Would Be Followers Being Blocked By Blog Owners

This month, we have a few reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, about problems Following some blogs.

Why am I being blocked, from Following?

Some would be Followers are taking this personally. Please, don''t do that.

What you're seeing (maybe, when trying to Follow this blog, too) is not an owner initiated conspiracy.

The Blogger Followers gadget rewrite is taking shape.

If you're trying to use a non Google account to login to Following, you'll be seeing this, for some blogs.



If you want to Follow some blogs, you will need to use a Google account. The OpenID and similar non Google logins are not usable, with Following, any more.

We were warned, several months ago, about changes to Followers.

As we mentioned some weeks ago, starting this week, we’ll remove the ability for people with Twitter, Yahoo, Orkut or other OpenId providers to sign in to Google Friend Connect and follow blogs. To follow a blog via Google Friend Connect now, readers will need a Google Account (the same they use for Gmail or YouTube).

It's happening, finally. One day, we'll have a new - and more stable - Followers gadget.

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The #Blogger Followers gadget rewrite is continuing. This month, some would be Followers are seeing a notice, instead of the gadget, when they try to Follow some blogs, without Google accounts.

The Followers Gadget Rewrite Continues
Would Be Followers Being Blocked By The Blog Owner

Using A Killfile, To Filter Blogger Comments

We periodically see hopeful - yet naive - requests from blog owners, in Blogger Help Forum: Learn More About Blogger, asking about comment moderation improvement.

How do I add a disruptive commenter to a killfile list - and never see his/her nonsense ever again, without moderating every comment, being published?

This would be a popular feature - if it could be provided, in any way that would achieve results.

Using a killfile, to filter disruptive / malicios commenters, is not a likely possibility.

Anybody who does not want to be identified can comment as desired.

It is not possible to reliabily identify a comment publisher, who does not wish to be identified.

• Blogger / Google identity.
• IP address.

Disruptive individuals can't be identified, with any chance of success. Anybody who wants to publish comments can do so, using multiple accounts, and / or IP addresses.

Both Blogger / Google accounts and IP addresses can be easily cloaked.

Using either multiple Blogger / Google accounts - or IP addresses - is a trivial exercise for anybody who is determined enough to persistently publish unwanted comments.

Given the impossibility of identifying people who don't provide effective identification, Blogger is unlikely to provide a feature that would accomplish nothing - and possibly interfere with legitimate commenting.

The only solution for blocking unacceptable comments will always involve collaborative, fuzzy filters, trained by each blog owner.

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Some #Blogger blog owners would like to use a killfile, to filter unacceptable comments. They don't understand that anybody who wants to persistently publish disruptive or malicious comments can easily mask their identity - and make killfile use an exercis in futility.

Blog Security Review Is Not Instantaneous

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.

Blog security check, if immediate and instantaneous, would not be noticed.

Blog security check is an art - not a science - and it takes time.

If blogs could be checked for hacking interference without delay, most owners would not complain. Unfortunately, examining blogs for hacking interference requires intense study - and most security experts do not work on weekends.

One unfortunate issue, about all of this, is that not all "suspicious" / "unusual" activity is malicious. Some of it is a simple result of people unable to use account / blog recovery - being innocently told to try every account name and password that can be remembered.

Owner delay, in requesting account unlock, contributes to security check delay.

In some cases, the locked account / deleted blogs may not be immediately discovered by the owner - and this may lengthen the security check process.

Not all blog owners publish - or even read - their blogs regularly. Nor do they accept the need to intentionally keep their account and blogs under their control.

Some owners are very casual about blog security - until a blog is successfully stolen.

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Some #Blogger blog owners are not terribly impressed by the need to keep their blogs under their control, until a blog is stolen. The measures taken by Blogger / Google Security staff are considered mere annoyances.

Please, Don't Try Guessing Your Account / Password!

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.

The first would be a blog owner, whose only mistake was having a Blogger account with a name similar to another account, owned by the second.

The second would be someone who could not remember her (his) account name / password, could not use account or password recovery, and who got well meaning advice.

Just do the best you can - try what may be your account name, and any passwords that you can remember!

One blog owner must suffer, because another cannot remember login details.

And owner #1 is suffering, because of owner #2. Owner #1 is now anxiously waiting for action by the security experts (with the blind queue of unknown length) to examine his blogs - and possibly, waiting while not knowing why.

Owner #1 may be seeing this - and not know why.



Password guessing may be necessary, in extreme cases - but it can cause misery - and owner #2 will never realise the pain caused to owner #1. Even if owner #2 recovers access to her / his blogs, innocent brute force attempts can cause account lock / blog security lock, to owner #1.

Protect yourself against the anguish, using Google 2-Step Verification.

The best way to protect against this sort of abuse is to use one or more Google Two Step Verification options. This will leave owner #2 seeing (for instance).

Insert your USB security key, and tap the lighted button.

And having no security key, owner #2 will simply have to try guessing a different account name. It may be an inconvenience (for owner #1), carrying a never used USB security key - but the one time it's needed (and available), it will make up for the inconvenience.

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One #Blogger blog owner, unable to remember a necessary account name or password, may try guessing what cannot be remembered. Guessing an account name can leave one trying an account that somebody else owns - and can cause account lock and blog deletion for somebody who they will never know.

Blogger Support Won't Play Wheel Of Fortune With Us

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.

We have seen several sad stories, played out in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.

Round #1

An unhappy "blog owner" would request assistance.

I forgot the password. Can somebody help me recover access?

Blogger Support would email recovery instructions to "whatever @ gmail . com", and advise the "blog owner"

I emailed your reset instructions to "w****** @ g**** . com".

Sometimes they would get the reply

That does not help me. Can I buy a vowel?

Blogger Support, always optimistic, would give it another go.

I emailed your reset instructions to "w***e*** @ g**** . com".

then

I emailed your reset instructions to "w*a*e*** @ g**** . com".

finally

I emailed your reset instructions to "w*a*e**r @ g**** . com".

Finally, the successful "blog owner" would reply

Thank you so much! I am so happyyyyyyyy!!!

But the story did not always end there.

Round #2

The next month somebody would report

My blog disappeared from my dashboard while I was in the hospital, in a coma. I now want to tell everybody how I am doing - but my blog is now full of spam, and nobody can read it!! Whatever can the problem be?

And the blog mentioned in Round #2 turned out to be the same as in Round #1.

