This month, we are again seeing evidence of recent security changes by Microsoft. We see signs of continued frustration, in the process of publishing comments - and publishing posts, as part of the Import process.
In the process of diagnosing an apparent comment publishing problem, I ventured into the comment publishing experience, yet again.
I temporarily tweaked commenting permissions for this blog, to allow anonymous comments and to require the CAPTCHA.
With CAPTCHA required, I published a test comment to my earlier post in this blog.
I did my best - which was not good enough.
CAPTCHA solving continues, as a challenge.
I entered a test comment, and made appropriate selections.
I got a challenge.
"Select all the food."
I did my best.
Apparently, my best was not enough.
"Select all images with a store front."
I tried again. Not all images here were completely obvious, either.
My second try was successful.
Hmm.
Select all the food.
Zoom in on the fourth image, above - and tell me which pictures, that I did not select, are food? To whom? Will zooming always improve chances of success?
CAPTCHA solving, as spam interdiction, will always lead to frustration.
There will be cultural issues - and resolution problems - with CAPTCHAs. This version of the CAPTCHA beats the one from several years ago - but still will cause frustration.
And need I again point out - will require proper filter tuning, on each computer used. Note that ongoing changes by Microsoft are currently affecting publishing comments - and publishing posts during the Import process.
And our experience may very, depending upon many different details, varying by blog, by computer, and by person. My sympathies to all who must deal with spam - and with spam interdiction.
The CAPTCHA continues to be an unavoidable element in comment publishing and other episodes of #Blogger life. And like life, some episodes are more pleasant than others.
If you publish a blog, and want your readers to comment, you need to decide whether to moderate comments.
Comment moderation, applied properly, help you to keep abusive and spam comments off your blog. If you want to publish a blog, and have real people commenting, you need to keep spam comments off the blog. People won't comment, if they have to compete with spam.
If you want to publish a blog, and allow Blogger Hosted comments, you really should moderate. If you don't moderate, prepare to remove spam comments after they are published. Remember that Google+ Hosted comments are moderated by the community.
You setup moderation, for Blogger Hosted comments, from the dashboard Settings - "Posts, comments and sharing" page.
Under "Comments", you have "Comment Moderation", with 3 settings.
Moderation settings are in the Settings - Posts, comments and sharing page.
Moderate Always.
Every comment, published by somebody who is not an administrator or author, will be moderated.
With "Always" or "Sometimes" selected, moderated comments will be sent to each email address listed in "Email moderation requests to".
Select "Always", "Sometimes", or "Never".
You - or whoever is addressed under "Email moderation requests to" - will have the ability to moderate from the email message received. You, or any blog administrator, can moderate from the dashboard Comments - "Awaiting moderation" page.
Moderate Sometimes.
You can selectively moderate comments for older posts, with newer posts not subject to moderation.
If you select "Sometimes", you provide a moderation threshold.
Here, we are set to moderate all posts older than 14 days.
Every post subject to moderation will receive the treatment, selected for "Always". Every newer post, not subject to moderation, will permit any comment to be published immediately.
Moderate Never.
Any comment, submitted to be published, will publish immediately.
Dashboard moderation offers three options.
With every comment listed in the dashboard Comments - "Awaiting moderation" page, you have 3 options.
Once one of these options is chosen, for any comment being moderated, you'll have similar - but not symmetrical - options.
EMail moderation offers similar options.
With each comment moderated by email, you'll have 3 similar options.
- Publish.
- Delete.
- Mark as spam.
Select "Publish", "Delete", or "Mark as spam".
Besides moderation, you can select CAPTCHA verification.
Besides moderation, you can reduce spam, using CAPTCHA verification. If selected, all non administrators and authors will be subject to CAPTCHA verification.
If not selected, anybody commenting anonymously - and not signed in with a Google account - will still be subject to CAPTCHA verification. The "Show word verification" setting applies to comments posted with the publisher properly authenticated.
Right now, the CAPTCHA used is a word puzzle - and has received mixed reviews.
The bottom line.
As a blog owner, you should choose a comment moderation policy - if you allow Blogger Hosted comments.
If you allow #Blogger Hosted comments on your blog, you need to choose a moderation policy. Moderation is essential, to reduce spam, and encourage comments by actual blog readers.
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.
- Export pages and posts, from one blog.
- Import pages and posts, to a second blog.
- 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.
#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.
Much of what we do in life - and what we do when using Blogger - is based upon, and limited by, choice.
