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.

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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

Blogger Magic - Make A Private Or Team Blog

Some blog owners like to restrict access to their blog - and others want to have multiple people able to publish, or maybe to administer their blog.

A few even want multiple administrators, and restricted access. Both private and team blogs involve use of the Permissions wizard, and the membership invitation / acceptance process.

Making either a private or a team blog starts from the Permissions wizard. Just keep the multiple functions, and the different links, in mind.

The Permissions wizard, on the dashboard Settings - Basic page, is how we setup both private and team blogs.

You invite members - prospective authors and readers - using "Add authors" and "Add readers", respectively.

Start from the dashboard Settings - Basic page, in both cases.

Start from the Settings - Basic page.

Find the Permissions wizard.



The "Add authors" link is used for adding both administrators and authors.

Click on "Add authors", to add prospective administrators and authors.

Click on "Add authors", and add prospective blog authors.


Add a list of names / email addresses, with entries separated by commas.

Paste or type email addresses of prospective administrators and authors, into the "Add authors" window. Or use "Choose from Contacts".

The existing "Blog Authors" list is updated, and invitations are sent, when you hit "Save changes".

To make an administrator, wait until the invited author has accepted membership. Then, change "Author" to "Admin", in "Blog Authors". Don't change an author to administrator, unless you understand the risks!

The "Add readers" link is used for adding readers.

Click on "Add readers", to add prospective readers.

Click on "Add readers", and add prospective blog readers.


Add a list of names / email addresses, with entries separated by commas.

Paste or type email addresses of prospective readers, into the "Add readers" window. Or use "Choose from Contacts".

The existing "Blog Readers" list is updated, and invitations are sent, when you hit "Save changes".

Select either "Only blog authors" or "Only these readers", for private blogs.

You can make a blog private to Authors - or have both Authors and Readers. Select "Only blog authors" or "Only these readers", respectively.

Each prospective member must accept membership.

For an invited author or reader to become an active member, they must open the email and accept membership.

Prospective authors and readers are listed as "open invitations" - under either the "Blog Authors" or "Blog Readers" window - until they accept the membership invitation.



Accepting membership involves opening the emailed membership invitation, and clicking on the invitation link. The new member can use an existing Blogger account - or setup a new Blogger account, on the fly.

A GMail account is not required - just a Blogger / Google account - existing or new.

Remember membership limits.

Whether you are making a private or a team blog, remember that every blog is limited to an absolute total of 100 members.

• You.
• Any additional administrators.
• Authors.
• Designated Readers.

Designated readers (in a private blog) are part of the 100 member limit. Un designated readers (in a public blog) are not part of the limit. A public blog can have any number of readers.

Membership revocation may not be immediate.

You can revoke or update membership of an administrator, author, and / or reader - but membership changes don't always take effect, immediately.

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Making a #Blogger blog with administrators, authors, and / or readers starts with the Permissions wizard - and continues with each prospective member accepting membership, using email sent by the Permissions wizard.

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!category-topic/blogger/Vd_L5xAtKFY

Export / Import, And Page / Post Publishing Limits

Not all blog owners understand the connection between page / post import, and spam limitation.

We see the occasional question, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, about page / post import, and daily publishing limits.

Why I can not import content, to my blogs?

Note that "Automatically publish" is selected, in the blog discussed here.

I've suggested a few times that use of "Automatically publish all imported posts and pages" is a bad idea, when importing many blogs - because it abuses the computer and home Internet connection.

Here, we see another reason for not using "Automatically publish".

Import, with "Automatically publish", will exceed the daily publishing volume.

Blogger limits daily posting volume. Any blog with more than 40 - 50 pages / posts, when it is exported then imported, will be a problem - if "Automatically publish" is selected during "Import".

"Sorry, you have exceeded the maximum number of entries."



If you import, and publish as you import, you will exceed the daily publishing limit. Your import will fail - because you are publishing more than the daily limit.

Without a daily limit, spammers could flood post their blogs.

