Blogger Custom Domains, And Publishing Spam Control

Some blog owners want to know why custom domain published blogs are subject to daily activity spam control limits. We see the occasional query, in Blogger Help Forum: Learn More About Blogger.

Does the 50 posts / day limit apply to all blogs that use the Blogger platform - or only for these hosted on BlogSpot?

With Blogger, all blogs are subject to a daily publishing activity limit - pages and posts, combined.

Some blog owners question the need to control post limits, for custom domain published blogs.

There are a lot of WordPress blogs, posting more or less just the short feeds of others blogs. That seems to be impossible if you use Blogger.

Using WordPress as an example does make Blogger seem overly strict. However, Blogger custom domain publishing is not the same as WordPress private domain publishing.

All Blogger blogs are hosted on Google servers.

With Blogger, all blogs - including those published to custom domains - are hosted on Blogger / Google servers. Blogger limits publishing activity - and scans for malware, porn, and spam - based on server content.

One of the problems with Blogger blogs that were hosted using FTP publishing - which was similar to WordPress private blogs - involved problems with content control. It simply was not possible to prevent hacking, porn, and spam on remote, non Blogger servers - whether or not Blogger blogs were involved.

WordPress blogs published to private domains are hosted on private servers.

With WordPress, blogs published to private domains are hosted on private servers. WordPress avoids limits and abuse scanning, on private domain published blogs, not only because they don't want to - they can't control or scan private servers.

WordPress private blogs use the Wordpress engine, for publishing static websites onto privately owned and controlled remote servers. This is how Blogger FTP Publishing worked, long ago.

All Blogger blogs are subject to daily posting limits.

Thanks to imaginative domain publishing techniques, it's not possible, with 100% certainty, to identify what Blogger blogs might use non BlogSpot URLs. Blogger blogs published to custom domains simply have an alternate, non BlogSpot URL.

The much hated CAPTCHA.



All Blogger blogs - including this one - are subject to daily page / post publishing limits.

When the limit is exceeded, we have the much hated CAPTCHA. This encourages each of us to spend time publishing informative, interesting, and unique content.

Publish quality - not just quantity.

---

All #Blogger blogs - not just those published to BlogSpot - are subject to daily publishing limits. Some blog owners would like custom domain published blogs to be exempt from abuse control - including the daily publishing activity limit.

It's not likely, however, that Blogger will relax daily activity limits - custom domain or not.

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!category-topic/blogger/hW5xai9FqH0

Diagnosing AdSense Account Problems

AdSense uses various techniques to protect their content quality - and when they take action, they don't always give you a lot of clues about their actions, or warnings before taking action.

Both AdSense and Blogger use fuzzy analysis to classify unacceptable content and practices. Neither AdSense or Blogger can publish definitive policy advice, each time they classify or suspend an account.

AdSense publishes policy guidelines - and prohibited content, to define the limits.

AdSense works best when staying well within the limits.

Like Blogger, AdSense requires blog owners / publishers to stay within the limits.

We want to maintain a strong ecosystem for both advertisers and publishers. As a publisher, you are responsible for maintaining high quality inventory and traffic.

People who stray outside the limits should not expect detailed coaching, which let them determine exactly what limits can't be exceeded.

When you exceed the limits, you may not like the results.

Bad news, seen by some too late.



Dodgy techniques and traffic cause problems with both AdSense and Blogger - and both AdSense and Blogger will take action.

For best results, read and follow required practice.

When an AdSense account is suspended, AdSense provides a Disabled Account FAQ. You can use the FAQ - but you'll do better to read the policies, and stay within the limits.

You can appeal, after correcting a problem - within limits.

You'll find limited support for appealing - even after identified problems are resolved.

Thanks for contacting Google AdSense. According to our records, you already appealed to us twice in the last 30 days. Due to the volume of appeals we receive and as indicated in our help center you can't appeal more than twice per month.

If your previous appeals have been unsuccessful please remember that our actions are the result of careful investigation by our team of dedicated specialists, taking into account the interests of our advertisers, publishers, and users. Though you might be disappointed with our decision, we are unable to reinstate your account.

If you have new information which may have helped us to reinstate your account then you are welcome to submit another appeal next month.

We appreciate your patience and understanding.

An effective appeal requires two definitive details.

