A Deleted Blog Can Only Be Recovered By The Owner

Deleted blog recovery requests come in many forms.

I can't access my blog!

or

My dashboard is empty!!

or

Somebody deleted my blog!!!

A successful deleted blog recovery starts from the dashboard button or link, to "Restore" or "Review" the blog. When the blog was deleted by the owner less than 90 days ago, and the owner is able to login to the right account, the "Restore" button will bring the blog back, as the owner watches.

If the blog was deleted by Blogger / Google, and the owner is able to login to the right account, the "Review" button starts the recovery process. If use of the "Review" button brings no results - or if there is no "Restore" / "Review" button at all, things get interesting.

If a deleted blog leaves behind a dashboard "Review" button, the review process can be started.

There are two purposes for the dashboard "Restore" / "Review" buttons.
The "Review" button provides 2 functions.

1. Provides a way for the owner to start the automated review of a deleted blog.
2. Provides verification that the person reporting the deleted blog is the legal owner of the blog - and enables the manual review to be started, if the automated review is unsuccessful.

If there is no "Review" button, neither the automated or the manual review can be started.

• The person reporting the deleted blog is not the owner.
• The person reporting the deleted blog is unable to login to Blogger, using the right Blogger account.
• The blog was not deleted, for a reason which requires a manual review.

A dashboard screen print helps the helpers start the recovery process.
Anybody needing assistance, beyond advice how to use the "Restore" / "Review" button, is expected to provide a screen print, showing either

• A "locked account" error display.
• A dashboard "review request submitted" display.
• An empty dashboard, with the familiar "You are not yet an author ..." caption.

If the person reporting the deleted blog is able to provide a screen print, showing the familiar "locked Blogger account" error display - with the "contact us" link at the end, a manual review of the blog is not useful. The owner is then expected to click on "contact us", and request account review.

The automated spam review is the first step to restoring cloned blogs.
If the dashboard has the "Review" button, the owner can request automated review. Having supplied a screen print showing the "automated review request submitted" display, then waited the required 1 - 2 business days for the automated review to be conducted, the owner can, at her / his option, request manual review.

Without dashboard verification, triage can't continue.
If neither screen print can be supplied, there is no benefit to requesting manual review.

• The person reporting the deleted blog is not the legal owner.
• The blog does not need spam review.

In either case, Blogger Policy Review will reject the review request, and the "owner" will be no closer to having the blog recovered.

The review process must be initiated by a blog owner.
If the person reporting the deleted blog is not the legal owner, she / he must either contact the legal owner for action, or use the correct Blogger account - and request an automated review, from that account. A manual spam review cannot be requested, from a Blogger account that is not the legal owner of the deleted blog.

If the blog does not need abuse / spam review, it will be a waste of everybody's time to request a manual abuse / spam review.

The abuse / spam review request starts with the owner, able to login to the proper Blogger account. The owner then provides a screen print, documenting legal ownership of the blog, and the need for a manual review. Without the screen print documenting ownership and need for review, an abuse / spam review will not be requested.

Deleted Blog Cases Can Involve Multiple Causes

Sometimes, blogs which are under legal action by Blogger / Google can be under action, simultaneously, for multiple, valid reasons.

Occasionally, we get angry complaints, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.

I got a DMCA Complaint email from Google. My blog was deleted, my dashboard is empty, I got no email from Blogger - and ChillingEffects has no complaint detail. How do I get my blog restored?

Since we don't review DMCA cases in Blogger Help - and with no dashboard or email records of a non DMCA deletion, the blog owner is left with no options.

It's not impossible that some blogs can be classified (righteously or spuriously) for dual offenses.

Some blog owners are guilty of multiple offenses, with multiple penalty.

A person who illegally copies content into his blog may also employ spammy practices. And citation for one TOS offense (DMCA) will not, necessarily, make a blog invulnerable from citation for other TOS offenses (hacking, porn, and / or spam hosting) - or even other possible problems.