If this limit was not in place, spammers could flood their blogs with pages and posts, by simply creating multiple blogs with multiple pages / posts, export from each blog, then import to other blogs - and publish while importing.

If Blogger is to control spam, they have to limit page / post publishing. With the daily limit of 50 pages and posts / 24 hours, that is slightly more than 1 page or post every 1/2 hour - allowing for no sleep, or other non blogging activity.

People have to be encouraged to do something, besides publish - or how do you get material, for the blog? If people are going to publish a blog - and do other things besides publish a blog - there has to be a daily limit.

Genuine blog owners have to not spend all their time publishing their blogs.

Blog owners need to be encouraged to publish blogs with informative, interesting, and original content - so people will read the blogs, and search engines will index the blogs. Automated blog content, a favourite way of "bulking up" a blog with spam, has to be discouraged, to give genuine blog owners a chance.

Without a daily limit, people who publish blogs with personal content would be at a disadvantage to spammers who publish pages and posts with automated content. Using Import, with no limits, would be an excellent way to publish spam in a never ending daily activity.

Use "Import & back up" in 3 steps, to avoid the limit block.

1. Export pages and posts, from one blog.
2. Import pages and posts, to a second blog.
3. Publish imported pages and posts, at a limited rate, selectively.

That is the best way for genuine blog owners, to use the Export / Import ("Import & back up") option.

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#Blogger has a daily page / post publishing limit, to encourage blog owners to publish blogs with informative, interesting, and original content. Automated page / post publishing is allowed - but subject to a daily limit.

Without a daily limit, spammers would abuse the Blogger infrastructure, with mass produced and scraped content - and Blogger would become one more spam haven.

Blogger Magic - Set Main Page Size

One of the most visible changes, to the blog display, involves properly setting main page size.

You change the posts count using "Show at most" on the dashboard Settings - "Posts, comments and sharing" page - or "Number of posts on main page" in the "Configure Blog Posts" wizard. Both let you set the main page display limit.

You can limit main page size by days with posts, or by total post count.

Main page size is your choice, for your blog - but think of your readers, waiting for a typical main page display to download.

Many don't have extreme bandwidth, nor are the Blogger servers overly robust. When your blog, or even a single post, takes 2 or 3 minutes to load, your blog may need tuning.

Main page size is one key setting, in encouraging reader activity, and in improving search engine relationships.

• "Show at most" on the dashboard Settings - "Posts, comments and sharing" page.
• "Number of posts on main page" in the "Configure Blog Posts" wizard.

"Show at most" on the dashboard Settings - "Posts, comments and sharing" page.

"Number of posts on main page" in the "Configure Blog Posts" wizard.

There are alternate techniques, for changing main page size - use of a dynamic template, with endless scrolling - and segmenting the blog using pages. And adding Jump Break, to the posts, lets you make the individual posts smaller.

Also, note that only main page size can be limited. Archive retrievals and label searches use a fixed 20 posts / display page.

But for a simple blog setup, just limiting main page size is the first step to showing your readers that you respect their need to view your blog, without excessive waiting.

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One of the simplest changes that you can make to a #Blogger blog, to make it easier to view, involves setting a reasonable main page size. This helps your readers view the blog, in main page view, without a lot of waiting.

target="_blank"

The Daily Post Limit Is Not Likely To Be Raised

We see signs of optimism, occasionally, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.

How do I convince Blogger to let me publish more than 50 posts / day, in my blog?

Blogger Support has repeatedly declined to make any change to the daily post limit.

"50 posts / day" is a soft limit - and is thought to include pages (static pages), and posts (dynamic pages), aggregated.

You are allowed to publish any quantity, daily.

You are actually allowed to publish any volume of pages and posts, that suits you. If you exceed the daily limit, which is thought to be near 50 pages and posts / day, you will simply have to solve a CAPTCHA, for each page / post over the daily limit.

It's possible that the limit is aggregated for all computers in the neighbourhood, similar to blog creation.

