Spam Review Requires Triage

If you are a fan of any TV medical dramas - or if you have any medical background, you probably know the term "triage".

In a medical setting, triage is applied to conditions where multiple patients are present, and far outnumber the medical staff available to provide immediate treatment. When a "triage" technique is needed, one doctor examines each patient, briefly, and places each in one of three categories.

1. Immediate care needed, and beneficial.
2. Immediate care not needed. Treat when cases of #1 priority are complete.
3. Immediate care not needed, or useful. Treat when cases of #1 and #2 priority are complete.

We have a "triage" dialogue, for spam review. The dialogue uses 3 progressive screenings, to place a blog in one of three Categories.

1. Spam review needed.
2. Spam review not needed.
3. Spam review not beneficial.

Each progressive reply determines what succeeding reply is appropriate.

Prescreening: Request automated spam review.
The triage process, and manual spam review, is most effective when preceded by an owner requested automated review, using the dashboard "Appeal" / "Restore" / "Review" buttons. This is most likely to happen when the blog owner is able to login, using the right account - and will be possible only when the owner account is not deleted or locked.

Category 1: Spam review needed
This category includes blogs that were deleted by Blogger as suspected spam hosts, are being reported by the owner, and are likely to be restored by Blogger Policy Review staff, when presented to them. Blogs in this category will pass all 3 forum screenings.

Category 2: Spam review not needed
Not all deleted blogs were deleted by Blogger, as suspected spam hosts. Blogs may have other status.

• Deleted by Blogger, for other reasons.
• Deleted by people, not Blogger.
• Not deleted, at all.

None of those blogs will benefit from spam review. The 3 forum screenings help us identify blogs in this category.

Category 3: Spam review not beneficial
Not all blogs, deleted by Blogger, will be restored - even if reviewed. The 3 forum screenings help us identify blogs that will not pass review by Blogger Policy Review staff, and give us the clues and details that can help us convince the novice spammers that continuing to publish a given blog - or requesting review of a righteously deleted blog - will not benefit them.

Screening #1
The first screening helps us establish 3 details.

1. The blog was deleted by Blogger.
2. The blog is a suspected spam host.
3. Review is being requested by the owner.

We can deduce these 3 conditions, given two crucial details by the owner.

• The BlogSpot URL.
• A screen print of the dashboard "Deleted blogs" list.

A thoughtful blog owner, including both details in the opening post in the topic, will avoid the first screening altogether.

I am sure that this is a frustrating experience - and I thank you for writing here, for advice. Impolite treatment of genuine blogs, however, is an unavoidable side effect of Blogger protecting all Blogger blog owners, against people who will try to misuse the Blogger service.

Please, read the linked articles, and help us to help you. This will give you a better idea of the basic requirements for abuse / malware / spam review.

[FAQ] Does The Blogger Abuse Mitigation Policy Violate The Rights Of The Blog Owners?

Screening #2
The second screening gives the blog owner a chance to review the blog in personal memory, and decide whether the blog may have actually been righteously deleted. It uses a set of FAQs developed jointly by Blogger Support, and Top Contributors.

Malware / Spam Appeal Guidelines - January 2015

If your blog(s) have been unfairly classified as a hacking / malware / porn / spam host, we apologise. Nobody gains, with genuine, non spam Blogger blogs being deleted or locked falsely. Given the fact that automated malware / spam detection is not yet a perfect science, Blogger Support is always willing to investigate any reports of false positive reviews, politely posted here in the forum.

That being said, before you request an appeal, it's worth describing a few examples of what Blogger regularly removes, as part of its zero tolerance policy to abusive / inappropriate content: Read the FAQ, for a list of examples.

[FAQ] What Blog Content Is Considered Abusive, By Google Spam Mitigation Policy?

Done honestly and properly, Screening #2 helps everybody avoid any unnecessary third screening and subsequent review request - and Blogger Policy Review staff, Blogger Support staff, Top Contributors, and blog owners can all spend their time more productively.