Round #3

The final verdict would be that Blogger Support, while playing "Wheel of Fortune" in Round #1, had been playing with a hacker, who was then able to steal somebody else's blog.

Bonus Round

After that happened a couple times. Blogger developed the recovery tools, and wrote the final FAQ. And, stopped providing real time, personalised advice.

And that is that. You cannot prove that you are the owner of the blog, because you cannot communicate directly with Blogger Support. You have to use the tools provided - and / or search each email account, persistently.

Blogger Support will not play "Wheel of Fortune" any more. Everybody is urged to never reveal their email address, to the world.

In some cases, the blogs would be deleted, as new spam hosts - but ownership is seldom recoverable.

Bankrupt

Your best solution, now, is to start a new blog - then combine the two blogs, in a blog cluster.

Spam Review Requires Triage

If you are a fan of any TV medical dramas - or if you have any medical background, you probably know the term "triage".

In a medical setting, triage is applied to conditions where multiple patients are present, and far outnumber the medical staff available to provide immediate treatment. When a "triage" technique is needed, one doctor examines each patient, briefly, and places each in one of three categories.

1. Immediate care needed, and beneficial.
2. Immediate care not needed. Treat when cases of #1 priority are complete.
3. Immediate care not needed, or useful. Treat when cases of #1 and #2 priority are complete.

We have a "triage" dialogue, for spam review. The dialogue uses 3 progressive screenings, to place a blog in one of three Categories.

1. Spam review needed.
2. Spam review not needed.
3. Spam review not beneficial.

Each progressive reply determines what succeeding reply is appropriate.

Prescreening: Request automated spam review.
The triage process, and manual spam review, is most effective when preceded by an owner requested automated review, using the dashboard "Appeal" / "Restore" / "Review" buttons. This is most likely to happen when the blog owner is able to login, using the right account - and will be possible only when the owner account is not deleted or locked.

Category 1: Spam review needed
This category includes blogs that were deleted by Blogger as suspected spam hosts, are being reported by the owner, and are likely to be restored by Blogger Policy Review staff, when presented to them. Blogs in this category will pass all 3 forum screenings.

Category 2: Spam review not needed
Not all deleted blogs were deleted by Blogger, as suspected spam hosts. Blogs may have other status.

• Deleted by Blogger, for other reasons.
• Deleted by people, not Blogger.
• Not deleted, at all.

None of those blogs will benefit from spam review. The 3 forum screenings help us identify blogs in this category.

Category 3: Spam review not beneficial
Not all blogs, deleted by Blogger, will be restored - even if reviewed. The 3 forum screenings help us identify blogs that will not pass review by Blogger Policy Review staff, and give us the clues and details that can help us convince the novice spammers that continuing to publish a given blog - or requesting review of a righteously deleted blog - will not benefit them.

Screening #1
The first screening helps us establish 3 details.

1. The blog was deleted by Blogger.
2. The blog is a suspected spam host.
3. Review is being requested by the owner.

We can deduce these 3 conditions, given two crucial details by the owner.

• The BlogSpot URL.
• A screen print of the dashboard "Deleted blogs" list.

A thoughtful blog owner, including both details in the opening post in the topic, will avoid the first screening altogether.

I am sure that this is a frustrating experience - and I thank you for writing here, for advice. Impolite treatment of genuine blogs, however, is an unavoidable side effect of Blogger protecting all Blogger blog owners, against people who will try to misuse the Blogger service.

Please, read the linked articles, and help us to help you. This will give you a better idea of the basic requirements for abuse / malware / spam review.

[FAQ] Does The Blogger Abuse Mitigation Policy Violate The Rights Of The Blog Owners?

Screening #2
The second screening gives the blog owner a chance to review the blog in personal memory, and decide whether the blog may have actually been righteously deleted. It uses a set of FAQs developed jointly by Blogger Support, and Top Contributors.

Malware / Spam Appeal Guidelines - January 2015

If your blog(s) have been unfairly classified as a hacking / malware / porn / spam host, we apologise. Nobody gains, with genuine, non spam Blogger blogs being deleted or locked falsely. Given the fact that automated malware / spam detection is not yet a perfect science, Blogger Support is always willing to investigate any reports of false positive reviews, politely posted here in the forum.

That being said, before you request an appeal, it's worth describing a few examples of what Blogger regularly removes, as part of its zero tolerance policy to abusive / inappropriate content: Read the FAQ, for a list of examples.

[FAQ] What Blog Content Is Considered Abusive, By Google Spam Mitigation Policy?

Done honestly and properly, Screening #2 helps everybody avoid any unnecessary third screening and subsequent review request - and Blogger Policy Review staff, Blogger Support staff, Top Contributors, and blog owners can all spend their time more productively.

Screening #3
The third screening - when content from the blog can be found in search engine cache - gives the helpers and blog owners a chance to jointly examine blog content, structure, and style. We try to determine why the blog may have been deleted, and whether it will be useful to continue - and what details to provide to Blogger Support, that might encourage Blogger Policy Review staff to favourably review the blog, and restore it.

I found a copy of the blog, in cache.


Please examine the copy, by clicking on the link above - and examine screen prints, below. Is that typical blog content?

The Review Request
Having passed all 3 screenings, the blog is passed to Blogger Support with documentation - and subsequently, to Blogger Policy review for final evaluation. Following favourable evaluation, the blog is restored.

This is a long, and seemingly ceremonial process. In reality, it enables best use of available time, with all 4 groups of people involved.

1. Blog owners.
2. Blogger Policy Review.
3. Blogger Support.
4. Top Contributors.

The triage process will be the most successful, when everybody is polite, prompt, and responsive.

Setup A Blog For A Google+ Page

The popularity of Google+ continues to grow. Some blog owners would like to have a Blogger blog publish to a Google+ Page, instead of their personal Google+ stream.

This is not difficult. You first make a new Google account, to own the Google+ Page.

Everything that follows is normal Blogger blog management. Don't overlook the details of blog management, though.

The process of making a Google+ Page a blog owner is not so complicated - but it has to be done, carefully.

1. Add a password, to the Page.
2. Setup a GMail email address, for the Page.
3. Make the new Google account a blog owner.
4. Add blog and page relationships.
5. Add blog content, using the new(?) Google account.

Add a password, to the Page.

See Google My Business Help: Set up a password for your Google+ page, for this step.