Can you actually write a new page / post every 1/2 hour, all day?

50 posts in 24 hours is roughly 1 page / post every 30 minutes. If you, arbitrarily, allow 4 hours / day to eat, sleep, and do everything else, that's 1 page / post every 24 minutes. Can you really write 1 page / post every 24 minutes, for 20 hours? Day after day?

Can you actually write a page / post every 1/2 hour, with acceptable content?

Blogger is a personal web site publishing platform. You're supposed to publish a Blogger blog with informative, interesting, and unique content. Can you really publish as much as 50 pages / posts each day, and stay within the limits of acceptable content?

Publish quality posts, in reasonable quantity.

Let Blogger have a chance to keep the level of spam down, in their content space. Publish good content, in limited quantity. Don't ask for Blogger to make it easier for spammers to operate.

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.

Problems With "Create a new blog", Caused By Limits

We've recently been seeing a number of reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, from blog owners having problems with the "Create a new blog" wizard.

When some of my students try to create a new blog, they get an error message

The page you requested is invalid.

These blog owners appear to be running up against new blog creation limits, possibly caused by Blogger prevention of abusive blog creation.

Blogger has apparently added new ways of preventing abusive blog creation, by use of new activity limits.

Blogger has a number of limits, which together guard against abusive new blog creation.

• A limit of 100 blogs created, in total, under one Blogger account.
• A limit of (unstated) blogs created daily, under one Blogger account.
• A limit of (unstated) blogs created daily, from one network address.
• A limit of (unstated) blogs created daily, from one logical network.

This is what you see, when attempting to create a blog, with a limit tripped.


A per account total limit.

We have long known about the limit of 100 blogs being created, under one Blogger account. This limit is easy enough to bypass. There is no limit against blogs owned under one account - so you can setup a second (third, ...) Blogger account, create additional blogs, and transfer control of the blogs created, to the account that's convenient for you to use.

A per account per day limit.

The recently added daily limit of blog creations, under one Blogger account, is thought to be rather low (under half a dozen blogs, daily). Here, too, it may be possible to create more blogs under another Blogger account, then transfer control of the blogs created. Or, just wait 24 - 48 hours (see below), and try again.

A per network limit.

We have been advised, in passing, that Blogger is now limiting total daily blog creation, by network address. This is currently seen to affect use of multiple computers connected to private LANs, where all computers share a single public network address. This policy appears to interfere with legitimate creation of multiple blogs, in high school and college classroom environments.

A per network range limit.

Besides the recently added limit against activity on one network address, it appears that there is a limit against activity in network address ranges, much as "suspicious" / "unusual" activity is aggregated in "403 Forbidden" lockouts - which are frequently a result of detected botnet new blog setup activity.

Network address range based limits may prevent both faculty and students from creating their blogs, using their own computers, on their own networks at home. Note that network address ranges can include computers significantly distant from each other. Your Internet service may include network "neighbours" in the next county, or province / state - or possibly, an adjoining country.

Confusion about when the new "day" may start.

We may also be seeing some confusion about the start / end of the "day", for limits. Since the time zone is not a part of the Blogger account profile (only each individual blog), it's likely that daily limits are reset for all Blogger activity, simultaneously.

Similar to the well known daily Stats reset, daily blog creation limits are probably reset worldwide, according to the GMT clock. For some Blogger account owners not in the GMT time zone (at least 23 / 24 of the world), some portion of (yesterday's) evening activity, and (today's) morning activity, may be counted in the same "day".

The display could be more relevant - but it is an improvement.

All of these limit issues, together leading to the error display in question, the base concern is that Blogger should consider displaying a more descriptive error message. Something like

We're sorry, you (and your neighbours) can not create so many blogs, today!

would be more user friendly than

The page you requested is invalid.

All that said, the "Invalid page" display is a slightly more focused solution, than simply issuing a "403 Forbidden", for all "suspicious" / "unusual" network activity. At least other people, who are not interested in creating a new blog, may continue to access Blogger.

