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.

Dashboard "Deleted blogs" Buttons Are Broken

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.

Right now, we are starting immediate manual spam review, for blogs deleted as suspected spam hosts, when properly requested by the owner.

People who have "intentionally" deleted their own blogs, and who want to restore, may not be able to easily do that. There is no manual "restore my blog" process, that is appropriately part of Blogger Support Forum.

There are an array of cases, which can result in deleted or locked blogs. Only one case requires spam review.

Any other case leaves the owner waiting, needlessly, for Blogger Policy Review to return a verdict that they can't review a blog that was not deleted as a suspected spam host. Blogger Policy Review works from a normally long queue - and with the currently broken buttons, it's an even longer queue.

Without use of the buttons, ownership verification starts with the owner supplying a screen print of "Deleted blogs". The screen print is inconvenient for both the owner - and for the helpers in Blogger Support Forum, who must carefully verify that spam review is necessary. This happens only when the owner is able and willing to cooperate, and provide a usable screen print.

We now have a Rollup Discussion, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, where we are requesting demographic and technical details from each blog owner reporting inability to use the "Deleted blogs" buttons.

This malfunction has been reported to Blogger Engineering, for their resolution. Since we are at end of year, and the holiday season, it's unlikely that the problem will be resolved this year.

While we wait for their action by Blogger Engineering, everybody experiencing this problem is strongly urged to contribute their details to the Rollup Discussion. Problem diagnosis being as it is, any one person, contributing their details, might contribute the one essential detail that leads to successful diagnosis of the problem.

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Confusion From Non Operable Dashboard "Restore" / "Review" Buttons

This week, we're seeing a few reports from anguished blog owners, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.

My blog was deleted for spam, and I can't request review because the dashboard button doesn't work!

This blog owner is being hit by a double whammy - first, a spurious spam classification; and second, inability to request review of the blog, falsely accused, using the dashboard.

It's possible that this problem is just the latest symptom of intrusive security on the personal computers, used by the owners of blogs falsely accused of hosting spam content.

Like every other feature in Blogger, that requires authentication of owner status, the dashboard "Restore" / "Review" button can only be used by the owner of a given blog.

Knowing that almost every computer on the Internet is subject to unnotified security updates, it's not un imaginable to see a recent security update having caused this problem.

This problem has been forwarded to Blogger Support, for their consideration. While we wait for a response from Blogger, it's up for the owners of the blogs falsely accused, to provide some details about their computers.

We noe have a rollup discussion, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue. If you are affected by this problem, please provide details there.

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Confusion From Comments And The CAPTCHA

This week, we're seeing complaints from quite a few angry blog owners, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.

Why do I have to solve a CAPTCHA, to comment on my own blog?

and

Everybody sees a CAPTCHA - even if they are logged in to Blogger!

Previously, the CAPTCHA was visible only to those not logged in to Blogger, or to those wishing to comment, anonymously.

It appears that the full page and popup window comment forms were updated, possibly to make the CAPTCHA form more usable, for those blog readers who are using a computer subject to filtering of "third party" cookies.

The CAPTCHA appears to be always required.

The effect that we are now seeing is that the CAPTCHA appears to be required, for all comments, when the full page and popup window forms are used.

In some cases, even with the CAPTCHA displayed, you can publish without solving.

• If you are authenticated, the reCAPTCHA, though displayed, may not require solution.
• If you are authenticated, and a blog member, neither the ezCAPTCHA nor the reCAPTCHA should require solution.

In either case, simply compose and Publish your comment.

People who wish to publish anonymously will always have to solve a CAPTCHA.

Unfortunately, people who are publishing anonymously will still need to solve the CAPTCHA. The non optional reCAPTCHA, which gets displayed, is not as easy to solve as the optional ezCAPTCHA.

Cookie filtering, once again, may be part of the problem.

To increase the confusion, people using a computer where "third party" cookies are filtered will be treated as if they are publishing anonymously, and will have to solve the reCAPTCHA. Some people, who think that they are properly authenticated, will find out otherwise, if they try to publish a comment without solving the CAPTCHA.