Note: In some cases, you may have been previously instructed to setup a Google account to manage the Page. If you already have a business Profile setup, skip straight to Step #3, and make the existing Google business account a blog owner.

Setup a GMail email address, for the Page.

Setup a new GMail email address, while logged in to your new account - if this has not already been done.

Make the new Google account a blog owner.

Once you have a new Google account with a unique email address, transfer control of the blog, to a Blogger account based on the new Google account. And make sure that your new Blogger account uses a Google+ profile.

If you want, put the blog under team ownership - though as always, know the risks of team ownership.

Add relationships between the blog, the Google account, and the Google+ page.

Add appropriate links, from the blog to the page, and back. And add the appropriate accessories to the blog - the Google+ badge, or maybe the +1 Button, are good, to start.

Then, add automatic sharing of posts - and maybe Google+ hosted comments. If you add the latter, be aware of one known peculiarity of Blogger and Google+.

Add blog content - while using the new Google account.

Finally, login to Blogger, using the new Google account. Then, start publishing content - and add value to your blog.

Anything you post to the blog, using your current Blogger account, will still be shared to Google+ under your personal profile. You need to be actually using the new account, to share to the Google+ page.

Be aware of possible complications, depending upon how you publish and share.

Sharing to a Google+ page is most reliable when you use the "Share" menu link, in the dashboard Posts page. Automatic sharing, and scheduled posting, may or may not produce the same results.

Use A Blogger Blog As An OpenID Host

We see an occasional request, in Blogger Help Forum: Learn More About Blogger, about commenting and the profile used when authenticated.

How do I have my comments linked directly to my blog? I don't want my comments linked to my profile, with people having to hunt for my blog links!

This person does not understand why we have Bogger / Google / Google+ profiles, linked from our comments.

Even if we can't provide direct links to our blogs, when commenting using a Blogger or Google account - we can do that, if we can comment, using an OpenID account. An OpenID account links directly to our designated blog - when we specify the right blog URL, while logged in using OpenID, to publish a comment.

Your Blogger blog will provide an OpenID account, just as well as a FaceBook or WordPress account will do, for any Blogger blog using Blogger hosted commenting. Blogs using third party commenting systems may, or may not, support OpenID.

Blogger has been providing, OpenID authentication, for comments, for some time.

Getting OpenID to work - to allow comments using a Blogger based OpenID "account", is not automatic, however. The OpenID V1 tags, which are part of the standard Blogger blog header, don't work. You'll need to replace them, with OpenID V2 - and you will need a Blogger account, with a Google / Google+ profile.

Here, as always, I'll advise you to backup the template - before and after tweaking it.

You'll add 3 lines of code. Copy and paste 3 lines (which may display here as up to 6 lines, wrapped), below.

<link href='https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/ud?source=profiles' rel='openid2.provider'/>
<link href='http://www.google.com/profiles/nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn' rel='openid2.local_id'/>
<link href='http://www.blogger.com/openid-server.g' rel='openid.server'/>

Access the dashboard Template wizard, and use "Edit HTML". At the top of the header section, look for the "all-head-content" tag.

Change

<b:include data='blog' name='all-head-content'/>
<title><data:blog.pageTitle/></title>

To

<b:include data='blog' name='all-head-content'/>
<link href='https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/ud?source=profiles' rel='openid2.provider'/>
<link href='http://www.google.com/profiles/nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn' rel='openid2.local_id'/>
<link href='http://www.blogger.com/openid-server.g' rel='openid.server'/>
<title><data:blog.pageTitle/></title>

Then, replace

nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

with your Google or Google+ profile id. And hit "Save template".

The next time you are preparing to comment, on a blog that supports OpenID based comments, select OpenID, and provide the URL of your blog.

You will have to login, using your Blogger account with the right Google / Google+ profile, and accept the comment. Other than that, it's pretty straightforward.

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Confusion About GMail Vs Non GMail Based Email

Long ago, when diagnosing a problem thought to involve email, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, we would ask a very simple question

Is your Blogger account based on a GMail - or non GMail - email address?

And we would carefully add

Please, do not state your email address, here!

The latter request was to prevent theft of peoples Blogger accounts.

Now, in many cases, we must qualify the question of email address. We also ask.

Is your email provided by your employer, ISP, or school network?

and even

Do you read your email in a browser window, or a local email client?

Modern email distribution is not always homogeneous.

Both questions reflect the complex nature of email delivery, that is a part of Internet reality.

Few people can accurately diagnose their problems, based only on the simple question

Is your Blogger account based on a GMail - or non GMail - email address?

The lines between GMail, and non GMail email accounts - and addresses - are not absolute, any more.

Both GMail and non GMail addresses may be used in a local network.

GMail, and non GMail addresses, alike, may use GMail browser based email, in delivery and display. And GMail accounts may use non GMail email systems, for addressing, delivery, and / or display.

These variations can lead to interesting scenarios such as mysterious loss of blog membership invitations, and of email subscriptions. And options for Blogger account recovery become more complicated - with password synchronisation issues, between the email account and the Blogger account.

Thanks to Google Apps based domains, and the ability to provide non GMail addresses which use GMail, anybody can use a non GMail address with GMail based delivery and display. Some people have even setup Blogger accounts, based on Google Apps based email addresses (again, appearing to be non GMail based) - though this is not recommended.

Managed domains may use GMail delivery, and a non GMail email address.

Corporate email systems, ISP provided email, and schools (of all grades, elementary through university) may use Google Apps based email. Many large local network based email systems have been "upgraded" to use cloud based email, such as GMail, for delivery and display. The results are not always beneficial.

And, thanks to "push / pull" GMail options, where an individual GMail account can be configured by a knowlegeable account owner, even individual account owners can use a GMail address, with non GMail delivery and display - or can use GMail display, for non GMail based address / delivery.

With computer owners who do not care or know about what email system they use, with where the individual messages may be filed, and with security filters that update without notice, loss of email messages is common.

Bounced email does not get dropped into the "Bulk" / "Spam" folder.

Note that "bounced" email may not be treated as spam. Some "bounced" email never gets as far as a spam filter - it may simply be rejected. You will look, in vain, in the "Bulk", "Inbox", and "Spam" folders.

This will interfere with account recovery - if you can't find the password reset email, how do you recover control of the account?

The simple question

Is your Blogger account based on a GMail - or non GMail - email address?

just is not accurate, when diagnosing all Blogger problems.