Screening #3
The third screening - when content from the blog can be found in search engine cache - gives the helpers and blog owners a chance to jointly examine blog content, structure, and style. We try to determine why the blog may have been deleted, and whether it will be useful to continue - and what details to provide to Blogger Support, that might encourage Blogger Policy Review staff to favourably review the blog, and restore it.

I found a copy of the blog, in cache.


Please examine the copy, by clicking on the link above - and examine screen prints, below. Is that typical blog content?

The Review Request
Having passed all 3 screenings, the blog is passed to Blogger Support with documentation - and subsequently, to Blogger Policy review for final evaluation. Following favourable evaluation, the blog is restored.

This is a long, and seemingly ceremonial process. In reality, it enables best use of available time, with all 4 groups of people involved.

1. Blog owners.
2. Blogger Policy Review.
3. Blogger Support.
4. Top Contributors.

The triage process will be the most successful, when everybody is polite, prompt, and responsive.

Spam Review Requires Ownership Verification

Part of the spam review process involves verifying that a spam review request is needed.

Not every blog owner understands the reason for not requesting spam review, needlessly. A blog has to be owned under the Google account being used, and locked as a suspected spam host, for a spam review to be useful.

A spam review, when properly conducted, starts with the "Restore" / "Review" buttons, in the "Deleted blogs" section of the personal Blogger dashboard. As of December 2014, the "Restore" / "Review" buttons are not working for everybody - and this is causing some confusion.

Dashboard restore / review requests, when submitted by the owner using the buttons in "Deleted blogs", provide two functions.

• They provide some level of convenience, to the owner.
• They provide some level of assurance, to the owner and to Blogger Support, that the blogs need spam review.

The buttons provide convenience to the blog owner, because the owner can initiate a restore (for a blog that they was previously deleted, within 90 days), or request automated review (of blogs deleted by Blogger, for suspected TOS violations). This allows the owner to recover a deleted or locked blog, without spending time in Blogger Help Forums.

The buttons provide assurance to the blog owner, and to Blogger Support, that no blog deleted, by Blogger or the owner, will be released by request of someone other than the owner. The appropriate button, for any deleted blog, is only present on the dashboard of the legal blog owner, who can then initiate restore or review.

There are several cases, which don't require a spam review.

• The blog was deleted, as a suspected spam host, but under another account.
• The blog was deleted, because this account was locked, as a hacking victim.
• The blog was deleted, because another account was locked, as a hacking victim.
• The blog was deleted, because another account was locked, for a TOS Violation.

Only one specific case requires a spam review.

• The blog in question was deleted or locked as a suspected spam blog, and is owned by the Google account being used to request restore / review.

All other cases, which involve deleted or locked blogs, result in the owner waiting for Blogger Policy Review to return a verdict that they can't review a blog that was not deleted as a suspected spam host. Blogger Policy Review works from a long queue - and if we refer problems to them, that they cannot resolve, their queue gets longer.

Ownership verification starts with the owner supplying a screen print of "Deleted blogs". The screen print is inconvenient for the owner - and for the helpers in Blogger Support Forum, who must carefully verify that spam review is required - but it's a necessary inconvenience. This happens only when the owner is able and willing to cooperate, and provide a usable screen print.

Verifying ownership is a righteous task - even if it makes the spam review preliminaries longer, and seemingly pedantic.

>> Top

Dashboard "Deleted blogs" Buttons Are Broken

We have numerous problem reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, about a problem with the "Deleted blogs" section of the dashboard.

I can't restore my deleted blog!

and

I can't request spam review!

These owners are concerned, because the "Restore" and "Review" buttons appear to be broken. Nothing happens, when clicked.

Right now, we are starting immediate manual spam review, for blogs deleted as suspected spam hosts, when properly requested by the owner.

People who have "intentionally" deleted their own blogs, and who want to restore, may not be able to easily do that. There is no manual "restore my blog" process, that is appropriately part of Blogger Support Forum.