Some choices we get to make, for ourselves. Other choices are made for us, by people who make their own choices.
Some blog owners do not want their readers to have to login to Blogger, to comment on their blogs. Other blog owners do not want their readers to have to solve a CAPTCHA, to comment on their blogs.
A few blog owners do not want their readers to have to do either.It seems anyone who wishes to leave a comment, will have to do some form of login, either via Google or a CAPTCHA, to do so! Is there a reason for this, would it not be easier, for anyone to just leave a comment?
And the answer here is simple.It would be easier, if neither were required.
But reality - involving activity by spammers, and activity to counter spammers - leaves some of us with less choices.
Long ago, Blogger allowed anonymous comments, without a CAPTCHA to solve. Spammers benefited from that possibility.
Later, Blogger added the ezCAPTCHA, to be required at the owners decision. Some owners chose to not select the CAPTCHA, because their readers were inconvenienced. Spammers continued to benefit from blogs which allowed anonymous comments, and no CAPTCHA.
Recently, Blogger added the non optional reCAPTCHA. This requires anybody not logged in to have the choice - login, or solve a CAPTCHA.
Unfortunately, the latter change made the third party cookie filter issue more critical. People who are already logged in, but are subject to third party cookie filtering, have to login, or solve a CAPTCHA. This requirement may vary, according to the variant of the commenting form, used by the blog.
Now, a blog owner has 4 choices, to control anonymous comments.- Don't allow anonymous comments, and don't require a CAPTCHA. People who are not logged in will have to login, to comment.
- Don't allow anonymous comments, but require a CAPTCHA. People who have not logged in will have to login, and solve a CAPTCHA.
- Allow anonymous comments, and don't require a CAPTCHA. People who have not logged in will have to either login, or solve a CAPTCHA.
- Allow anonymous comments, and require a CAPTCHA. People who are not logged in will have to solve a CAPTCHA.
Some people will have to either login, or solve a CAPTCHA, to comment. Depending upon what choices are made by the blog owner, the readers may have any 2 of 3 choices.- Solve a non owner optional reCAPTCHA.
- Solve an owner optional ezCAPTCHA.
- Login.
You'll like the ezCAPTCHA a lot more than the reCAPTCHA.
People who are logged in to Blogger / Google, and are not subject to third party cookie filters, may not see a CAPTCHA - and will not have to login to comment. People who are logged in, but are subject to third party cookie filters, will have to either login, or solve a CAPTCHA.
Owners of blogs which attract readers, who choose to maintain their cookie filters, will benefit more from the new CAPTCHA, than owners of blogs which attract readers who do not choose - or do not care - to maintain their cookie filters.
To make the choices easier to understand, Blogger would have to make "Require CAPTCHA" a binary option, for at least 3 comment authentication levels.- Anonymous.
- Require CAPTCHA.
- Don't require CAPTCHA.
- OpenID.
- Require CAPTCHA.
- Don't require CAPTCHA.
- Google account.
- Require CAPTCHA.
- Don't require CAPTCHA.
- Members.
- Require CAPTCHA.
- Don't require CAPTCHA.
If Blogger were to offer this binary option, too many owners would select "Anonymous" / "Don't require CAPTCHA" - and spammers would continue to flood the spam filters - as they were, before the latest update.
As long as spammers choose to do business - and choose to target our blogs, in their business - our choices, as blog owners and readers, will be limited.
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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.
We're seeing a few reports in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken about problems with email, sent by Blogger, when the destination is a non GMail email system.
Some email systems verify the sending email address, against IP address. With these systems, email which originates from a Blogger account that's based on a non GMail email address, and comes from a Blogger / Google IP address, is going to present a problem, to the account owners.
If your Blogger account (your readers Blogger account) is based on a non GMail email address - and your blog provides any of various "notification" / "subscription" services, this can be a problem.
You're going to have email "bounced" by some (non GMail) email clients. This will be a similar problem, if a reader sends you email - or Blogger relays you email based on your reader request, as in comment notification or contact form entries.
Note that "bounced" email may not be treated as spam. Some "bounced" email never gets as far as a spam filter - it may simply be rejected. You will look, in vain, in "Bulk", "Inbox", and "Spam" folders.
Blogger originated email, to certain email clients, will be bounced, because Blogger sends the notification / subscription email with your Blogger account (your readers account) mentioned, as the sender.