Logging In To Following, Using The Google "One account" Login

Long ago, Blogger Following (aka Google Friend Connect) was part of a non Google community of social networks.

If you wanted to Follow a blog, you had to login to the Followers gadget, but separately from your login session with Blogger. This let you login to Blogger to maintain your blog, and to Follow other blogs, using any desired Blogger or Google account that you wished.

You do not have to Follow other peoples blogs, using the same Blogger or Google account that you use to maintain your blog - nor do you have to logout from your Blogger account that you are using to publish to your blog, so you can Follow somebody else's blog. This lets you separate blog ownership identity from blog Following and surfing activity.

As part of the separate login policy, Following let you login using any Blogger / Google account - or using any one of several non Google accounts, of an interesting variety.

Long ago, your selections, for logging in to Following, included an intriguing complement of hosts, for your Followers account.

• Google
• Twitter
• Yahoo
• AIM
• Netlog
• OpenID

Adding to the intrigue, you could choose from an interesting, and oddly differing, complement of hosts, for your Followers profile.

• Following (Default)
• Blogger
• Google
• Orkut
• Netlog
• Plaxo
• Twitter

With the coming of the Google "One account" login to Blogger, all of that is simplified. Now, to login to Following, as for Blogger, you get the normal Google "One account" login display.

The login display is carefully labeled, so you know that you are logging in to Following.

Sign in to continue to Google Friend Connect

Other than that label, what you see is the well known "One account" login display.

As with any Blogger / Google login, you can login to a GMail address based Blogger / Google account - or to a non GMail email address based Blogger / Google account. And, if you don't yet have a Blogger or Google account, there is the also familiar link to

Create an account

Clicking on "Create an account", you are given the standard Google "Create your Google Account" wizard.

As with any account creation scenario, I will once, again, remind you that creating a Blogger / Google account creates a responsibility. It is in your best interest to remember and secure the account name and password, and to religiously maintain all backup devices and features, such as backup email account, phone number, and secret question.

As with any Blogger / Google feature, use of the Google "One account" login is subject to your use of a computer with properly configured filters. You need proper filter settings, to permit popup windows, scripts (JavaScript), and third party cookies.

The Google "One account" display, when used for Following, may be subject to the same confusion, as with the Blogger login. Don't use the login account menu, without being aware of possible confusion.

The login process appears to run under "accounts.google.com", presenting cross site relationships with "blogger.com", "blogspot.com", and whatever country code domain, and / or custom domain might affect you, as you view your blog and other blogs.

Interestingly enough, once you are logged in to Following, and you prepare to Follow another blog, you still may get the choice of account hosts.

• Following (Default)
• Blogger
• Google
• Orkut
• Netlog
• Plaxo
• Twitter

The Google "One account" login only replaces the authentication portion of Following. Just click on the "More options" link, instead of the initial "Follow this blog" button, for an intriguing complement of Following options.

>> Top

The Mysterious Disappearing Reading List

One long known mystery, reported from time to time in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, involves the dashboard Reading List, and panic from disappearing entries.

Where are the blogs, in my Reading List?

Some Blogger blog owners and readers can spend days setting up their Reading List complement - and see their work vanish, in seconds.

One of the reasons why this problem has not been solved is that it is not reported in consistently high volume, and has no obvious pattern. Another is that many people who use the Reading List - as opposed to a third party NewsFeed Reader - are not of the highest in technological skill level, and do not have the patience to provide coherent and relevant details about the problem.

From my observation of forum problem reports, I suspect that there are at least 3 different problems, which cause this intermittent Reading List scenario.

It's likely that each problem is caused in part by the people, who depend upon the Reading List to follow blogs published by them, and by other people. Some people also publish their own blogs, while others only read blogs, using their own Reading List - and this can complicate both the diagnosis, and resolution, of the problems.

At least some of the reports of "My Reading List has disappeared!" involve three long known problems - each problem caused, in part, by the Blogger account owners who use the Reading List.

• Cookie / Script Filters, which prevent the Reading List code from identifying the reader, and displaying the personal Reading List.
• Multiple Blogger accounts, where an account owner sets up their personal Reading List while logged in to one account, and later uses a different Blogger account, with no personal Reading List setup for that account.
• Load Timeout is a problem with the Reading List assembly process, similar to timeout by the Dynamic Template assembly process.

The cookie / script filtering issue is similar to another long standing problem - Blogger Comments, particularly using the Embedded comment form. Third party cookies, which carry the identity of the person logged in to Blogger, being filtered and unavailable to the Reading List generation code, lead to the empty Reading List display. The Blogger Comments problem, like the Reading List problem, seems more common to people with lower tech skills set.

The cookie / script filters issue may also involve people who access the Internet through countries subject to country code alias redirection. People who live in the UK may not consistently update their security filters to permit cookies or scripts from "blogspot.co.uk", as they do for "blogspot.com". People who live close to international boundaries may not be aware of the vagaries of geolocation, and how their country code alias redirection may be affected, from day to day.

Another filter issue may involve recently updated filters. Thanks to ever changing security needs, and frequent unannounced updates by many security product vendors, a filter which worked yesterday may not work today. People unaware of the intrusive nature of security updates won't think to check the update log for any security product.

The empty Reading List problem can be caused by aggressive cookie / script filters, as is a similar problem - inability to remove specific blogs from the Reading List.

The multiple accounts issue is common to almost every Blogger feature. Ever since Blogger added the "Create an account" link to the Blogger / Google login screen, people have been setting up multiple Blogger accounts. Some people setup multiple accounts accidentally, and others do so on purpose.

If you combine the "Create an account" link with the ease of setting up a non GMail based Blogger account, you see that many people who don't use GMail can easily setup a new Blogger account without realising what they are doing. The owner of a new account, newly able to login, finds an empty dashboard. People who use the Reading List, purely to Follow other peoples blogs, will not be interested in the empty "My blogs" list, and will simply observe the lack of entries in the Reading List.

Other people setup additional Blogger accounts intentionally, to host different blogs under different accounts. People who intentionally segregate their blogs may not understand the similar personal nature of the Reading List.

Cookie / script filters can also block the contents of the Google "One Account" display from being properly generated - and may similarly contribute to creation of multiple accounts. The "reflexive action" design of the "One Account" display also contributes to use of the wrong account, in multiple account situations.

Both aggressive cookie / script filtering, and use of multiple Blogger accounts, can lead to lack of proper identification of the Blogger account owner - and to an empty Reading List.