The "Create a Blog" Wizard Now Has A Daily Limit

Recently, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, we've seen reports of problems using "Create a new blog".

I can't create another blog! It worked fine, earlier today - but now, it tells me that I'm not allowed!!

Some would be blog owners are apparently running into a new Blogger limit - daily blog creation.

Apparently, Blogger is now limiting creation of new blogs. Similar to the legendary daily posting limit in our blogs, the daily new blog limit appears to be fuzzy - possibly, intentionally so, to adjust for ongoing spam activity.

To interfere with abusive mass blog creation activity, Blogger appears to have recently added a daily new blog creation limit, to the "Create a new blog" wizard.

It appears that the limit is fuzzy - possibly adjusting, as necessary, to the current volume of abusive activity.

• We don't know what the precise limit is.
• We are not sure exactly when the "24 hour" period actually starts and ends.
• We have seen reports suggesting both a "per account", and "per computer", limit.

In one case, the limit appeared to affect a school class, where each class member was required to setup a new blog as a classroom assignment. The students trying to use the school network (which shared a single public IP address) to connect to Blogger, and setup their blogs during class time, were seeing the limit advice.

All that we can advise, right now, if you see advice mentioning a limit, when using the "Create a blog" / "Create a new blog" wizard, is to try a differential technique.

• Try again, tomorrow (and be flexible, in definition of "tomorrow").
• Try using a different Blogger account.
• Try using a different computer, on a different network.

Of course, if you actually are a self aware spammer, we'll wish you farewell - and better luck with WordPress, Tumblr, or whatever non Google service you wish to infest next.

Blogger Limits: Pages - Dynamic And Static

We see periodic evidence of the confusion about the differences between dynamic and static pages, expressed as limit uncertainties in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?.

How many pages can I have in my blog?

and

Why can't I have more than 20 tabs in my top menu bar?

The Pages editor manages dynamic and static pages so transparently, not everybody realises where the limits are.

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(Update 2014/11): This limit has been relaxed - but it does not appear to be gone, entirely.

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Blogger has limited the number of static pages - Pages entries created as "Blank page", by the Pages editor in the New GUI.

The limit on static pages is a resource issue. Static pages require specific resources, pre allocated to every blog - and increasing the number of static pages, like increasing the limit on number of labels, would have to be made to all blogs. Such resources are limited, just as everything is limited, in some way.

Learn the different possibilities for dynamic and static pages - and your blog has a virtually limitless potential for expansion.

Even if you can have only up to 20 static pages, you can index an unlimited amount of dynamic pages, using the Pages gadget, and adding "Web address" entries. You are limited only by the space used by the blog header tabs, or by the sidebar based gadget.

• Individual posts.
• Label searches.
• Archive indexes.
• Other blogs and websites.

There is no limit, for dynamic pages. Those items are dynamic, because once you add a dynamic entry, it links to content that is constantly changing, without the need to use the Pages editor.

So understand the differences between dynamic and static pages - and know where the limits are, and where they are not.

Dynamic Templates Display Blogs In One Page

Ever since Blogger installed auto pagination. Blogger blog owners have been asking

How do I disable auto pagination?

and

Why can't I display my blog on the main page, without my readers having to use "Older Posts?

The response, up to this year, has been simple.

You cannot disable auto pagination. You have to allow sharing of network resources.

Though technically correct, the latter response has not always been met with appreciation.

The solution, for avoiding auto pagination, is now simple. Install a dynamic template, on your blog.

With a dynamic display, an entire blog is presented in main page view, with no archiving needed.

A dynamic view presents one page at a time - just without requiring clicking.

You get one display page at a time - either the index, or blog content, depending upon which view you select. To see earlier content, you simply scroll downwards, and wait a few seconds while the display refreshes.

The display is still segmented - the segments are simply selected fluidly. When the display is scrolled to the bottom, the dynamic display code (running on the personal computer of the reader) simply requests another page of content, from the Blogger server.

