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Is Google Neglecting Blogger?

Posted by kdawson on from the it's-just-traffic dept.

Ian Lamont writes "For years, I've been frustrated by Blogger's relatively limited functionality and other problems. For instance, we've heard about Blogger's security flaws since the beginning of this decade. Blogger's latest problem, which lets bots bypass CAPTCHAs in order to set up spam blogs, is not just a sign of Google's disregard for security — it's symptomatic of Google's neglect of its Blogger service. For instance, Blogger is just now rolling out a feature that lets writers publish in the future, years after similar functionality was released in Wordpress and Moveable Type. Is Blogger destined to be a sideshow as long as Google keeps acquiring and building more high-profile services, such as Google Maps and YouTube?"

7 of 149 comments (clear)

  1. If Google is neglecting Blogger.... by 88NoSoup4U88 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Then why are all the people still using it regardless?

    It's not as if the other mentioned services (such as Wordpress) don't have free alternatives.
    If you're serious about it all, you would buy your own domain, and use (and customize) any CMS to your liking.

    I find it very funny to see these complaints (definitely "They've been neglecting it for years" ; Then why are you still blogging on there?

  2. usenet spam from gmail accounts by bcrowell · · Score: 5, Insightful

    On a related topic, the usenet groups I subscribe to are getting a ridiculous amount of spam recently from gmail accounts. On a given day, you'll get, say, 10 new posts, each with its own distinct subject line, trying to sell watches or running shoes. They're all from the same gmail account. It doesn't do you any good to plonk that gmail account, because the next day it's 10 new spams from some new gmail account. It's gotten to the point where I'm considering just filtering out all posts that come from gmail accounts. I'm guessing this is happening because google has relaxed their conditions for getting a gmail account, and at the same time the spammers are getting more sophisticated about solving captchas. The impression I get is that google is starting to feel the need to grow into their ridiculously large market capitalization, and they can only do that by bringing in lots of new users. If that means letting in lots of spambots too, well ...

    --
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    1. Re:usenet spam from gmail accounts by Niten · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Absolutely! I just came in here to say this.

      For my part, I eventually did cave in and block Google Groups-originating posts entirely. I've seen, possibly, five spam messages on any of my favorite newsgroups during the three weeks that I've been blocking Google.

      The company has, in point of fact, exhibited a tendency to neglect some of its services over time. This is bad enough when it comes to Blogger -- people put in many hours to become established there, although let's face it, it's not as though they have a service-level agreement with Google. But neglecting Google Groups and refusing to act upon numerous spam reports, to the extent that groups like comp.lang.python and rec.bicycles.tech become absolutely useless you block all GG-originating posts? That's inexcusable. If this were anyone other than Google they would have been issued the UDP a long time ago.

      So yes, by all means, block Google Groups, because they have chronically and increasingly failed to fulfill their responsibilities to the Usenet community. And put a message in your signature to this effect, so that Google Groups posters will know why you are ignoring their articles; and so that they will consider moving to a different service.

  3. Re:it's still in beta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Promising starts, interesting ideas, and a chronic failure to finish.

    That's funny, I had a girlfriend that made the same comparison with me.

  4. Holy crap! by gazbo · · Score: 5, Funny
    A blogger is upset about some software that allows them to blog?!

    Batten down the handles - this teacup's in for a stormy night!

  5. Google is neglecting more than just blogger by bjd145 · · Score: 5, Informative

    IMO they are also neglecting Picasa, especially the Picasaweb. Adobe and Flickr are doing a much better job of updating their online photo sharing sites. What about Google Finance, Google Talk, and even Google Docs. All things that seen to be lagging in development.

  6. Re:it's still in beta by Dannkape · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is slashdot, what makes you think he ever had more than 1 girlfriend?