The load timeout issue is similar to Dynamic Template load timeout. If you have any interesting assortment of feeds, in your Reading List, clear cache, cookies, and sessions, restart the browser, and login to Blogger. Immediately, scroll to the bottom of the screen, and watch the Reading List on your dashboard.

The list will, initially, be completely empty - then suddenly, it will fill with some number of posts, instantaneously. This is the same way a blog displays, in a dynamic view.

The various feeds in the Reading List have to be merged, so the individual posts can be displayed in proper sequence - in the same way that the components of a dynamic template display are assembled. This will make the Reading List display vulnerable to intermittent local and network problems, as the dynamic templates are vulnerable.

Different client computers will be differently vulnerable to load timeout, because of details like differing reading list content, individual network problems, and individual local computer problems. Reading List load timeout will have the same effect as Dynamic View load timeout - no display. This will be a truly intermittent problem.

Besides the inconsistent and intermittent load timeout, we'll see consistent errors, like the empty Reading List - and the mysterious lack of ability to remove Reading List entries.

All of the above issues are caused, in part, by the Blogger account owners. Blogger Engineering has worked for many years to solve the problem of cookie filtering and commenting, in vain. I suspect that they have also worked on the Reading List display problem, with similar result.

As long as people use their own computers, with security components of their own choosing - and neglect to consistently use the same Blogger account - Blogger is never going to solve the problem of the empty Reading List. The panic will never go away.

Thanks to the Google "One account" login, as Blogger is made a way of life to more of a reader population who have no interest in maintaining security on their computer, these issues will become more problematic.

Try To Resolve Any Ownership Issues, Before You Request Spam Review

Spam review requests, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, are not unusual topics.

Occasionally, we get a spam review request, with a twist.

My blog has been deleted - but I don't have a "Restore", or a "Review" link on my dashboard!

There are various reasons for blogs disappearing from the dashboard, not all of which a blog owner may be immediately aware.

Consider The Issues
I find it's best to try to identify any content / ownership issues, before starting the spam review dialogue - or starting over, with a new blog.

• It is almost always in the best interest of the owner, to request review using the dashboard link, before requesting a manual review in the forum.
• If we bypass ownership resolution, and go straight to spam review, the blog may be restored to service. In some cases of "I have no 'Restore' or 'Review' link on the dashboard", the blog, when restored, will be under the control of the account which the owner should be using. This may not be the current account, which has no "Restore" or "Review" link on the dashboard.
• This is the best time to diagnose and resolve your problems. If you give up and set up another blog - and if you make the same mistakes with the new blog - your Blogger account will be at risk, because you may look like a non repentant spammer.
• If the blog was deleted because of multiple DMCA violations, nothing can be done from the dashboard. DMCA violations have a formal appeal process.
• If the blog was deleted / locked because of detected hacking, absolutely nothing can be done. The account, and all blogs owned, have to undergo integrity checking, before any blog can be restored.
• If the blog was deleted because of detected malware, it can only be restored, and review requested, using the "Restore", then "Review" links. If a blog, deleted / locked for malware, is submitted for spam review, the blog will sit in the spam review queue, then be returned with the verdict "Malware" - and nothing will be accomplished.

Too many Blogger blog owners, accidentally or intentionally, setup multiple Blogger accounts.

Accidental Multiple Accounts
Some blog owners accidentally setup new Blogger accounts. Too many blog owners, because of the Blogger / Google (One Account" login display, end up using the "Create an account" link - when they should login to an existing account, which owns their blog(s). When this happens, they are able to login to Blogger, but find an empty dashboard.

Seeing an empty dashboard, the next step is to recover control of the blog. When this is done, they now are able to login to Blogger, using the right Blogger account - but with the new, accidentally created account still out there.

Some blog owners will continue, periodically logging into Blogger, using the wrong account - then recovering control of the blog, using the email address. This procedure, cumbersome that it may be, will work fine - until the blog is classified as a spam blog, or until the original Blogger account is deleted or locked. In either case, the blog owner will login to Blogger, using the wrong account - but find no dashboard link.

Intentional Multiple Accounts
Other blog owners intentionally setup new Blogger accounts, to publish a blog, anonymously. As long as they religiously remember the proper account name and password, to access each different blog, this is not a problem.

The problem here comes when they forget about using the correct Blogger account, or become temporarily confused by the Blogger / Google (One Account" login display. With the blog in question deleted or locked, as above, they login using the wrong account - and find the Blogger dashboard, again lacking the expected "Restore" or "Review" link.

With either the accidental or intentional account creation, the blog owner will be unable to login to the correct Blogger account, and request review using the dashboard link. This requires the manual review, which takes more time to complete, if the blog was deleted as a spam host. If the blog was not deleted as a spam host, the manual review will be a waste of time.

If and when the blog is reviewed and restored, the owner will still be unable to access the blog from his account. The blog will be online - but with no active owner.

Consider The Possibilities
If the blog owner is aware of possible access, ownership, and TOS issues, before the review process is started, he may be able to resolve his mistake while the review is underway. This will allow him to take control of the newly restored blog, immediately - rather than spending time, after the blog is restored, going through the blog ownership recovery process.

Start Diagnosis Properly
Whatever the origin of the account confusion issue, diagnosis of deletion starts with identification of the owner account. The dashboard of the owner account - and email sent to the owning account - may provide key clues, that indicate why a blog was deleted. Knowing why a blog was deleted may help us avoid an unnecessary spam review.

Don't Copy Content, Inappropriately

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.

Google describes the overall issue, about copying content from blog to blog, quite plainly, in Blogger Help: Spam, phishing, or malware on Blogger.

Spam blogs cause various problems, beyond simply wasting a few seconds of your time when you happen to come across one. They can clog up search engines, making it difficult to find real content on the subjects that interest you. They may scrape content from other sites on the web, using other people's writing to make it look as though they have useful information of their own. And if an automated system is creating spam posts at an extremely high rate, it can impact the speed and quality of the service for other, legitimate users.

Spam classification is one of several penalties, which involve copied content. I've seen various content penalties, that are reported, from time to time, in the forums.

Some penalties involve copyrighted material - but non copyrighted material, improperly used, can cause problems. And unrighteous charges will inconvenience you, and cause other problems.