The readers using a non dynamic blog view are not affected.

Since the content is coming from the blog feed, your other readers, using a non dynamic view of the blog, are not affected.

The average reader, who cannot see any more than one page of content at a time anyway (current monitor technology provides limited sized displays) never knows, or cares (subject to bandwidth and processor limitations) that the entire blog is not downloaded to the local computer, immediately.

Within limits, you can combine dynamic and non dynamic views in one blog.

If you want to let your readers use a dynamic view (non paginated), or a non dynamic view (paginated), depending upon personal preference, you can link the dynamic and non dynamic views.

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Mail-To-Blogger, And Problems From Mobile Blog Posting Volumes

Mobile blogging is becoming more and more popular - and it's creating an interesting challenge. Many blog owners, freed from the daily use of the home computer, are publishing multiple smaller posts, throughout the day - instead of a few larger posts, at the end of the day. Also, they are using mobile computers, and emailing or messaging the posts using Mail-To-Blogger, rather than composing the posts using the GUI Post Editor.

Lately, we're seeing more and more problem reports,in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.

Why are my posts not publishing?

Many of the people reporting problems are mobile bloggers, not understanding about the unavoidable limitations.

Mobile blogging, when used this way, presents two challenges.

1. The daily posting volume frequently exceeds anti-spam detection limits.
2. Use of a mobile computer, without the Blogger GUI Post Editor, prevents use of the anti-spam CAPTCHA, when necessitated by the posting volume.

The convenience of the mobile computer / smartphone motivates many blog owners to publish multiple small posts, throughout the day. The posting volume frequently makes a mobile blog owner look like a spammer, and the Blogger anti-spam mitigation becomes involved.

When exceeding daily post limits, and using Post Editor, the Blogger anti-spam mitigation will simply require solving of a CAPTCHA. This prevents spammers from flooding their blogs with multiple, spammy posts, by requiring all posts exceeding the daily limit to be published only after the CAPTCHA is solved. When the posts are submitted using Mail-To-Blogger, there is no opportunity to solve a CAPTCHA - and Mail-To-Blogger either saves those posts as Drafts, or simply drops them.

Generally, the missing posts can be found in the "Edit Posts" list (Classic Blogger GUI) or the "Posts" list (New Blogger GUI), in Draft status. The blog owner, at end of the day, simply must use a full featured computer, access the GUI wizard, and Publish all Draft posts.

If you are seeing this problem with your blog, do not consider the number "50", and the time span "24 hours", to be absolute standards. Depending upon where in the world you are located, the "24 hour" period may reset at some time which is not consistent with your personal 24 hour schedule. In some cases, 2 consecutive days, with less than 50 posts each day, may look like 1 day, to the anti-spam mitigation process.

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Blogger Blogs, And "Make Money Fast And Easy"

Blogger One Button Publishing is a platform for publishing personal web sites, using an intuitive GUI process.

You publish content that's personal to you, and your readers (possibly using alternative techniques like Following and subscribing) read your personal web site because of the content that's personal to you.

If you have advertising on your web site, and you are paid to host the advertising, the ads are financed by the companies that sell the merchandise featured in the ads. And your readers are the targets of the ads, so they hopefully will buy the merchandise.

The money flows from your readers, to the sellers of the merchandise, to the advertisers who publish the ads, to you who host the ads on your blog. Your readers learn about the merchandise through your efforts, and you are paid because of that.

That's organic advertising and merchandising. You make money from publishing content, that draws readers, who read your content, and click on the ads. The advertisers pay you for the readers, and for the ad clicks.

Some people are not happy with organic advertising, because they want more money.

Ingenious blog owners publish more blogs, to get more traffic.

They get more money from publishing more sites, from more traffic to their sites, and from more activity on their sites.

• To publish more sites, they can't spend time writing content, so they pay people to write for them (Syndicated Content, aka Pay To Write, aka "PTW"). Or, they copy content with permission ("syndicate") or without permisssion ("scrape" or "steal") from other websites.
• To get more traffic to their sites, they pay people to surf their sites (Pay To Surf, aka "PTS").
• To get more activity on their sites, they pay people to click on the ads in their sites (Pay To Click, aka "PTC").