Continuing to cause confusion, in some cases, comments entered may simply vanish, if the CAPTCHA can't be displayed when necessary. This, is another consequence of cookie filtering.

Internet Explorer Updates, And Use Of "Compatibility View" Settings - April 2014

For several weeks, we've seen a steady stream of problem reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, about the latest monolithic error in Blogger history.

bx-hg9hg2

From several conversations with Blogger Support, it now appears that this latest error code (and a few similar ones) is related to Internet Explorer, and the use of Compatibility View. Apparently, Blogger Engineering has finally updated Blogger so it is compatible with Internet Explorer V11 - and having done so, has made it incompatible with V11 using Compatibility View.

The simplest way to resolve the bx-hg9hg2 is to reset Internet Explorer.

Many Blogger blog owners may be using Internet Explorer for more than just Blogger blog maintenance - and may not appreciate the possible effect on access to other websites, caused by a browser reset. In this case, it may be better to Edit the Internet Explorer settings, and remove Blogger from Compatibility View.

To edit Compatibility View, you use the browser Tools menu, and select "Compatibility View Settings". Select any or all entries referencing "blogger.com", and hit "Remove", then "Close".

Having either reset Internet Explorer, or edited the Compatibility View list, you may next need to restart Internet Explorer.

A third possibility would be to use a different browser, until Blogger Engineering resolves all issues with IE V11 and Compatibility View. This may not happen immediately, however - and some blog owners may prefer to use IE in general. Advice to "Use a different browser" is not always appreciated, by every blog owner.

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Blog Hijackings - The Worst May Be Over

Blogger Support took control of the blog hijacking problem yesterday. Today, I did a search in "Add a Gadget", and found encouraging results.







I believe that they are now trying to disable the installed gadgets - so if you see a blank space on your blog, that's possibly why.

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(Update 2010/11/25): And to celebrate Thanksgiving Day 2010, we see a report of yet another hijack attempt.

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Maybe It's Time To Start Over

I've been advising folks about spam problems, and splog detection (both righteous and spurious), for several years.

Sometimes, the advice is about cleaning up the blog, and submitting it for review. Other times, it's about blogs unjustly accused of being spam. Occasionally, it's about a spam blog, that just can't be reviewed again, or maybe a old blog, that you just can't regain control.

If the Blogger region of the Blogosphere is to have any reputation, other than "spam haven", it's simply not possible to provide an infinity of chance for people to clean up their act.

this is what i got from email:

We'd like to inform you that we've received another complaint regarding your blog. Upon review of your account, we've noted that your blog has repeatedly violated Blogger's Terms of Service (http://www.blogger.com/terms.g). Given that we've provided you with several warnings of these violations and advised you of our policy towards repeat infringers, we've been forced to remove your blog.

Once forgiven, you still start over from the beginning.

We all believe in forgiveness, but having been forgiven, should you continue with the blog restored and simply cleaned up? Or maybe, isn't it better for everybody if you simply start over, with a new blog and new content?

And if you publish your blog, you want your blog to remain your blog. Just as we cannot give spammers an infinity of chances to pollute the Blogosphere with their blogs, neither can we give them the chance to steal already developed blogs, using brute force and an army of hijacked computers.

Everybody who wishes to publish a Blogger blog has to religiously maintain control of their Blogger accounts - both by not forgetting access tokens, and by not idly allowing unknown persons to seize control.

If you lose control of your Blogger account, don't demand that Blogger Support blindly tell you what you require, and possibly violate your right to anonymity.

Start a new blog - and don't repeat past mistakes.

Focus your energy on starting a new blog - and maybe connecting the new blog to the old blog. Don't waste your time (the helpers time, Blogger Support's time) trying to clean up what can't be cleaned up, or demand that Blogger help you to seize control of a blog which could be (to them) someone else's blog.

Start over, but with a clean blog - and try to avoid repeating your mistakes.

Learn to read - and heed - the warnings.

Next time, when you get the first notice about unacceptable content, heed the warning. And when you change ISPs (get a new job, graduate from school, whatever), and you get a new email address, update your Blogger account - while you can.

