I've been using Blogger since 2004. As a basic blogging platform, it works. But when I read yet another account of spammers taking over the service, it made my blood boil. The problem isn't just that Google has failed to put all of the security and anti-spam pieces together. No, what really bothers me is Google has neglected Blogger for years, while concentrating its efforts on newer acquisitions and higher-profile services, such as Google Maps.
That's not to say Google hasn't allocated resources to Blogger. You can see on Blogger Buzz that the team is still plugging away at bug fixes, and even finds time to organize a party at SXSWi. But when it comes to security, spam blogs, and fixing other issues that have bedeviled users for years, the pace of change is glacial. For instance, Blogger is just now rolling out a feature that lets bloggers publish in the future. The lack of this basic feature isn't just an irritant to power users -- it actually hurts Blogger, and Google, because many new and existing users have turned to Wordpress and other services to find it.
I -- and others -- don't hold out much hope for Google. Even though Blogger is used by millions, the company clearly has more important priorities. And, thanks to the popularity of Google's AdSense service among spammers, the company has an incentive not to clamp down too hard.
Ian Lamont is the author of The Social Enterprise blog on TheStandard.com. Comment below, or email Ian at ian@thestandard.com. Follow Ian's updates on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ilamont, or visit his personal blog. Ian's bio and disclosures are located here.
Comments
You are right on all counts. I don't think Blogger was meant for the pros anyway. I started with Blogger, and then once I tasted Wordpress, I don't think I want to look back.
I am sure that if Google wanted, they could have made it world class - better than wordpress et. al.
But that is not the plan, or design or scheme of things. So move on!
-Des
http://techwatch.reviewk.com/
While Blogger has its problems, the real splog problem is in Blogspot, Google's free blog hosting service.
what i hate most is google never reply for blogger problem.
what the .......
Why aren't we able to contact Google when we have a problem with Blogger? Three times, now. I have built blogs, posted on them and, when I try to access them from my browser have arrived at an orange arrow which informed me that there is no such blog, but that the name is available for me to register...! That's it for me! Goodbye, Blogger...Thanks for letting me rant...
That's not the half of it. Every single 'help' issue eventually points back to the same 1 page form for all problems. And as far as I can tell every Google response to a problem on that form has been, in my experience "we don't believe you, we can't and won't help you so just go away". Which I guess wouldn't be that bad if there was any other way to contact them or even any way to even so much as plug in a one sentence description of the actual problem. Which there isn't. So round and round it goes. My bizarre technical problem is that the blogger password was lost and for some inexplicable reason, whatever I change the alternate email address to Google insists it's something else, and, just to twist the knife in, it's a nonexistent address on an invalid domain. So my password resets are being sent either to the address I can't get into anyhow, or they're being sent to some bitbucket. And Google's response is "This is inconclusive, we're protecting you from yourself, go away."
And again, all inquiries for every single problem they offer up for you to report on all go back to that same useless form.
Logically there should be a way to contact them to correct this - I'd be more than happy to give them a billion times more 'security' information that even the phone company or my health care provider demand by law. But's that' not even a possibility.
well, as for me I haven't encountered such problem yet...its more a help to me...for now.So I'm hoping I will not encounter such problem in the future.
outsourcing
Well it looks like the predictions are catching up with them. Today there is a huge problem wherein hundreds, if not thousands of bloggers have been locked out of their blogs. It seems that blogger has a rouge spambot which declared many (if not all) Blogger blogs as spam blogs. I think I may be checking out wordpress today.
Bearly Rambling
I would never go back to Blogger and my only regret is waiting as long as I did. Thanks for the mention Ian.
How do you edit Pictures and statements on Goolge's Blogger....?
How do you make changes...?