• Content Warning
• DMCA Violations
• Spam Classification
• Search Engine Reputation

Content Warning
If you copy controversial content, that does not belong in your blog, some of your readers will object. Originally used to block "adult" content from being viewed by younger readers, the "content warning" / "objectionable content" classification is broader in scope than it appears to be. This accusation is sometimes used by readers, who may object in quantity, to any irrelevant subject in any blog.

A Content Warning interstitial will damage your search engine result listings. You'll have to request a review of the blog, to get the warning removed. The people who review content warnings may not do so with high priority.

DMCA Violations
If you improperly copy copyrighted material, and the lawful owners complain, you can be cited for DMCA Violations. You will end up with posts - and later the blog - deleted or locked.

You'll have to search the ChillingEffects database, for details, and appeal the citation. If you don't appeal a citation, and if you continue to make the same mistakes, you can be classified as a "non repentant" abuser - and your Blogger / Google account will be deleted or locked.

Spam Classification
If you unwisely copy material, or supply material to be copied, your blog can be classified as a spam host, with the offense described as "scraping / syndication". This will require a spam review. Until the review is concluded, and the verdict is satisfactory, your blog will remain offline.

If you publish multiple blogs concurrently, with the same content, you can be classified as a spammer. If you publish multiple blogs sequentially, with the same content, you can be classified as a "non repentant" spammer - and your Blogger / Google account will be deleted or locked.

If your blog consists mainly of copied material - even if properly attributed, you will need your own material also. A blog with only copied content is still subject to classification. I strongly recommend no more than 10% copied content, to 90% original content - if you want any decent reputation.

Search Engine Reputation
If you copy or share content - whether cited for content, DMCA, or spam - your blog's search engine reputation will suffer. Multiple blogs and websites, with the same content, will result in higher reputation blogs and websites getting better placement in a SERP. Your blog will end up at the bottom of any relevant SERP listing - and your traffic level will drop.

Using Dynamic Content
If you copy a script from a third party website, that references dynamic content owned by that website, you are responsible for ensuring that the script works - or deal with the consequences. If you host videos served from the website in question, on your blog, this is similar to hot linking. If the video in question is removed by the website owner, and stops playing from your website, you must contact the owner of the website.

The Bottom Line
The bottom line here is that blog content needs to be informative, interesting, relevant, properly targeted, and unique. If you push the limits, you will regret your decision, eventually.

Your blog will need a good search reputation, to get readers. Start with good content, based upon what you know, and are willing to share.

Don't Try To Map The Boundaries Of Abusive Content

We continue to see signs of innovative publishing technique, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, about deleted / suspended Blogger accounts, and deleted blogs.

My Blogger account was just deleted! I have gotten a few DMCA complaints, in the past - but I always deleted the offending posts! Why were all of my blogs just deleted?

This blog owner does not understand that multiple offenses must be resolved, to avoid abuse classification - and eventual account deletion.

Young children are always testing the limits, to see what behaviour they can get away with, before penalties are imposed, by their parents.

Spammers, like children, like to test the limits.

Spammers like to test the limits, in Blogger. They will publish multiple blogs, simultaneously, each with different innovative content / technique (aka borderline spam) - then wait to see what blogs get deleted. This is also known as "mapping the boundaries".

Mapping the boundaries, in Blogger, can have unpleasant consequences. Like any parent, Blogger / Google has some patience - but their patience has limits.

Blogger / Google describe what the limits are based on - but not where they are.

Blogger / Google define the limits, in their Google: Terms Of Service, and Blogger: Blogger Content Policy references. Blogger blog owners are advised to stay well within the limits.

Like any legal policy, "terms are subject to change", without warning. And, they are subject to interpretation, by Blogger Policy Enforcement, and by Google Legal. If you repeatedly test the limits, expect to be treated appropriately.

Consequences, for exceeding the limits, may not be pleasant.

The consequences, for blog owners exceeding the limits, are gradual - but finite. The intermediate and long term effects may not be pleasant.

When the final limit is exceeded, and penalties are imposed, the blog owner may have to start over, with a new account and new blogs.

The best advice is to stay well within the stated limits.

Don't test the limits, if you want to publish a Blogger blog, with any real future. Publish good original content, that informs and interests your readers. And, publish regularly. That is how you get traffic, to your blog.

Private / Team Blog Owners, Using Non GMail EMail

For some time, we've known about a problem with non GMail based Blogger accounts, and comment moderation / notification email.

That problem, though mildly annoying to the blog owners affected, has an easy workaround - use a GMail based email address, for comment moderation / notification. That's a quick 15 minute fix.

1. Setup a GMail account, if necessary.
2. Change the comment moderation / notification email addresses, for the blog(s) affected, to use the GMail email account.

GMail email accounts are, after all, free.

Besides the ease of putting a workaround in place, that problem is not all that severe. The problem with comment moderation / notification email, being filtered, only affects blog owners who moderate before publishing. Owners who moderate after publishing can always use the Blogger dashboard Comments wizard, at their convenience, to moderate.

This week, we realised that the base problem - rejected email because of non GMail based Blogger accounts - may also affect owners of private / team blogs, who have prospective non GMail members. This specific problem probably affects less blogs - but it won't have as easy a workaround.

Owners of private / team blogs, who use non GMail based Blogger accounts, may not find an easy workaround for the problem of Blogger blog membership invitations being rejected by a non GMail email system.

The base problem, as it affects comment moderation / notification, is obvious. The owner of an affected blog will see all comment moderation / notification email, sent to him, rejected by his own non GMail email system. Anybody who owns a blog that's affected will be sending all comment moderation / notification email to the non GMail email system.

The base problem, as it affects private / team blog membership invitations, is more subtle. This problem will affect blogs owned under non GMail based Blogger accounts - and / or when sending invitations to prospective members who use non GMail email systems. Email within Google - Blogger to GMail - should not be subject to the same filtering, since the email will actually originate from a Google server.

With all that, this problem will be more annoying, in that it will involve email rejected by the prospective member email system - not by the blog owner email system. Prospective blog members won't likely be receptive to changing their email addresses, just to receive a membership invitation. Also, the blog owner may not always see the email rejection - and may not know that the invitations are being dropped - and may not be found in the "Bulk" / "Spam" folders.

To avoid this problem, membership invitations, from any affected blogs, will have to have be sent from a GMail based Blogger account. This will require a GMail based Blogger account, added as an additional administrator - and it will involve the known risks of having an extra administrator account. Only administrators can send membership invitations.