1. Acknowledge what you did wrong.
2. Describe what you are doing to prevent its recurrence.

The best action will be to read and observe published policies.

---

Like #Blogger, #AdSense does not provide detailed advice, or advance warning, about unacceptable content or practice. AdSense publishers are simply expected to read their policy documents - and stay well within the limits.

How To Avoid Getting Your Blog Locked, As A Suspected Spam Host

This is a question that some blog owners ask in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.

This will generally be after they have just been through the Blogger spam review process. Some of those asking the question are spammers, blatantly asking what they can get away with. Others are regular blog owners, unwittingly hit by "friendly fire", as Blogger just tries to keep the level of spam down, in the Blogosphere.

One of the challenges involves identifying the genuine cries for help - and ignoring the hackers and spammers, who are trying to make trouble for everybody.

The simplest answer, to the obvious question, would be the best for everybody - if only everybody would follow.

Don't spam.

Spammers can't follow that advice, as it would doom them to a lifetime of asking

Do you want fries with your burger?

or

Do you want whipped cream on your "large" coffee?

We know, already, that Blogger cannot whitelist your blog - but there are some common sense ways to reduce the risk of spam classification.

Blogs can be confused for spam, unfortunately.

There are several ways that your blog may look like a spam blog. Many blogs, such as those reported in the forums, will have one of these problems.

1. Use spammy content or techniques.
2. Have little to no content - look like a latent spam blog ("Empty").
3. Have content, that's been scraped into a spam blog - look like an activated spam blog ("Reserve" or "Active").

There are ways to avoid the above possibilities.

1. Don't use spammy content or techniques.
2. Publish content (relevant to the subject of the blog), regularly. Don't look like an Empty spam blog.
3. Publish unique content (relevant to the subject of the blog), regularly. Provide unique material, that has not yet been scraped. Don't look like a Reserve or Active spam blog.

Fuzzy spam classification uses several benchmarks.

The Blogger fuzzy spam classification process looks for various artifacts, in your blog.

1. Content that discusses or promotes spammy techniques - or content or traffic obtained using spammy techniques.
2. Malicious or spammy accessories.
3. Links to other, known malicious or spammy blogs or web sites.

Instead of the simple advice "Don't spam", I'll expand upon that a bit.

1. Avoid spammy practices.
2. Publish, and Publicise, properly. Don't advertise, recklessly.
3. Accept reality.

The reality is that spam will always be with us - since spammers want more of a future than selling burgers or coffee.

You can't control the spammers - your blog, if it is publicly accessible, is subject to scraping by any spammer, at any time. Considering that reality, the best advice is that you Publish, regularly - and make your content relevant and unique.

More unique content == less chance of spurious classification.

The more unique and properly targeted material that a blog contains, that's not been scraped or syndicated, the less that it will look like a spam blog. And the less that a blog looks like a spam blog, the less chance that blog has of being spuriously classified as a spam blog.

Having read this, you now need to get back to work on your blog. If your blog becomes deleted or locked, as a suspected malware / porn / spam host, get the blog reviewed.

If the blog gets reviewed, but cannot be restored, you may be allowed to start over - but you will be expected to clean up your act.

The Many Faces Of Spam Classification - And Varying Consequences

Many blog owners and readers are completely unaware of the many ways our AdSense, Blogger, GMail, and Google accounts, our blogs, and our forum activity, are subject to spam classification - and the various consequences that we may suffer, when we trip a spam classification threshold. Questions in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken are seen daily.

Why was my forum account locked?

and

Why do my comments go straight to the Spam tab, on my friend's blog?

and

Why am I seeing ominous messages about "suspicious activity" on my account, when I sign into Blogger or GMail?

These are but 3 examples of the questions, that we deal with, almost constantly.

Spam classification, by Blogger / Google is a collaborative, fuzzy, and ubiquitous process, which affects all aspects of our use of Blogger and Google services. Each different Google service may produce input into the spam classification process - and each service may be differently affected, when we are (righteously, or spuriously) classified as a potential spammer, by another service.

Some services may use automated classification or detection - and others may use user contributed abuse reports. When user contributed reports are used, collaboration - either by multiple users, or automated or manual verification by Google staff - is involved. A single, accidental click on a "Report Abuse" link will not cause a problem.