With Blogger comment moderation / notification email coming from a non GMail based Blogger account, and sent from a Google IP address, an email client such as AOL, HotMail, or Yahoo, which verifies email address against IP address, is going to reject the incoming email message. This is because "Sender Policy Framework", which AOL, HotMail, Yahoo, and other email systems use, detects the originating address as "spoofed".
Spoofing is a common technique used by spammers, in hiding their email identity. Most email based spam is spoofed - so email systems, which use DKIM or SPF filters to identify spam, will bounce any messages which do not verify properly - when IP address and originating email address are compared.
The problem may also involve comment subscription email. This may result in bounce messages being sent to the person attempting to publish a comment. This causes more confusion.
The solution, to the problem with moderation / notification email, is simple - but unlikely to satisfy many Blogger account owners. You will have to use a GMail email address, for comment moderation or notification. Until Blogger Engineering figure a better way to send the moderation / notification email, email clients such as AOL, HotMail, and Yahoo will have this problem.
If the blog owner changes ownership of a blog, from a non GMail based Blogger account to a GMail based account, and neglects to change the comment moderation / notification email address, the bounce messages will likely continue. What might happen with comment subscription email is yet to be determined.
This problem, as discussed above, affects the comment moderation process. While annoying to some blog owners (as noted, those using non GMail based Blogger accounts / email addresses), the problem is not all that severe. Affected blog owners can use the Blogger dashboard Comments wizard, to moderate comments. Also, blog owners, who moderate comments after they are published, may not even notice this problem.
This problem may also affect membership invitations to private / team blogs This will be a more severe issue, in that this problem will affect all blogs with owners using non GMail email addresses, and with prospective blog members on large non GMail email systems - because there will be no dashboard based wizard - and no possibility of moderation after publishing.
The involvement of Google Apps based (non "gmail.com" Google email) Blogger accounts, and Blogger originated email, is yet to be studied. Also please note that Blogger account email addresses, and comment moderation / notification email addresses, do not have to be the same - and this may cause still more confusion.
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 messageThe 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 likeWe're sorry, you (and your neighbours) can not create so many blogs, today!
would be more user friendly thanThe 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.
Spammers protect their content against "unfair" deletion, and provide uninterrupted service to their "customers", by publishing multiple blogs, in spam blog farms.
Owners of better designed spam blog farms minimise the risk to their blogs, by separating the hacking / porn / spam content (Payload), from the immediately visible Blogger blogs (Collector). Spammers use a tiered structure of blogs, in their blog farms. - Collector blogs.
- Distributor blogs.
- Payload blogs.
Only the Payload blogs contain easily identified hacking / porn / spam material - and only the Collector blogs are immediately visible to the abuse detection processes.
A tiered blog structure makes a more easily managed spam blog farm.
Collector blogs (lots of these) link to the Distributor blogs (many of these), which link to the Payload blogs (a few of these). This is good risk management, by the spammers, because it separates the visible content from the identifiable content.
In some cases, the Payload "blogs" might be non Google websites. Content hosts which have no objection to hacking / porn / spam content can host the Payload, with no risk.
Risk levels differ, according to content in each blog.
- Payloads (much risk, because of the detectable hacking / porn / spam content).
- Collectors (some risk, because of the detectable ads - plus invisible, automated links, to the Distributors).
- Distributors (little risk, only because of the invisible, automated links, to the Payloads).
As an example, one spam blog farm might be structured in geometrical progression.Collectors (25) --> Distributors (5) --> Payload (1).
See the triangular structure, and the redundancy?
If automated links were permitted, only the Gateway blogs would be need to be advertised, to Blogger blog readers. If any of the Collector and / or Distributor blogs are detected and removed, the spammer can simply activate more blogs - and the Payload blogs can remain undisturbed.
If any Payload blogs are detected and removed, the spammer simply adds more Payload blogs - then updates the links in the Distributor blogs, with the URLs of the new Payloads. This is good project and risk management.
To interfere with this activity, Blogger prohibits automated linkage of blogs to other blogs and to non Google websites. This forces the spammers to provide visible links between the blogs and websites - and requires them to imaginatively publish both "legitimate" Collectors and Distributors with interesting and unique content and links.
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.
As we add social networking accessories and gadgets to our blogs, we need to appreciate the nature of the connections, which we are adding.
Some Blogger blog owners fail to understand the relationships between the different Internet services, such as Blogger / Google, FaceBook, and Twitter.Why do I have to solve a CAPTCHA when I post on my Wall?
andWhy does my "Share to FaceBook" wizard not let me include a snippet or thumbnail from my blog?