This problem will probably have less exposure than the one with comment moderation / notification email - but to the blog owners affected, it will seem more severe. It will actually prevent prospective members, using non GMail based email systems, from joining the blogs affected. And, it will require a blog owner to add a GMail based Blogger account, as a blog member.

Please, Do Not Publicise Your Email Address

We've seen a few reports, recently, about stolen blogs, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.

Why is my blog not on my dashboard - and why is somebody else publishing, and using my name?

There are so many reports from people who are not using Google "One Account" login properly, that the significance of this problem report was initially overlooked.

More than a few such reports started with the blog owner email address being openly disclosed - generally on the blog, or in comments. Too many blog owners want to be contacted - and they innocently provide their email addresses as a contact point.

We've known, for years, about disclosed email addresses, and brute force password guessing. That is not the only way your email address can be used, to gain access to your Blogger account, however.

Google recently had to deal with a very carefully executed hacking project, where Blogger and Google account owners received some well phrased advice, in their email.

Google treats policy violations and invalid activity very seriously in order to protect the users, publishers, and advertisers who make up our advertising ecosystem. While we usually notify publishers and take action for policy and invalid activity at the site level, there may be times when we will need to suspend or disable accounts due to policy violations or invalid activity.

Our hope is that you will be able to resolve your policy issues during the suspension period using This Link

I'm betting that the above message was written, very carefully, by hackers who studied the phrasing and wording of the many abuse / spam / TOS violation notices, sent out by Blogger Support constantly.

Many of the recipients of the email are the same crowd that I encountered, several years ago, when we saw similar numbers of reports about the same type of stolen blogs. The owners typically

• Post their email address, or provide it for contact, visibly.
• Participate in comment based networking, on their blog, and openly state their email address.
• Participate in comment based networking, on similar blogs, and openly state their email address.

Each of these activities can be used, by the bad guys, to build lists of email addresses, of people who can be easily persuaded by an email message, to resolve their policy issues using the link provided. And this led to a number of reports, in the forums, about stolen blogs - and mentioning email, offering to sell the stolen blogs back, to the rightful owners.

If you want contact from your readers, there are more safe ways to allow this.

• The Blogger "Contact Me" form.
• Blogger based comments, with email address concealed (and not stated openly).
• Google+ based comments / networking, with email address never involved (and not stated openly).
• Setup a second email account. Use one email account for contact - and a second for blog ownership.

All of the above contact options give you a possibility of hearing from and / or networking with, your readers - and none of these options require you to disclose your ownership email address.

Just don't disclose your email address, to the world at large. Your email address is one half of the security measure, as designed by Google - that prevents unknown individuals, from taking control of your Blogger account and your blogs.

Finally, if you are not yet using Google 2-Step Verification, this is the time. If you were one of the victims of the recent attack, you know the despair. If not, you truly don't want to be. In either case, you should really want to protect your account, and your blogs.

Confusion From Email Spam Detection, And Non GMail Email

We're seeing a few reports in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken about problems with email, sent by Blogger, when the destination is a non GMail email system.

Some email systems verify the sending email address, against IP address. With these systems, email which originates from a Blogger account that's based on a non GMail email address, and comes from a Blogger / Google IP address, is going to present a problem, to the account owners.

If your Blogger account (your readers Blogger account) is based on a non GMail email address - and your blog provides any of various "notification" / "subscription" services, this can be a problem.

• "BlogSend" (aka "Email posts to") based subscriptions.
• Comment moderation or notification email.
• FeedBurner feed distribution, such as "Subscribe by Email"
• Your readers like to comment authenticated, and select the "Email follow-up comments ..." option.
• The Blogger supplied "Contact Me" accessory gadget.

You're going to have email "bounced" by some (non GMail) email clients. This will be a similar problem, if a reader sends you email - or Blogger relays you email based on your reader request, as in comment notification or contact form entries.

Note that "bounced" email may not be treated as spam. Some "bounced" email never gets as far as a spam filter - it may simply be rejected. You will look, in vain, in "Bulk", "Inbox", and "Spam" folders.

Blogger originated email, to certain email clients, will be bounced, because Blogger sends the notification / subscription email with your Blogger account (your readers account) mentioned, as the sender.

With Blogger comment moderation / notification email coming from a non GMail based Blogger account, and sent from a Google IP address, an email client such as AOL, HotMail, or Yahoo, which verifies email address against IP address, is going to reject the incoming email message. This is because "Sender Policy Framework", which AOL, HotMail, Yahoo, and other email systems use, detects the originating address as "spoofed".

Spoofing is a common technique used by spammers, in hiding their email identity. Most email based spam is spoofed - so email systems, which use DKIM or SPF filters to identify spam, will bounce any messages which do not verify properly - when IP address and originating email address are compared.

The problem may also involve comment subscription email. This may result in bounce messages being sent to the person attempting to publish a comment. This causes more confusion.

The solution, to the problem with moderation / notification email, is simple - but unlikely to satisfy many Blogger account owners. You will have to use a GMail email address, for comment moderation or notification. Until Blogger Engineering figure a better way to send the moderation / notification email, email clients such as AOL, HotMail, and Yahoo will have this problem.

If the blog owner changes ownership of a blog, from a non GMail based Blogger account to a GMail based account, and neglects to change the comment moderation / notification email address, the bounce messages will likely continue. What might happen with comment subscription email is yet to be determined.

This problem, as discussed above, affects the comment moderation process. While annoying to some blog owners (as noted, those using non GMail based Blogger accounts / email addresses), the problem is not all that severe. Affected blog owners can use the Blogger dashboard Comments wizard, to moderate comments. Also, blog owners, who moderate comments after they are published, may not even notice this problem.

This problem may also affect membership invitations to private / team blogs This will be a more severe issue, in that this problem will affect all blogs with owners using non GMail email addresses, and with prospective blog members on large non GMail email systems - because there will be no dashboard based wizard - and no possibility of moderation after publishing.

The involvement of Google Apps based (non "gmail.com" Google email) Blogger accounts, and Blogger originated email, is yet to be studied. Also please note that Blogger account email addresses, and comment moderation / notification email addresses, do not have to be the same - and this may cause still more confusion.

Your Right To Be Forgotten Does Not Supersede My Right To Retain Ownership Of My Blog

Thanks to a recent decision by the European Courts, many people are claiming the right to delete their blogs, and to have the search engines stop indexing their blogs.