Some automated classification processes, on the other hand, may result in false positive detection. We are repeatedly advised that Blogger cannot whitelist your blog. The volume of spam content in Blogger requires immediate locking of all suspected spam blogs, with spuriously classified blogs being unlocked after review.

There are a few common sense ways that we may reduce the chances of many blogs being classified as suspected spam hosts.

Here are 3 services, which we use in publishing and viewing, and asking for help about publishing and viewing, various Blogger blogs.

Causes of spam detection

• Blogger account / blog
  • Spammy content.
  • No content, and clone detection.
  • Linking to spammy content.
  • Comments repeatedly flagged as "Spam", by other blog owners.
  • Use of URL obfuscation services, such as "gooo . gl", "bit . ly", or "spaam . ru".
  • Excessive posting volume.
  • Suspicious / Unusual account activity.
• Forum account
  • Post floods.
  • Spammy links, or excessive signatures in posts.
  • Similar to spammy commenting, advertising one's blog / web site in forums where it is not considered appropriate or relevant.
• GMail account
  • Brute force login attempts, using hijacked computers, supposedly controlled by Net based neighbours.
  • Repeated login retries, by the account owner, which can look like brute force login attempts.

Consequences of spam detection

• AdSense account
  • Deleted / suspended AdSense account.
• Blogger account / blog
  • Locked account.
  • Deleted blogs.
  • Comments going straight to "Spam" tab.
  • Having to solve a CAPTCHA to publish posts.
• Forum account
  • Cleared / deleted discussions list.
  • Frozen / deleted accounts.
  • Frozen / reduced forum Level.
  • Loss of custom forum icon.
• GMail account
  • Deleted / locked GMail account.

Other Google services will have other causes and consequences, too - and the combinations of the various causes and consequences are almost infinite. The Blogger Help Forums - and the various other Google Support forums - will remain in business for a very, very long time.

Blogger Commenting, And Social Networking Relationships

Every week, we see the anguish

How do I get user xxxxx blocked from commenting on my blog?

because many people enjoy FaceBook and Twitter, where there is no spam, and no unwanted comments. They think that Blogger comments should be controlled, as social networking like FaceBook and Twitter are controlled.

With FaceBook, each person controls their own Wall, and their own neighbourhood. With Twitter, each person decides exactly who they wish to Follow, and sees tweets from only those folks that they follow. Neither FaceBook or Twitter encourages you to open up your neighbourhood to the world; both allow you to establish each contact, one by one, at your discretion.

With Blogger commenting, you are encouraged to allow anybody - or anybody with a required level of authentication - to comment on your blog. This encourages freedom of speech, and extends your neighbourhood far beyond the walls that you setup with FaceBook and Twitter. Some commenters, and other readers of your blogs, may later become part of your FaceBook and Twitter neighbourhoods - but at their discretion, as well as yours.

With both FaceBook and Twitter, any established account has some implied value, which is a function of the size of its neighbourhood. Nobody can use a FaceBook or Twitter account for persistent spam, because people control their own neighbourhoods. If offended, they can easily discontinue a FaceBook or Twitter contact. There is no real anonymity in either FaceBook or Twitter - each contact there is identified and validated, by its neighbourhood of contacts.

With Blogger, anybody can setup one or more Blogger accounts, for posting comments on any blog that permits comments. A Blogger account has no value, equivalent to a FaceBook or Twitter account. A Blogger account won't be identified, or validated, by its neighbourhood of contacts.

The owner of any blog has a few options, as to what level of anonymity may post comments.

Who Can Comment?

• Anyone - includes Anonymous Users
• Registered Users - includes OpenID
• Users with Google Accounts
• Only members of this blog
• (For private blogs) Only members and readers of the blog.

Beyond those 5 choices, there is only the Blogger heuristic comment filter, which has to be persistently trained, by each blog owner. You, as the blog owner, moderate either actively or passively. You allow / disallow / tag as "spam" before publishing comments, or you delete / don't delete / tag as "spam" after comments are published. That's the choices that you have, as a blog owner.

You cannot negatively filter comments, by blocking specific individuals. If you were to add a filter for one individual, the owner of the filtered Blogger account could setup another account, and pester you from that account, with impunity. They could even use multiple different accounts, using botted computers, if they wished.

When you publish a Blogger blog and allow commenting on your Blogger blog, you open yourself to the world. For good, or for bad.

>> Top