These are typical questions, seen recently in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken. The people, asking these questions, probably do not understand that services like FaceBook are not part of Blogger or of Google.
We have been combining our Blogger blogs, and our Blogger blogs and our non Blogger web sites, for a while.
Similarly, we can combine our Blogger blog posts with our FaceBook Wall, and with our Twitter Stream. As we combine these various Google and non Google services, we need to observe the support responsibilities for these services.
The "Share to FaceBook" button, added to our blog, contains code written by FaceBook staff - and problems with the "Share to FaceBook" wizard are, generally, the responsibility of FaceBook.
Blogger / Google wants to prevent bogus and malicious Blogger blog content, and FaceBook wants to prevent bogus / malicious FaceBook Wall content. Anything that you attempt to post in FaceBook - including links to, or photos or snippets from, your Blogger blog - is subject to FaceBook security decisions. If FaceBook wants you to solve a CAPTCHA when you post, or simply blocks you from posting, that is their decision.
Blogger / Google gives some us tools from FaceBook and Twitter. Other tools are provided by third parties. We may use any tools provided, as part of our blogs - but our use of these tools is subject to actions of the people who create them.
Report a FaceBook Problem
To report a problem with FaceBook, you start from the "Gear" icon at the top right of any FaceBook display. Select "Help", "Report a Problem", and "Report a Problem" again. That gives you the "Report a Problem" wizard. This procedure, too, may change as FaceBook changes their website.
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I have yet to see anybody who loves - or even likes - CAPTCHA ("word verification") screening. Several weeks ago, I noted a distinct drop in comments here, so I removed it from this blog. I am not the only blog owner to do just that.
I do note that it is a bit - just a bit - easier when it is larger. Both Chrome and Firefox use the Zoom keyCtrl +
to make text larger. And the CAPTCHA form zooms, the same way.
A quick 1 - 2 - 3 hits of Ctrl + makes the CAPTCHA larger, and I find maybe 25% easier to read. It still sucks - but Zoom makes it suck slightly less. Whether it truly stops scripted hacking - even with the new form - remains to be seen, though.
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 askingDo you want fries with your burger?
orDo 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.- Use spammy content or techniques.
- Have little to no content - look like a latent spam blog ("Empty").
- 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.- Don't use spammy content or techniques.
- Publish content (relevant to the subject of the blog), regularly. Don't look like an Empty spam blog.
- 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.- Content that discusses or promotes spammy techniques - or content or traffic obtained using spammy techniques.
- Malicious or spammy accessories.
- 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.- Avoid spammy practices.
- Publish, and Publicise, properly. Don't advertise, recklessly.
- 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.
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?
andWhy do my comments go straight to the Spam tab, on my friend's blog?
andWhy 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
- Forum account
- 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
- Blogger account / blog
- Forum account
- Cleared / deleted discussions list.
- Frozen / deleted accounts.
- Frozen / reduced forum Level.
- Loss of custom forum icon.
- 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.
The problem of publishing our blog posts to FaceBook, initially observed several days ago, has generated some controversy - and much confusion, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken. Suggestions about its base cause are numerous - and variant.- Initially and at first glance, it appeared to involved posts containing lots of pictures.
- Some folks have suggested that it involves use of the New GUI Post Editor.
- Other folks insist that it's the result of a FaceBook decision, that may have targeted Blogger as a spam host.
- Still others insist that it results from use of the Share button in the blog, vs the "Update Status" wizard in FaceBook itself.
- One blog owner gave a very interesting explanation involving FaceBook, and Open Graph.
The problem has been reported to Blogger Support - though no response, to my report, has yet been seen. My asking, a few times, whether anybody has successfully reported the problem to FaceBook Support, has either been ignored or vigourously rejected, by all involved in the arguments.
The one sure thing, that I've observed so far about this problem, is that there is not apparently one sure thing causing this problem. I've done several tests, and published a few posts into my FaceBook Wall, successfully - using both the Share button, and "Update Status". Perversely, I was able to reproduce the problem reported by one blog owner.
My immediately previous post - Choose Your Registrar, When Buying A Domain - was composed using the New GUI Post Editor, contains pictures, and was published to my Wall using "Share to Facebook", with no problem. I just published this post, using The New Blogger GUI Post Editor and "Update Status", onto my Wall. If you examine my Wall, you'll see earlier posts, composed using the Classic GUI Post Editor, also.