Troubleshooting Problems With Your Blog, Or With Your Connection To Blogger

I'm a desktop / network support technician, and I enjoy troubleshooting problems with other peoples computers. I prefer that my own computers remain trouble free (of course, that won't always be the case). I can apply my skills in desktop / network troubleshooting to the tasks involved in troubleshooting problems with Blogger, and Blogger blogs.

So, consider this. Blogspot / Blogger hosts millions of blogs, and has many more millions of worldwide customers reading those blogs. You send in a complaint to Blogger Support, about your blog, or your connection to Blogger / BlogSpot, and your complaint goes into a long queue. And if it's just YOUR problem with YOUR blog, or YOUR connection, that's where it will likely stay. Problems affecting multiple blogs, and problems affecting multiple Bloggers, or customers, will always get higher priority. That's common sense.

So, if YOU notice a problem with YOUR blog, or with YOUR connection, it's up to YOU to do some initial troubleshooting. Now, as a desktop support technician, I preach diagnostic procedure. Constantly.

Note: This article is a Blogger specific adaptation of Solving Network Problems - A Tutorial.

Here's where multiple observations is essential. If you see a problem with your blog, do any of your friends see the same problem? Do you see the same problem with your friends blogs?

You also have to understand the concept of cache, which partially explains why not everybody sees a problem with your blog at the same time.

Now the customer, and server, population for Blogger is immense. Blogspot uses thousands of servers to host the millions of blogs that they have. So the fact that your friends may or may not see the same problem on your blog, or you may or may not see the same problem on your friends blogs, is not in itself definitive of a worldwide Blogspot problem. But it can help us develop a procedure for diagnosing your problem.

There are several major items involved in any problem.

1. The content (the text that you typed into your post, or the template) for your blog might have (gasp) coding errors. This will affect everybody who views your blog, until you fix your mistakes. And, if you haven't done this yet, backup your blog. NOW.


2. The database where your blog is stored might be corrupt. This problem may affect other blogs, and other Bloggers. It will affect other folks viewing your blog, if they don't have a good copy already cached on their computer. If your problem is not part of a major outage, republishing your blog, which takes the source text (item #1) and rebuilds the blog into a web page, may resolve this.


3. The server which serves Blogspot content to you may be having problems. This will affect your ability to view multiple blogs. Other Bloggers using this same server will have the same problems. With 4500+ servers, it's possible (but not likely) that you may know somebody else sharing your server. If your problem is not part of a major outage, clearing cookies and changing your server may resolve this.


4. Your computer, or your network, may have problems, or some characteristic of your ISPs service may cause a problem with a Blogger server. I work with these sort of problems, and know how tricky they are to diagnose. This will affect you only, or others in your area too. It may, or may not, affect your access to multiple blogs.


5. The cache of your blog, and other blogs, on YOUR computer, may contain bad content from any previous existence of any problems. This should only affect your computer, though any other computer may have similar problems.

• If both you and your friends see a problem with your blog, there's a good chance that any fixes that affect only you won't have too much effect. Here you need to concentrate on items #1 - #3, from the above list.


• On the other hand, if you have multiple friends viewing your blog (and here is one example why having friends is a good thing), and nobody but you sees any problems, items #4 and #5 are more likely suspects.


• If some friends see problems, and others don't, it's still more likely that the problems involve items #1 - #3.


• If you see problems with your friends blogs, and your friends see those same problems, it's likely an outage at Blogspot. Maybe Blogger Status will acknowledge the outage. Don't hold your breath, but look there anyway. File a Blogger Contact Report, but again, don't hold your breath.

OK, let's translate the above sermon above into a usable procedure.

1. Check Blogger Status. Check Real Blogger Status (here). It's possible that the problem has been noted already. Check the online Blogger databases - Blogger Help, Blogger Known Issues, and Blogger Status. Check the online forums - Google Blogger Help, and Blogger Forum.


2. Check Recently Updated Blogs, which lists all blogs updated in the immediately previous 10 minutes. The number of updates enumerated there may confirm or deny any suspicion of a widespread publishing problem. If any doubt, check in another 15 - 20 minutes (open another window), and compare the 2 lists.