More sites x more traffic x more activity = lots more money.

More blogs == more traffic == more money - for them, and for the paid surfers.

That's great. More money, some of which they pass to the people who write, who surf, and who click. More money into the economy, more people who can buy stuff, and everybody makes out better.

Why is this a problem?

It is a problem because the advertisers are paid by the companies who sell the merchandise.

• They are paid to attract eyes to the ads, and to attract people who buy the merchandise featured in the ads.
• They are not paid for people who click on the ads, simply because they are paid for clicking on the ads.
• They are not paid for people who surf your sites, simply because they are paid to surf your sites.
• They are paid for people who are interested in the content on your sites, who click on the ads because the merchandise featured in the ads interests them, and who buy the merchandise.

The people who get paid for surfing are not legitimate customers for the ads.

The people who are paid for surfing and clicking are not the proper targets for the advertisers or for the merchandisers.

• They are not looking at the ads, because they are busy surfing the next web site.
• They are not thinking about purchasing any merchandise, because they are busy clicking on another ad.

More clicking and more surfing = more money for them - and they, too, want more money.

PTC and PTS (together known as "GPT", aka "Get Paid To (click and surf)") are fraudulent schemes to extract money from the advertisers, while delivering very little to encourage the merchandisers to pay the advertisers.

AdSense, owned by Google, is one of the advertisers who is unwillingly paying for GPT / PTC / PTS activity. Blogger, owned by Google, will classify blogs as spam hosts, when they provide GPT / PTC / PTS / PTV advice, or derive activity / content / traffic from such techniques.

Affiliate marketing networks gather, and repeat traffic, similarly.

GPT / PTC / PTS uses paid participants to artificially increase traffic to participant blogs. A similar arrangement, but one which involves affiliate marketing networks or link farms, uses unpaid casual visitors.

Any of these techniques, however clever they may be, are fraud.

If any of these are the case,

• Your blog promotes GPT / PTC / PTS / PTW, and similar make money fast and easy techniques;
• You spend your time writing syndicated content, or promoting such activity;
• Your blog uses these, or similar, techniques to generate irrelevant and random traffic;
• Your blog uses scraped, stolen, or syndicated content;
• Your blog is part of a link farm or "affiliate" marketing network, with links from and to other blogs, which participate in these activities;

That is why your blog is now classified as spam, or will be eventually classified as spam - and that is why you are here.

Including Content From Other Websites In Your Posts

I use excerpts of articles from other websites, in a few of my posts - when the other websites provide more in depth description of the issue being discussed.

I use some websites, such as WikiPedia, more than others. It's good practice to at least link back to the originating website, when copying or quoting any significant amount of unique content. There are so few restrictions, in general, what content we may include in our blogs - so it makes sense to be polite when we include content from other websites.

In most cases, and to keep my posts relatively short, I prefer to simply quote a brief, relevant snippet of content, and link back to the originating website.

In WikiPedia: Occam's razor, we see the advice

the simplest solution is usually the correct one.

For best results, ask for permission from the legal owner.

Since every different blog / website, with a different owner, could be published under a separate content policy, it's always best to ask for permission, before copying. Without permission, you could find yourself here later, asking about various content related penalties.

• Some owners might appreciate the free publicity.
• Other owners might not want their content used in another website.
• Some owners might be paying a third party for the right to use their content.

You won't know, until you ask.

I like to add " target="_blank"" to any link that takes the reader to another website, however temporary.

In WikiPedia: <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam%27s_razor" target="_blank">Occam's razor</a></span>, we see the advice<blockquote>the simplest solution is usually the correct one.</blockquote>

Content such as Lorem Ipsum is ancient public domain, and it's available all over the Net. It may or may not be necessary to attribute that, for brief snippets.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

When you include original content from a specific website, however, it's good practice to attribute.

