Not all blog owners understand the necessity of having unique content, as the basis for a healthy blog.
We see questions periodically, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, about inappropriate use of content from other blogs and websites.Why was my Blogger account deleted? I never argue when given copyright notices!
orWhy don't I have any readers? I have great content - the other blogs, where I get the content, get lots of traffic.
Google describes the overall issue, about copying content from blog to blog, quite plainly, in Blogger Help: Spam, phishing, or malware on Blogger.Spam blogs cause various problems, beyond simply wasting a few seconds of your time when you happen to come across one. They can clog up search engines, making it difficult to find real content on the subjects that interest you. They may scrape content from other sites on the web, using other people's writing to make it look as though they have useful information of their own. And if an automated system is creating spam posts at an extremely high rate, it can impact the speed and quality of the service for other, legitimate users.
Spam classification is one of several penalties, which involve copied content. I've seen various content penalties, that are reported, from time to time, in the forums.
Some penalties involve copyrighted material - but non copyrighted material, improperly used, can cause problems. And unrighteous charges will inconvenience you, and cause other problems.- Content Warning
- DMCA Violations
- Spam Classification
- Search Engine Reputation
Content Warning
If you copy controversial content, that does not belong in your blog, some of your readers will object. Originally used to block "adult" content from being viewed by younger readers, the "content warning" / "objectionable content" classification is broader in scope than it appears to be. This accusation is sometimes used by readers, who may object in quantity, to any irrelevant subject in any blog.
A Content Warning interstitial will damage your search engine result listings. You'll have to request a review of the blog, to get the warning removed. The people who review content warnings may not do so with high priority.
DMCA Violations
If you improperly copy copyrighted material, and the lawful owners complain, you can be cited for DMCA Violations. You will end up with posts - and later the blog - deleted or locked.
You'll have to search the ChillingEffects database, for details, and appeal the citation. If you don't appeal a citation, and if you continue to make the same mistakes, you can be classified as a "non repentant" abuser - and your Blogger / Google account will be deleted or locked.
Spam Classification
If you unwisely copy material, or supply material to be copied, your blog can be classified as a spam host, with the offense described as "scraping / syndication". This will require a spam review. Until the review is concluded, and the verdict is satisfactory, your blog will remain offline.
If you publish multiple blogs concurrently, with the same content, you can be classified as a spammer. If you publish multiple blogs sequentially, with the same content, you can be classified as a "non repentant" spammer - and your Blogger / Google account will be deleted or locked.
If your blog consists mainly of copied material - even if properly attributed, you will need your own material also. A blog with only copied content is still subject to classification. I strongly recommend no more than 10% copied content, to 90% original content - if you want any decent reputation.
Search Engine Reputation
If you copy or share content - whether cited for content, DMCA, or spam - your blog's search engine reputation will suffer. Multiple blogs and websites, with the same content, will result in higher reputation blogs and websites getting better placement in a SERP. Your blog will end up at the bottom of any relevant SERP listing - and your traffic level will drop.
Using Dynamic Content
If you copy a script from a third party website, that references dynamic content owned by that website, you are responsible for ensuring that the script works - or deal with the consequences. If you host videos served from the website in question, on your blog, this is similar to hot linking. If the video in question is removed by the website owner, and stops playing from your website, you must contact the owner of the website.
The Bottom Line
The bottom line here is that blog content needs to be informative, interesting, relevant, properly targeted, and unique. If you push the limits, you will regret your decision, eventually.
Your blog will need a good search reputation, to get readers. Start with good content, based upon what you know, and are willing to share.
The Internet Is a wonderful thing - it has brought many people, from many lands, together, ignoring geographic and political limitations. Unfortunately, "many people, from many lands" is not always a good thing. In any group of people, there will be people who do not know or understand each other - and there will be conflict.
Blogger / Google has given us tools to report a problem, when we experience conflict - and when that conflict involves someone else, misusing a Blogger blog. These tools were developed on an "as needed" basis - so don't expect them to be well defined, and well instructed, in every problem which you may have. And, you have to use these tools correctly - they are not magic.
If you report a problem, with a blog or a person, you have to report the problem properly - and you have to understand the limitations, both legal and realistic. Abuse reporting is not magic - you cannot wave a magic wand, and make your problems go away.
There are several possibilities, which you need to consider.- DMCA Violation. A DMCA Violation complaint is for obvious, and definable copyright or trademark violations. A DMCA Violation complaint can be filed against any Blogger / non Blogger blog or website.
- Blogger / Google TOS Offense. A TOS Offense complaint is for any Blogger blog, which is offensive in specific categories. A TOS Offense complaint can be filed against a Blogger blog or Google website, only.
- Any other complaint, that you may have, is a civil issue - between you, and the offending parties. Blogger / Google cannot assist you, in this case.
Use the right form, and the right reporting selection. We have the DMCA Violation Report, and the "Report Abuse" wizard, and they each have a different purpose. Within "Report Abuse", there are distinct reporting categories. When you report a problem, you need to use one wizard, or the other - and to select the right categories, when available.
If you submit repeated and blatantly inappropriate reports, you may be perceived as a spammer, conducting a denial of service attack against the reporting process - so submit one complaint, properly chosen and written.
Be realistic. Blogger / Google has to investigate, and verify your complaint - and the other party in the dispute has to have a chance to defend himself. This will require time - and may not produce favourable results, for you, personally.
Don't expect miracles. Any immediate and physical problems need to be reported to your local police agency, as they are the ones responsible for your physical safety. And when you deal with an Internet based threat, remember that there are many website hosts. Just because Blogger / Google is being used, right now, in your personal situation, does not mean that your attacker will only use Blogger / Google, in the future.