3. Note that both Blogger Status and Real Blogger Status provide Atom and / or RSS feeds. If you use Syndication / Atom, you may find this convenient. Or, you can Follow this, and other, blogs, for a more convenient subscription.


4. Are you, and your friends, having problems viewing your blog, and other blogs? If the problems are just yours, or if they involve multiple blogs, pray, then troubleshoot the cache. If you see an improvement, clear cache and cookies on your computer. If this helps you, let your friends know, and have them do the same (if they are affected).


5. If your friends see the same problems with your blog that you see, chances are that the previous step won't fix things by itself. Did you just post something, immediately before the problem was noted? Go back and verify what you just changed. Correct the problem, if necessary, and republish. If you get an error from publishing, proceed to the last step.


6. Did you make a change in the blog content, from executing the previous step? If so, clear your cache.


7. If you have executed all above steps, and you or your friends still see problems, then it's time to seek collaborative analysis.
   
   
   
   • Try to file a report with Blogger Support, observing their current (and dynamic) problem resolution policies. Wait for the botmail.
   
   
   • Reply to the botmail, objectively pointing out that none of the suggested references - none of the online Blogger databases, or the online forums, offer any help.
   
   
   • File a description of the problem, what you've done to date, and the botmail problem number (if any provided), at Blogger Forum and at Google Blogger Help.
   
   
   • Look in the forums for others with your problem, or for any helpful suggestions. Let others know that you are having this problem. Note any correspondence with Blogger Support, and note your problem number. Provide useful diagnostic information about you, your computer, and your Internet service. Links between your thread in one forum, and any others, are not a bad idea either.
   
   
   • Check back in Blogger Forum and at Google Blogger Help, for comments to your posts, regularly. Be prepared to answer questions. Crosspost updates to the other forum.
   
   


8. If any of the above steps help you diagnose or resolve the problem,
   
   
   
   1. Say a prayer of thanks to the deity of your faith.
   
   
   2. Backup your blog. Having a local mirror of your blog can be very useful.
   
   
   3. Sign my GuestBook, or alternately, leave me a comment. Knowing that this blog is of use, or not, motivates ongoing additions and improvements.
   
   
   4. Post back in the above mentioned forums, and close any open threads. Become part of The Solution.
   
   

If you're having a problem, don't just drop it on Blogger Support. Involve Blogger Forum and Google Blogger Help, too. Update all 3 groups, regularly, when suggestions are made by any others. Be patient and persistent.

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Details About bX- Code Circumstances Now Requested By Blogger Support

In an effort to reap benefits from the chronic bX- codes, Blogger Support now asks for the details, related to the circumstances. Just fill in the form, and enjoy the feeling that your pain is not being ignored.

This request for diagnostic details, plus the bX- Codes Glossary blog, should reduce the frustration level ever so slightly, when a bX- code is experienced. Maybe this effort is part of a increased focus on solving some of the ongoing problems, like the pervasive "Another blog ..." error, encountered periodically during custom domain setup.

In order for the form to be useful, we have to use it. As I've stated before, every report about a given problem, no matter how many times experienced, is significant. If you don't report your experience, it may not be resolved as quickly as it could be.

When you get a bX- code, take the time and add an entry to the form, with complete and precise detail about the problem. Like the False Positive Locked Blog, following procedure is the best choice, all around.

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Google Blogger Help Forums Are Replacing The Blogger Contact Form

Thanks to the tireless efforts of an ever growing community of expert Blogger Volunteer Helpers, the Google Blogger Help forums are becoming a useful source of effective and reliable help, to bloggers worldwide. Google is recognising this trend, and has shifted some of its support resources from answering Blogger Contact Form entries, to answering problem reports in the forums.

And, having added the Google Blogger Help Resources Center, they are also replacing or augmenting the Blogger Help database.

So, if you can't find help for your problem, or answers for your questions, here, in The Real Blogger Status, try the Google Blogger Help Resources Center, and the Google Blogger Help forums. Interactive help, from many knowledgeable volunteers, and Google staff, should prove to be more effective then simply using the Blogger Contact Form.

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