The text is derived from sections 1.10.32-33 of Cicero's De finibus bonorum et malorum (On the Ends of Goods and Evils, or alternatively [About] The Purposes of Good and Evil ).[3] The original passage began: Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit (Translation: "Neither is there anyone who loves grief itself since it is grief and thus wants to obtain it"). It is not known exactly when the text acquired its current standard form; it may have been as late as the 1960s. The passage was discovered by Richard McClintock, a Latin scholar who is the publications director at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, by searching for citings of the rarely used Latin word "consectetur" in classical literature.[1][2]

The original version (with the excerpted items highlighted) appears in Book 1, sections 1.10.32-33 (pagination varies by publisher):

[32] Sed ut perspiciatis, unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam eaque ipsa, quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt, explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem, quia voluptas sit, aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos, qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt, neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum, quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci[ng] velit, sed quia non numquam [do] eius modi tempora inci[di]dunt, ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit, qui in ea voluptate velit esse, quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum, qui dolorem eum fugiat, quo voluptas nulla pariatur?
[33] At vero eos et accusamus et iusto odio dignissimos ducimus, qui blanditiis praesentium voluptatum deleniti atque corrupti, quos dolores et quas molestias excepturi sint, obcaecati cupiditate non provident, similique sunt in culpa, qui officia deserunt mollitia animi, id est laborum et dolorum fuga. Et harum quidem rerum facilis est et expedita distinctio. Nam libero tempore, cum soluta nobis est eligendi optio, cumque nihil impedit, quo minus id, quod maxime placeat, facere possimus, omnis voluptas assumenda est, omnis dolor repellendus. Temporibus autem quibusdam et aut officiis debitis aut rerum necessitatibus saepe eveniet, ut et voluptates repudiandae sint et molestiae non recusandae. Itaque earum rerum hic tenetur a sapiente delectus, ut aut reiciendis voluptatibus maiores alias consequatur aut perferendis doloribus asperiores repellat.[2]

- From Wikipedia: Lorem Ipsum

Blogger spam classification looks for scraped content.

Blogger is now diligently screening blogs for "spam" and other forms of misbehaviour. One of their classifications of "spam" is termed "scraping". Many blogs consist, largely, of content scraped from various websites, minimally relevant.

Your blog needs more than scraped content - if you wish to continue.

People who publish blogs that contain material from other websites, simply must make it a consistent practice to distinctly attribute copied material - or face the possibility of spam classification by the Blogger bot.

Note that, however you attribute, yor blog will simply serve as a gateway to the other source blog / website. With the other website higher in page rank than yours, you'll just be sending your readers to theirs - and the SERPs will list theirs ahead of yours.

You're not going to gain much - except empty volume - by including their content.

You will be responsible for content from other blogs and websites.

Note that any time you include material from - or link to - another blog or website, what you include or link to must be abuse and malice free. You are responsible for the comfort and safety of your readers - and anything that you do, to possibly disturb their comfort or safety, can cause your blog to be locked or deleted, as abusive or malicious.

A connection to another blog or website - using a feed, iframe, or link - puts a portion of your blog under the control of the other blog or website. If an abuse / spam classification bot determines the other blog or website to be abusive / malicious, your blog will suffer the consequences.

Auto Pagination And Shared Network Resources

Many of you who publish blogs have home computers, connected to the Internet.

If you don't live alone, you probably share the use of your computer, or your Internet access. Even those who live alone may share resources occasionally.

It's possible that, if you own your computer and provide your Internet access, you recognise two truths about computer and Internet use:

1. Network resources have a cost. Neither your computer, nor your Internet service, is free. You (or somebody) had to buy your computer, at one time. Somebody pays your ISP a monthly fee, so you can surf the Internet.
2. Network resources are shared. You may have a problem downloading the latest blockbuster movie, while your roommate is listening to his / her favourite Internet radio station. You may notice that it takes 2 - 3 times as long to download a movie in the evening, as it does very late at night. If your household shares a computer (I believe this is still not uncommon), you may have to wait to use YouTube, while somebody else is reading email.

