through my template, and of course my comments. I can see nothing that is spammy. My next stop was the Google Blogger news group. That was most revealing. It seems that I am not alone. Many people have been locked out of their blogs.
Way back when, when Blogger news was in its embryo stage we used Blogger, it was cheap, it was cheerful, but we soon realized that if you are going to have hundreds of writers it maybe was not the best platform. I kept my Blogger account, for the ‘man in the street’ that just wants to post the occasional rant it can not be beat.
Needless to say, this latest go around with Blogger is making me rethink the entire adventure.
Cloud Computing is the new hot subject, and I like the idea of having my information and tools in the cloud. But if the owner of the cloud suddenly takes my access away, well I am TOAST.
While it is not important that my account on Blogger has been set so that I cannot post new articles, it does bring into question the whole concept of Cloud Computing. Why would I subscribe to having remote data and remote applications if someone outside of my control, and anonymous to boot, can decide that I can no longer have access?
Now, what was that Google mantra? Oh yeah, I remember “Do No Evilâ€.
Simon Barrett
17 users commented in " Google Blogger Meltdown? You Have Been Identified As A Potential Spam Blog "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackYou must have upset the Obamamaniacs.
A lot of pro Hillary blogs were similarly shut down. LINK
It’s taken me down as well.
(Though actually I’m just posting this to provide an email address to the article author)
I’m block as well this morning. Have you been unblocked as of yet? I left the request but they give no idea as to how long the “review” process takes.
ford
Like many, many others my blog has been blocked as “spam” by Blogger. I run a blog on nuclear energy which has been operational since January 2006.
The Blogger Help discussion groups are filled with pleadings and tears from many frustrated users who have had no response from Blogger. There are several posts which claim this has happened before and that it takes days or weeks for Blogger to respond to “unblock” requests. On Wednesday there was evidence Blogger was responded to “false positives” based on message traffic in these same forums. However, as of this morning, Friday Aug 1, it appears that the number of blogs affected has gone from a trickle to a raging river. Something is seriously wrong with Blogger and no one knows when or if it will be fixed.
Well I can say that I am ticked!!!!!!
I was a big fan of the concept of ‘Cloud Computing’, unfortunately the cloud seems to have turned somewhat black and right now looks more like a thunderstorm.
Simon
I’m totally sure the cause lies in your Spam to outer Mongolia series last year. I’m so sorry to be the cause of so much trouble. mea culpa. However, thanks to your efforts and the work of spam fans worldwide, there is now spam available all over Mongolia. Bayaralla, Simon
I’ve had several emails from readers of my blog today asking for help with this issue. It is upsetting and frustrating (to say the least), so I’m writing up some tips which I hope may help people affected by this problem.
This increased focus on locking suspected spam blogs may well be linked to recent news that Blogger is the leading host for spam and malware. Of course Google/Blogger doesn’t want to be associated with such a bad reputation, but I really feel for those caught in the crossfire 🙁
At least the outcome will be that Blogger hosts far fewer spam blogs!
In the meantime, follow the steps Blogger has set out for your blog to be reviewed, post in the Blogger help group (attention from an Employee may help you get your blog restored more quickly), and be aware that you can still post widgets to leave a message for readers until you are able to post again.
Well, I’m glad I’m not the only effected by this. Mine is locked as well.
It’s not just politics – it’s everything. I blog about horse racing and have been down since last night. I also added a widget to send users over to a less-interesting version I backed up on WordPress and re-directed my main URL.
I have been locked out as well. And Joe.My.God – one of NYC’s top gay bloggers is locked out also.
This is bullshit.
Unblocked sometime today (Fri 8/1) between 10 AM and 1 PM mountain time. Success with new post at 1:30 PM. Hopefully, I’ll never have to go through something like this again.
I added up the cost of moving content, ads, and RSS feeds, plus the widgets, to new hosting service. It was overwhelming. Like Desi said to Lucy, “Blogger, you’ve got some explaining to do.”
Yes im peeved off too. Lucky for me iv back up my blog to my local hardrive im now in the process of porting to wordpress and with my own domain through GoDaddy. Big mistake using blogger in the first place.
I had an email yesterday that my blog would be blocked as a potential spam blog. I write about growing vegetables down on my allotment! How on earth could that be spam? Annoying and crazy!
I’m a brand new blogger–I only have two posts. They’re about essential oils and herbal tea. If you’re trying to educate people about these things, naturally most information will NOT be new and may be on other sites. I have no links. What a shock to be a potential spam blogger!
I agree with Matron–“how could this be spam?”
Me too why they do that?? why they call my blog a potential spam blog??? I didn’t do wrong..
Tough world it seems.
Took me six months to fight Google on behalf of a friend whose blog was deleted. Here’s a report on Techdirt on how that went:
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20091228/1803277526.shtml
It took Blogger’s product manager—who is as honest as the day is long—to intervene before anything was done. But it took me six months before I stumbled across his name.
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