There are an array of cases, which can result in deleted or locked blogs. Only one case requires spam review.

Any other case leaves the owner waiting, needlessly, for Blogger Policy Review to return a verdict that they can't review a blog that was not deleted as a suspected spam host. Blogger Policy Review works from a normally long queue - and with the currently broken buttons, it's an even longer queue.

Without use of the buttons, ownership verification starts with the owner supplying a screen print of "Deleted blogs". The screen print is inconvenient for both the owner - and for the helpers in Blogger Support Forum, who must carefully verify that spam review is necessary. This happens only when the owner is able and willing to cooperate, and provide a usable screen print.

We now have a Rollup Discussion, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, where we are requesting demographic and technical details from each blog owner reporting inability to use the "Deleted blogs" buttons.

This malfunction has been reported to Blogger Engineering, for their resolution. Since we are at end of year, and the holiday season, it's unlikely that the problem will be resolved this year.

While we wait for their action by Blogger Engineering, everybody experiencing this problem is strongly urged to contribute their details to the Rollup Discussion. Problem diagnosis being as it is, any one person, contributing their details, might contribute the one essential detail that leads to successful diagnosis of the problem.

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Confusion From Non Operable Dashboard "Restore" / "Review" Buttons

This week, we're seeing a few reports from anguished blog owners, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.

My blog was deleted for spam, and I can't request review because the dashboard button doesn't work!

This blog owner is being hit by a double whammy - first, a spurious spam classification; and second, inability to request review of the blog, falsely accused, using the dashboard.

It's possible that this problem is just the latest symptom of intrusive security on the personal computers, used by the owners of blogs falsely accused of hosting spam content.

Like every other feature in Blogger, that requires authentication of owner status, the dashboard "Restore" / "Review" button can only be used by the owner of a given blog.

Knowing that almost every computer on the Internet is subject to unnotified security updates, it's not un imaginable to see a recent security update having caused this problem.

This problem has been forwarded to Blogger Support, for their consideration. While we wait for a response from Blogger, it's up for the owners of the blogs falsely accused, to provide some details about their computers.

We noe have a rollup discussion, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue. If you are affected by this problem, please provide details there.

>> Top

Blogger Cannot Provide A Blog Spam Review Tool

Among the cases which involve the hopeful, in Blogger Help Forum: Learn More About Blogger, we see an occasional query about proactive spam review.

I am worried that my blog, like so many others, may be deleted by Blogger! Is there any tool or service, by which I can scan or analyze my blogspot blog, to see if it's breaking any of Google rules?

And the answer here, simply, has to be "No.".

For any such service or tool to be helpful, a positive review of a blog would have to be accompanied by a certification that the blog is free of any TOS violation. The blog would then be frozen, to prevent any further changes. How many blog owners would want their blog frozen, for eternity?

Short of freezing changes for any blog certified as "spam free", Blogger would become a spam bloggers paradise.

Every spammer would start out with empty or reserve blogs, get the blogs certified, then go to town.

Legitimate blogs, though certified, and invulnerable to spurious spam classification - would still have no chance of being read, with Blogger saturated with endless waves of spam blogs, also invulnerable.

The only possible answer here has to be a firm

No.

No legitimate blog owner would even think of encouraging this service.

Every blog owner has to publish, and to allow for classification. This blog has been deleted three times, in the past - and there's always a chance for a fourth.

As long as spammers exist, spurious spam classification, against any blog, will always be possible. It's not a pleasant possibility, but it exists.

Publish your blog regularly and steadily - and keep it very free of dodgy content. Keep ahead of the spammers - and stay well within the law.

A Deleted Blog Can Only Be Recovered By The Owner

Deleted blog recovery requests come in many forms.

I can't access my blog!

or

My dashboard is empty!!

or

Somebody deleted my blog!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Deleted Blog Cases Can Involve Multiple Causes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The blog owner has 2 possible actions here.

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

If investigating one offense is ambiguous, investigate another.