Believe it or not, similar limitations apply to Blogger and Google resources.

There are millions of Blogger blogs, all sharing a handful of servers. At any time, your blog may be shared on a server, and a network, that is also sharing a few thousand other Blogger blogs. The servers and the network, are not free, and they are shared.

All network resources have avaliability limitations.

Since resources are not free, they are limited in availability. Not everybody maintains a second computer, to use when the first goes down. Nor do many blog owners have redundant Internet access - so if the phone line goes down, you can switch to cable based Internet. Or FIOS, if you're so lucky.

Google, believe it or not, is subject to some limitations. They do not manage their resources as tightly as I manage mine - from researching custom domain designs, I can tell you that. However, even Google does not have infinite network resources - there are limits, and those limits can be exceeded.

A blog with excessive main page size can use resources that other blogs deserve.

If your blogs main page display is 10 times the size of most blogs (and I've seen some that are 100 times the normal size), your blog will use the resources allocated to 9 other blogs, when it's being served to your readers. This is called peak resource use, and it's a problem. Blogger can plan for average use of servers, and the network, a lot easier than they can plan peak use.

If your blog is topical - for instance a school blog that may be accessed by 20 - 30 students simultaneously - and it uses 10 times as much resources, as other blogs, to serve its main page, your blog can possibly take over an entire server or network segment, temporarily. This could even be part of the cause of the occasional

Error 500 Server Error

that we see, from time to time.

Breaking your main page into segments is good for everybody.

Blogger doesn't want to prevent you from enjoying your blog, nor are they going to prevent your readers from accessing it. All that they do is take the archive or main page display, and serve it in segments. This helps your blog coexist with the thousands of other blogs, when it's being served.

You don't have to do anything extraordinary, either. Just design your main page so it doesn't require half the blog to be displayed at once. Alternatively, accept the need to use shared resources, politely. Remember - the life that you save may be your own.

Make A Team Blog And Keep The Members Separate

Occasionally, we see a confused query

How do I allow access to my blog, and keep my GMail account private to me?

or

How do I have my friends using my blog, and each person use their own name in publishing posts?

These are people who do not understand the concept of team blogs.

Team blogs use a separate Blogger / Google account for each member, they do not require everybody to share one Blogger / Google account. You add each team member as an Author, in Settings - Permissions. When you do this, note two cogent details.

1. Each blog is limited to 100 Members (Authors + Administrators + Owners), in total.
2. You can invite members, using the email address that you know. People can accept membership using what email adddress (Google account) they wish. People may be able to accept multiple member entries, which may affect the 99 author limit.

If either of those two details are a problem to you, perhaps you should look at Content Management Systems. A CMS may give you more control over access to your blog.

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Is Blogger Free?

Occasionally, in Blogger Help Forum, we get the querulous inquiry

Is Blogger free, or must I pay for the service?

or

What upcharges will I have to deal with, after publishing my blog?

To answer the question, I'll say

Yes, and no.

Within limits, and excepting for minor details, you can publish a Blogger blog, and maintain it for a very long time, without needing a major credit card.

There are two possible charge items, that I can think of.

• If you want to publish your blog to BlogSpot, the service is free. Publishing the blog to a non BlogSpot URL will require paying for either Custom Domain publishing, or service from a remote server published using FTP. Both will likely cost you some money, though you will not pay the money to Google.
• If you publish a blog with photos, and you host the photos using the native post editor upload, you'll be using the Picasa service. Picasa is free, to a limit, then there is an upcharge for additional Picasa storage capacity.

For a free service, there are very few absolute limits to what resources you may use. The limits that do exist may be substantial to some, and you have to decide whether they warrant you finding another blogging platform.

And, as I pointed out long ago, Blogger does not charge us directly for the service, but they are not a non profit organisation. They are compensated, to a nice profit level.

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