Some people believe that this newly defined right entitles them to recover control of their blogs, published long ago, with access (account name and password) long forgotten. A few such people even have blogs owned by "legacy" Blogger accounts, never converted to Blogger / Google accounts.

Nobody has the right to unilaterally take control of a blog that may belong to somebody else. If you cannot prove yourself to be the owner of a given blog, Blogger Support should not provide to you control of that blog. Whether you want to delete a blog, or to change the content, you have to prove ownership of the blog.

So called "legacy" blogs are a concern, because even Blogger Support cannot authoritatively identify all "legacy" accounts. All that they can say is

If your blog was created before 2007, you may have a "legacy" Blogger account.

More properly, since some blogs were converted transparently (without realisation of the owner), they should say

If your blog was created before 2007, and never converted, you may have a "legacy" Blogger account.

The "legacy" account conversion took many years - and everybody was given many months of warning, to get their accounts converted. This was not an overnight process.

All that you can do is to try to convert your Blogger account, and see if you get control of your long forgotten blog. Even if converted, though, you have to be able to prove ownership of the account, once it's been converted - just as you have to prove ownership of any Blogger account.

Too many people try to steal ownership of someone else's blog, by claiming to own the blog - but conveniently forgot the account name or password.

Since there are more people working on their blogs (maybe not today, but sometime in the past), than are trying to recover control, people trying to recover control (or to steal someone else's blog), are going to get less support.

The term "actively working on their blog" implies no specific activity level. A blog, published once, 10 years ago, is just as valid as one published once daily for 10 years.

Blogger blog owners are entitled to the same courtesy and security - as long as each blog owner acts responsibly, and remembers the account name and password of an owning Blogger account. Similarly, blog owners are entitled to Blogger not providing clues, to blog thieves, that could assist in blog theft.

If Blogger / Google does not agree with your claim, and if you believe in the right to be forgotten, you hire a lawyer, and get a court order. Let the courts decide your special rights.

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Please, NEVER Share Your Blogger Account!

We see signs of naivete, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken. too often.

I gave my boyfriend (girlfriend, former spouse, Internet acquaintance, whatever) my account password - and now, I can't access my account.

This is a problem which Blogger cannot resolve, in any way.

Please, never ever share your Blogger account. Blogger accounts, like Blogger blogs, are free.

If someone who you know would like to read your private blog - or contribute to your team blog - add that person as a blog member, and let her / him use his / her own Blogger account (new, or existing).

There is absolutely no need for you to ever share your Blogger account.

Use private / team blog membership, when applicable.

Shared Blogger accounts carry all of the risks of team blog ownership - and more. Do not share your personal Blogger account to provide private blog membership, or team blog ownership.

Blogger does not provide an option to protect blog content, using a shared password. If you want to password protect blog content, make the blog private, and add readers. Let your readers use their own password (with their own Blogger account).

Split a blog into a security cluster, if necessary.

If you want to password protect a portion of a Blogger blog, break the blog into two portions - the public portion, and the private portion, and provide the private portion as a private blog.

Private blogs, with large reader communities, will require imaginative setup.

If you must have a private blog with more than 100 members, and you cannot use Google+ as an email based distribution medium, setup a read only account to access the blog - and let the members share that Blogger account.

If you setup a shared Blogger account as a blog member (read only), you'll need to maintain a separate mailing list of all shared members. Use BCC to email everybody (don't share everybody's email address with everybody else), giving them the shared account name and password. Save the mailing list, carefully.

With 100+ shared account members, chances are that one day, somebody will change the password on the account, and lock out everybody else. You'll have to then setup a new Blogger account, make that account a new read only blog member, cancel the old member, and email everybody with the new shared account name and password.

If you must have a community, of over 100 members, and let everybody share (not just read), use Google+ - or setup a wiki based website. Your needs are far beyond the ability of Blogger.

When another person works on the blog, they can use their own account.

If you need someone else to work on the blog, make them a blog member or administrator - with their own Blogger account. If their usefulness is temporary, when they are done, revoke their access to the blog - then verify that they did not leave any back door code behind.

Your account name and password is your personal identity.

In any case, keep your account and password (and the blog ownership) private, to you.

Use common sense. Do not share your Blogger account.

• Do not share your Blogger account with your boyfriend.
• Do not share your Blogger account with your girlfriend.
• Do not share your Blogger account with your husband.
• Do not share your Blogger account with your wife.
• Do not share your Blogger account with your boss.
• Do not share your Blogger account with your employee.
• Do not share your Blogger account with your collaborator.

I've warned everybody that team blogs are security risks - but they are way safer than team Blogger accounts.

• Do not wear other peoples underpants.
• Do not share your Blogger account.

Both are rules to live by.

Stolen Blogs Can Not, Generally, Be Returned

Whether you give up your blog willingly, have your blog stolen from you, or accidentally enable your blog to be stolen - once your blog is in someone else's control, Blogger cannot, legally, help you.

We see the naivete, periodically, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.

I made my friend an administrator of my blog, and he changed me to an author. Can Blogger restore my ownership?

And the short answer, too frequently given, is denial.

No, Blogger cannot help you.

Blogs stolen, supposedly from their rightful owner, can generally not be returned by Blogger.

There are various ways to lose control of a blog.

• Some will, intentionally, transfer control - then change their mind.
• Others will naively make a friend a co-administrator - and have the friend take control of the blog.
• Still others may enable the blog to be stolen by a hacker.

In any case, once control passes to another person, it's unlikely that Blogger can, unilaterally, restore ownership.

Blog thieves are very persuasive - and masquerade as theft victims.

One problem here is that too many would be blog thieves start their tales with just these claims. Long ago, Blogger Support would, obediently, "restore" ownership, when requested - and we would later see the angry forum report.

How did this other person get control of my blog?

Blogger Support would research the second "theft" report - and realise, too late, that they had previously enabled the theft.

Blog owners enable some thefts, with security mistakes and requests.

Also, if you neglect to remember your account name or password, please don't just setup a new account, then suggest that Blogger transfer control of the blog, to the new account. This suggestion, also, has been used to make Blogger an unwitting accomplice in too many thefts.

Blog owners must assume some responsibility for problems.

The bottom line here is that you have to accept full responsibility, for retaining control of your Blogger account and blogs.

Even if your friends account is hacked, then used to attack yours, don't expect assistance from Blogger / Google. And please understand that blog security review won't happen, immediately.