If you don't find a clear and well defined reporting category for your complaint - or if you don't get immediate or favourable results after submitting your complaint, you may do best to hire a lawyer - and when you do, choose one who is experienced in Internet legal situations.
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As blogs are being increasingly used by ordinary people, to make their mark in the world, they are also being used by people to annoy or assault others, mock others, and other attacks of varying severity.
In Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?, we regularly get questions likeHow do I get a stalker's defamatory blog removed?
orHow long does it take to resolve an impersonated blog complaint?
orSomeone has created a fake blog using my name - how do I get Blogger to remove this, or do I just sue?
With these questions posed, the first thing that we need to do is identify the difference between Defamation and Impersonation.
Understand the difference between defamation and impersonation.
- Defamation (libel, ridicule, slander, trash talk) is a civil offense. The offended party will need to get a lawyer, initiate a lawsuit, and / or get a court order requiring specific action by Blogger / Google.
US domain sites such as Google.com, Blogger, Page Creator, etc. are sites regulated only by U.S. law. Given this fact, and pursuant to Section 230(c) of the Communications Decency Act, we do not remove allegedly defamatory material from U.S. domains. The only exception to this rule is if the material has been found to be defamatory by a court, as evidenced by a court order.
- Impersonation (identity theft, masquerading), on the other hand, is a TOS Violation.
Impersonating others: Please don't mislead or confuse readers by pretending to be someone else or pretending to represent an organization when you don't. We're not saying you can't publish parody or satire - just avoid content that is likely to mislead readers about your true identity.
You report TOS violations using the Blogger "Report Abuse" wizard. Problems which do not constitute predefined TOS violations are personal issues, which you have to resolve on your own, and using your own funds.
You use Blogger Help: Report a Terms of Service Violation, where you have selections for both Defamation, and Impersonation, among others. Selecting Defamation, you'll get the above advice.Given this fact, and pursuant to Section 230(c) of the Communications Decency Act, we do not remove allegedly defamatory material from U.S. domains.
What will happen, as the CC TLD aliases are deployed for more countries, remains to be seen.
In either case, you should probably start by hiring a lawyer. Blogger and Google, being based in the USA, will decide the case, impartially.
Understand rights, responsibilities - and limitations.
Be aware of personal rights and responsibilities, and the limitations, before you start.
- Yours.
- The party with whom you are disagreeing.
- Blogger / Google / Any other web site host.
Be aware of Blogger / Google legal guidelines.
You can make a complaint, but be aware of Blogger / Google's concerns. Just as they don't want you unjustly persecuted, they don't want a third party to be so, either.
You may check Blogger Help: Report inappropriate content - and Blogger Help: Harassment and bullying content on Blogger, for some suggestions, however.
For many years, using "Next Blog" for surfing through the Blogosphere has been a dodgy activity.
No matter when you surfed, you were sure to find something pretty nasty, and frequently hazardous to the health of your computer (and maybe to you).
In January 2008, that changed. Blogger started scanning blogs for undesirable content, and blocked many nasty blogs from being targeted by "Next Blog" surfing. Besides using automated blog scanning, they also provided a voluntary classification of our blogs.
Not all potential readers will be encouraged, when seeing a content warning.
If someone genuinely wants to host possibly offensive content, he can do that - inaccessible from "Next Blog" or casual surfing, and behind a warning page.
In some cases, this is a voluntary classification, accessible from Settings - Other - "Adult Content". In other cases, this warning is applied to your blog by a faceless bot, similar to the much hated anti-spam bots.
The "Content Warning" screen, that your readers are now faced with, every time they surf to your blog, has its downsides.
The warning does not block the spiders - though it does limit indexed content.
One of the problems of the "Content Warning" screen is that the search engine spiders, when they index the blog, pick up the text of the warning, rather than the blog name and description.
When you look at the search hits that include such a blog, that's what you will see. That won't be good for your reader confidence, unless they expect to see objectionable content, anyway.
Even though a blog is behind a "Content Warning", though, it is still being indexed.
You can use Search Console to understand this better. If there is any problem with indexing the web site (blog), a GWT / SC report will help you sort that.
The warning also interferes with crawling redirected blogs.
Another interstitial warning comes with redirected blogs, published to either a custom domain (sometimes), or to an external server by FTP (frequently).
The Content Warning interstitial advice also appears to interfere with private blog access. If you have a restricted access blog, you may want to avoid involvement with the interstitial warning, voluntary or involuntary.
And recently, we've noted that it degrades the quality of information from visitor meters.
One popular feature of better visitor meters is the ability to see what web page your visitors are coming from (the "referer"). When the interstitial warning page is displayed ahead of the blog, it is shown as the referer page, and you lose the ability to tell what actual web site your visitors really come from.
All that aside, remember one detail - just because a blog is indexed, in the search engine of your choice, does not guarantee it good visibility, in a search hit list. A search hit list indexes web pages in order of popularity.
If your blog covers a popular topic, through no fault of yours, other more popular web sites may appear in the list above yours. If the description of your blog, in the search hit list, shows simply the interstitial text, you may not get as many new readers, as you would hope for.
Content Warning Some readers may find the content of this blog objectionable. In general, Google does not review nor do we endorse the content of this or any blog.
That warning doesn't tell people anything useful about your blog. Less readers = less reputation with the search engines - and less readers still.
So, if you have a Content Warning in your blog, you may lose search engine reputation, and you may not see your newer posts listed in the search hit lists as promptly. But check Google Webmaster Tools, to see if there's actual indexing problems. Chances are - there's not.
