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Blog suspended - how can I make changes?

  1. liam71
    Member

    Hi,
    I got this email 2 weeks ago:

    "Hi,
    Adverts are not permitted on wordpress.com and you also have a number of affiliate links. I'd be grateful if you could remove them.
    Podz"

    I would like to make the necessary changes to my weblog http://www.hottube.wordpress.com (remove the ads and affiliate links) but I can't, because I can't sign in to my admin page anymore. (I've sent 2 reply mails to Podz but didn't get an answer yet).

    What can I do?

    Thanks for your help!

    Liam

    p.s.: By the way, top blogger Scobleizer does have affiliate links as well (Amazon). I don't want to be an ass but to me this looks like a double standard - Scobleizer can have ads because he's famous , small bloggers can't. Anyway, I'm ready to remove all ads and affiliate links and yould like to apologize for putting them on my blog. Please let me keep my weblog alive, I've put lots of work into it. If you prefer, I can move to another host, but I still would need access to my admin page in order to make a copy.

  2. britishbullblog
    Member

    Podz should find this post, s/he is on here regularly.

  3. raincoaster
    Member

    I think Podz is on vacation; try the general Support form or email. They helped me yesterday very quickly.

    And yes, Scoble is for whatever reason a special case. I like his blog, but I find the two sets of rules to be pandering, frankly. I think an even playing field is only fair.

  4. learningnerd
    Member

    Is there really a different set of rules for him?

    I was wondering about this myself: what's the policy on using Amazon.com affiliate links? They don't use javascript, correct? If the links were incorporated into the actual content of the posts (say if you wrote a review on a book), would they still be considered advertisements that would get your blog suspended? That is assuming, of course, that the blog isn't a splog in any way.

  5. timethief
    Member

    When it comes to being on a level playing field with Robert Scoble then I imagine that might involve creating some blog content and writing a book might be the way to go. Gossiping and sniping on forums doesn't seem to be something he devotes any time to at all. Also as he invites comments on his blog I'm wondering what's stopping anyone who thinks they have something to say on the subject from saying it to him. And Matt can be reached through email at support@wordpress.com

  6. timethief
    Member

    @learningnerd
    No advertsisement are being allowed at this time other than these in the testing stage http://wordpress.com/blog/2006/07/27/gadgetopia/. See also the ToS, in the pink FQAs sticky at the head of the forum and in the FAQs blog.
    When the kind of advertising you refer to is allowed on wordpress.com blogs it will be on paid upgrade accounts only and not on the free accounts http://wordpress.com/blog/2006/08/04/paid-upgrade-ideas/

    blog suspended http://wordpress.com/blog/2006/07/30/riff-raff/

    As you have yet to write an book my advice is not to worry about these things or to be distracted from creating quality blog content. ;)

  7. learningnerd
    Member

    Thanks for the answer, timethief. :) I was just curious, since there seems to be a lot of confusion about the subject.

  8. raincoaster
    Member

    tt, Scoble doesn't make the policies at WordPress; WordPress does. And it's been stated in the forums before that exceptions are made for Scoble. I like him, he's a nice guy and all, but I think it's better for WordPress as a whole if we do have an even playing field, and that is something only WordPress can create.

    If the policy were limited to those who'd written a book and published blog content, I don't think he'd be unique. But the policy is, as far as I know, limited to Robert Scoble.

  9. timethief
    Member

    @raincoaster
    The topic of this thread is "blog suspended". Your blog has not been suspended. And exactly which part of your postings on this matter pertain to answering support questions pertaining to "blog suspension" hmmm.
    Your posts in this thread IMO have a sheetdisturbing and gossipy tenor and tone. More to the point they are off the point which is "blog suspension". Instead your posts amount to threadjacking designed to enable you to share opinions - opinions that are not useful when it comes to answering the "blog suspension" questions posed.
    Therefore, I firmly hold the opinion that if you have something to say about wordpress.com policy you should directly email Matt support@wordpress.com and send a courtesy copy of your email, the subject matter of which is the Scobelizer blog policy, to Robert Scoble.

  10. drmike
    Member

    Podz is on vacation for I believe another week. I'll send in a Feedback pointing out that you're having an issue getting a hold of someone to fix this issue.

    Scoble has been discussed before. The only thing he is advertising is the book that he wrote himself and WordPress has allowed it. <Insert the I'm not a staff member bit so this isn't policy.> I'm sure that if you were a published author of an actual book on the market and asked for permission, staff would consider it as well. (Trying to be polite when I say that but that's the only way I can figure out how to say it.)

    [Feedback sent with a pointer to this thread - drmike]

  11. wank
    Member

    But the policy is, as far as I know, limited to Robert Scoble.

    Oh, I'm sure if Om Malik wanted ads, he could have them too, seeing as he already has domain forwarding and a custom theme in place.

    I've come to the conclusion it's best not to worry too much about these 'special cases'. They're not really part of the wordpress.com community -- they didn't sign up for a free blog like the rest of us, they're A-list bloggers who just happen to be using the same servers. The fact that the wordpress.com servers are set up to handle large amounts of traffic makes them attractive to people who already have popular sites, and I'm sure that Automattic are savvy enough to charge them appropriately.

  12. drmike
    Member

    Or Mark Cuban.

    Hmmm, I wonder if I can get away with it. Maybe if I started selling one of my dissertations...

  13. britgirl
    Member

    @wank. Agree. Not worth worrying about. Except when you get your affiliate links yanked off your blog. The two sets of "rules" for "special cases" lingers on though. No getting away from that.

  14. drmike
    Member

    Also remmeber that Robert Scoble was personally invited here by Matt. (or at least that's how I understand it) Wp.com is pretty much Matt and Donncha's brain child.

  15. britgirl
    Member

    @raincoaster - congrats for being top blog! I'm not sure whatthe pre-requisites are but it looks pretty cool. Nice one.

  16. raincoaster
    Member

    Thanks! I'm not actually sure of the prerequisites either, but I know that I owe it to a particularly stupid banking intern in London named Lucy Gao. My three posts about her out-rank even the Financial Times article! I expect the boost to last a couple of days at most and then I'll suffer from crippling depression, but that's how it goes. Catch a rising meme and Top Blogs is your oyster!

  17. britgirl
    Member

    @RC - I read the posts - they're pretty good. That itiniery was pretty retarded ;)

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