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

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

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

Multiple accounts being involved can complicate research.

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

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

Try To Resolve Any Ownership Issues, Before You Request Spam Review

Spam review requests, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, are not unusual topics.

Occasionally, we get a spam review request, with a twist.

My blog has been deleted - but I don't have a "Restore", or a "Review" link on my dashboard!

There are various reasons for blogs disappearing from the dashboard, not all of which a blog owner may be immediately aware.

Consider The Issues
I find it's best to try to identify any content / ownership issues, before starting the spam review dialogue - or starting over, with a new blog.

• It is almost always in the best interest of the owner, to request review using the dashboard link, before requesting a manual review in the forum.
• If we bypass ownership resolution, and go straight to spam review, the blog may be restored to service. In some cases of "I have no 'Restore' or 'Review' link on the dashboard", the blog, when restored, will be under the control of the account which the owner should be using. This may not be the current account, which has no "Restore" or "Review" link on the dashboard.
• This is the best time to diagnose and resolve your problems. If you give up and set up another blog - and if you make the same mistakes with the new blog - your Blogger account will be at risk, because you may look like a non repentant spammer.
• If the blog was deleted because of multiple DMCA violations, nothing can be done from the dashboard. DMCA violations have a formal appeal process.
• If the blog was deleted / locked because of detected hacking, absolutely nothing can be done. The account, and all blogs owned, have to undergo integrity checking, before any blog can be restored.
• If the blog was deleted because of detected malware, it can only be restored, and review requested, using the "Restore", then "Review" links. If a blog, deleted / locked for malware, is submitted for spam review, the blog will sit in the spam review queue, then be returned with the verdict "Malware" - and nothing will be accomplished.

Too many Blogger blog owners, accidentally or intentionally, setup multiple Blogger accounts.

Accidental Multiple Accounts
Some blog owners accidentally setup new Blogger accounts. Too many blog owners, because of the Blogger / Google (One Account" login display, end up using the "Create an account" link - when they should login to an existing account, which owns their blog(s). When this happens, they are able to login to Blogger, but find an empty dashboard.

Seeing an empty dashboard, the next step is to recover control of the blog. When this is done, they now are able to login to Blogger, using the right Blogger account - but with the new, accidentally created account still out there.

Some blog owners will continue, periodically logging into Blogger, using the wrong account - then recovering control of the blog, using the email address. This procedure, cumbersome that it may be, will work fine - until the blog is classified as a spam blog, or until the original Blogger account is deleted or locked. In either case, the blog owner will login to Blogger, using the wrong account - but find no dashboard link.

Intentional Multiple Accounts
Other blog owners intentionally setup new Blogger accounts, to publish a blog, anonymously. As long as they religiously remember the proper account name and password, to access each different blog, this is not a problem.

The problem here comes when they forget about using the correct Blogger account, or become temporarily confused by the Blogger / Google (One Account" login display. With the blog in question deleted or locked, as above, they login using the wrong account - and find the Blogger dashboard, again lacking the expected "Restore" or "Review" link.

With either the accidental or intentional account creation, the blog owner will be unable to login to the correct Blogger account, and request review using the dashboard link. This requires the manual review, which takes more time to complete, if the blog was deleted as a spam host. If the blog was not deleted as a spam host, the manual review will be a waste of time.

If and when the blog is reviewed and restored, the owner will still be unable to access the blog from his account. The blog will be online - but with no active owner.

Consider The Possibilities
If the blog owner is aware of possible access, ownership, and TOS issues, before the review process is started, he may be able to resolve his mistake while the review is underway. This will allow him to take control of the newly restored blog, immediately - rather than spending time, after the blog is restored, going through the blog ownership recovery process.

Start Diagnosis Properly
Whatever the origin of the account confusion issue, diagnosis of deletion starts with identification of the owner account. The dashboard of the owner account - and email sent to the owning account - may provide key clues, that indicate why a blog was deleted. Knowing why a blog was deleted may help us avoid an unnecessary spam review.