I will continue to keep my rollup discussion open, for reporting diagnostic details - and respectfully request that only diagnostic details be posted there. Until either Blogger Support and / or FaceBook Support take ownership of the problem, and promise a resolution, no objectively provided diagnostic detail is unnecessary. Your observations, whenever provided, could provide the final, necessary clues, and lead to the diagnosis of the problem.
If anybody would like to discuss my diagnostic efforts to date - and especially if there are any FaceBook Support personnel reading this, I have a second discussion in progress, with one helpful blog owner.
Please, be objective. Observe both the etiology of Blogger problems, and the epidemiology of forum discussions.
(Update 2012/01/94): It appears that most people are now able to post to FaceBook. Some people are now reporting a new annoyanceYou are attempting to post a link that has been marked as abusive and/or spammy.
(Update 2012/01/02): Blogger Support was aware of the problem last week, tried to contact FaceBook then, and has heard nothing in return. Their analysis of the problem, made last week, is that the problem is outside their control.
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The MPAA / RIAA stranglehold, in the USA, on the electronic consumer, may have reached a peak with their ability to coerce the US Congress to pass the DMCA. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, thought by some to be the most noxious bit of legislation since the British Tea Act of 1773, may have a valid use, though.
It's possible that the DMCA Violation Form, which Blogger / Google provides, may be useful in reporting content that's been pirated, personally, from you. If you believe that your pictures, and / or articles, are being unjustly copied within Blogger / Google hosting space, you may get some relief from reporting this as a DMCA Violation.
Note, however, that a DMCA Violation report is a serious complaint, and can have repercussions both upon the source and target of the complaint.Please note that you will be liable for damages (including costs and attorneys' fees) if you materially misrepresent that a product or activity is infringing your copyrights. Indeed, in a recent case (please see http://www.onlinepolicy.org/action/legpolicy/opg_v_diebold/ for more information), a company that sent an infringement notification seeking removal of online materials that were protected by the fair use doctrine was ordered to pay such costs and attorneys fees. The company agreed to pay over $100,000. Accordingly, if you are not sure whether material available online infringes your copyright, we suggest that you first contact an attorney.
Don't use the DMCA Violation Complaint as a casual harassment technique - only use it where you are extremely certain that your legal rights are being violated. If the Fair Use Doctrine might transcend your personal rights, or if you are unsure here what your rights provide to you, protect yourself and contact a lawyer.
If you receive a DMCA Notice, and you believe yourself to be innocent of any wrongdoing, file a Counter Claim.The administrator of an affected site or the provider of affected content may make a counter notification pursuant to sections 512(g)(2) and (3) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. When we receive a counter notification, we may reinstate the material in question.
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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 advicethe 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.
Recently in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?, we've had direct contact with a few confirmed spammers.
These are people who have submitted to the noxious 4 step spam confirmation protocol, and who have been given the full benefit of the doubt.
When I come back with the unfortunate (to them) newsOK, all good things end some day.
Your blogs will, quite likely, not be unlocked. You might wish to review the Blogger and Google TOS.
http://www.blogger.com/terms.g
http://www.google.com/terms_of_service.html
the next post is frequentlyOK, can Blogger unlock my blog so I can get the content, and move to another host?
orCan I redirect my address to my new TypePad (WordPress, whateverspammyhostichose, ...) web site?
and the answer isNo, you cannot do that.
What you steal is not yours to keep, when you are caught.
Like ill gotten gains from robbing banks, you're not permitted to take your spoils of illegal act into your next life.
Content, search engine reputation, and traffic - all acquired while misusing Blogger and blogger resources - are not yours to keep, once you are confirmed as an abusive blog publisher. You stole all of those resources from genuine and honest blog owners. You are not permitted to keep any assets, illegally acquired.
If the police arrest you for fraud, and break up your game of "3 Card Monte" - and you're found guilty of whatever law prohibits your "game", you're probably going to spend a few nights in jail. When they let you go, they are not going to give you back your playing cards - or the money that you stole. If you want to get back in business, you'll need a fresh pack of cards - and probably, you need to start over, in a different city.
It's time to start over.
When the blog is deleted, the BlogSpot URL is locked, for life. If the blog was published to a custom domain, the domain URL is also locked, for life.
The BlogSpot and custom domain URLs won't be re usable, in Google. Ever.
Go away, please. You may, if you wish, start over - but the current life of yours is over. Maybe, find another source of income.
Just don't make the same mistakes, next time.
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.