The blog owner has 2 possible actions here.

• Continue researching the offense, with ChillingEffects. Appeal the lack of offense detail, with ChillingEffects Support.
• Investigate a separate offense with Blogger / Google. Diagnose a non DMCA abuse issue (hacking, porn, and / or spam hosting).

If investigating one offense is ambiguous, investigate another.

Employing the lessons of Occam's Razor, we conclude that, if ChillingEffects cannot provide details about offenses of a given blog, maybe the blog was deleted for a non DMCA abuse.

The next task is to diagnose a possible abuse related, non DMCA related, deletion. Lack of dashboard and email offense alerts generally cause some owners to return to the DMCA complaint.

If the monolithic lack of help by ChillingEffects is to not stall the investigation, we must continue with the non DMCA related possibilities.

Multiple accounts being involved can complicate research.

Many blog owners create multiple Blogger and / or email accounts accidentally (and never realise), or intentionally (then later forget). These odd, forgotten accounts are never of any importance, until the owner graduates from college, gets a new job, changes ISP - and forgets the account name / password. Or, has the blog deleted (for any of several different reasons) - with no trace of any warning, because the owner is using the wrong Blogger or email account.

So now, the blog owner is faced with researching a duplicate accounts issue. This is one more reason why every Blogger blog owner must, religiously, keep track of every Blogger and email account.

DMCA Violations Must Be Appealed

Some blog owners don't understand the severity of DMCA violation citations.

We see occasional naivete, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken

I got email

After reviewing your account, we noticed that you have violated the terms of service frequently: http://www.blogger.com/go/terms. And where we have sent you several warnings about these abuses and offered you information about our policy towards repeat infringers, we were forced to disable Blogger service provided to you. Thank you for your understanding.
- Blogger Team

Why can I not login to Blogger, now?

This blog owners, and too many others, do not understand about the severity of repeated DMCA / TOS violation, upon their Blogger / Google accounts.

Too many blog owners simply accept the occasional deletion of their posts, and continue publishing.

I deleted the problem posts, whenever warned. Why did I get the notice about "you have violated the terms of service frequently"?

They do not understand that simply deleting a post, when cited for DMCA violation, is the same as entering a "Guilty" - or maybe "Nolo Contendere" plea, in a court of law.

Problem posts, when repeated, make the blog owner look like an intentional, non repentant spammer, mapping out the boundaries of what is accepted.

If your blog is cited for DMCA violations, it's to your benefit to appeal the citation - and hope that you're found innocent.

Of course, if you're guilty of DMCA violations, you'll have no valid recourse, other than starting over - maybe with another Blogger account / blog, maybe with a blog or website hosted elsewhere. That's your choice.

If you remain in Blogger service, you will be expected to clean up your act.

>> Top

Please Google, Restore My Deleted Account And Blog!

A frequently seen sign of confusion in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I? is the question

How soon after deletion can I reuse a blog?

And the answer is two part.

Immediately, if you can just undelete it using the same account. Never, if you are trying to transfer the blog.

Occasionally the response to that involves a complication.

But I deleted the account, to make sure that the blog gets freed up.

And now, the blogger gets no choice.

You have to reactivate the account, because the URL is locked to that account.

Now, the blogger has a four fold task ahead of him.

• If you just recreated the Google account, by creating a new account with the same email address, you have to delete the account just created.
• Re activate the original Google account, using Google Accounts: Contacting Support - I can't access my account. Select "No" for "Did this work?", and fill out the form that you see there.
• Alternately, re activate the earlier deleted Google account, using Google Accounts: Google Accounts: Forgot your password?. Enter your email address, then fill out the form that you see next.
• Re activate the blog, if necessary, by un deleting it.
• Finally, what he should have done in the first place.
  • Make a stub, then delete the blog properly.
  • Transfer control of the blog.

And next time, plan the change.