Don't Copy Content, Inappropriately

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!

or

Why 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.

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

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

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

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

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

Don't spam.

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

Do you want fries with your burger?

or

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

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

Blogs can be confused for spam, unfortunately.

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

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

There are ways to avoid the above possibilities.

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

Fuzzy spam classification uses several benchmarks.

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

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

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

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

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

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

More unique content == less chance of spurious classification.

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

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

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

Blogs Cannot Be Whitelisted Against Spam Classification

Periodically, in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?, we see the naive request.

Please, take a minute and let me know how safe my blog is.

Here, the blog owner wants to know whether it's possible that his blog might be classified as a spam host, in the near future.

This is a request that, no matter how genuine a blog, and a blog owner, may appear now, cannot be fulfilled with any degree of accuracy and authority.

Whitelisting blogs against spam classification is a service that simply cannot be provided, when requested.

A single blog, viewed now, cannot provide an adequate view of the blog population, and of the immediate threat.

• Many spam farms can only be detected as groups of blogs, where individual blogs may appear quite benign and genuine.
• Many blogs, apparently benign and genuine right now, may have a spammy payload applied later.
• Many spammers would appreciate immediate evaluation of their blogs, so they can more easily determine where the boundaries may lie.
• Many spammers would enjoy the ability to argue, later, how they may have been mislead by inaccurate advice - with the possibility of forcing a reversal of their confirmed status.

Spam classification can only be conducted by the automated classification process - which is deceptively accurate and effective - in spite of arguments provided by confirmed spammers.

As a blog owner, you need to concentrate on providing informative, interesting, and unique content to your readers. And be selective how and where you advertise the blog, considering carefully what content may not be appreciated by everybody.

Focus on developing your blog - and don't waste time asking for services that cannot be provided. And use some common sense techniques, to reduce the risk of spam classification.

Justice Is For The Poor And The Weak - And Small

In the modern legal system, justice is (supposedly) available to all citizens - regardless of colour, crede, or financial status - equally. In the Blogger legal system, justice (as in porn / spam classification, or URL availability) is available to all bloggers - equally.

If your blog is unjustly accused of hosting hacking, porn, and / or spam content, or if your blog is unfairly placed behind a content warning, you (the blog owner) are responsible for getting the wrong righted.

Due diligence requires that the blog owner has to report any problem with any Blogger blog. Regardless of how many anxious readers your blog may serve, you the owner have to request a review, when the blog is unjustly classified, deleted or locked. And, you have to do so promptly.

Blogger must serve owners of small and unpopular blogs equally, with owners of large and popular ones. The blog readers are not part of the review process. The only question is

Does the blog host hacking, objectionable, porn, or spam content?

Please, no coyote attacks in Blogger Help Forum.

Waiting For The Tap On The Shoulder, Part 2

In my musings last month about spam blogs, and people victimised by spam blogs, I analogised the legendary college secret societies, and the impersonal and rude treatment of the unfortunates who did not get initiated.

eventually, those who don't get elected will open their eyes, remove the blindfold, and find herself / himself in a pitiful group of rejects, all waiting (hopelessly) for that tap. The tap that never comes.

Again, I'll note that I never got into either group.

I am not socially adept enough to even try out for such a group. Or maybe I simply had other priorities.

This month, we are seeing the unfortunates, gathered in Blogger Help Forum.

In college, there will always be those do-gooders who try to change peoples minds, and convince the secret society members to be more polite to the unfortunates. Maybe, they could have a party to thank them for trying.

These "unfortunates", this month, are spammers. They aren't worthy of our pity, or sympathy.

They are the reason why you had your blog locked, last week.

• If you had to wait, while your blog was offline and lost reader contact, and search engine reputation;
• If you had to endure another mention of the hated 4 step protocol (that you repeated 3 times);
• If your blog lost page rank because of duplicate content penalties;

these are the people that you should blame. Here, we will call these folks "turkeys".

Gobble, Gobble.