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Tip: let Google know the nationality/location of your wordpress.com blog

  1. omtersaaist
    Member

    Because wordpress.com is hosted in the US, and the .com domain name is international, Google has no clue what nationality/country you are from. Of course language is an indication, but a lot of languages (English, French, Dutch, German...) are spoken in several countries.

    If you don't live in the US, most of your compatriots will probably use the localised version of Google (google.fr, google.nl, google.de...). Your results in your local search engine will improve dramatically if you indicate your location/country in Google Webmaster Tools - here's a writeup:
    http://omtersaaist.net/2007/11/02/claim-your-wordpresscom-blog-in-google-webmaster-tools/

    (BTW: the possibility of indicating your country is really new, see http://searchengineland.com/071030-232502.php and made me search for a way to claim my wordpress.com blog. I was so proud I found a way and I wrote my blog post ;-) , only to discover via the forums that several people already had discovered this long before me :-S

    http://jalaj.net/2007/05/21/get-your-wordpresscom-blog-google-verified/
    http://tigredefogo.wordpress.com/2007/05/08/how-to-make-google-verify-your-wordpresscom-blog-verify-site-ownership/

    Yet, now you have one reason more to claim your blog in Google!

  2. scopettg
    Member

    Why do you need to know Nationality? Hahaha... You are a blogger and your nationality is cyberspace-ian.

    By the way, I have received hostile incoming. And some fella is intending to take legal action in Singapore by Singapore law.

    What is a blog? There is no nationality, nationality is either you (your soul), cyberspace, or the server hosting the media. I am from Singapore, my blog is USA, maybe like that.

  3. lettershometoyou
    Member

    Can you explain how this will translate into more hits / readers for my blog? I live in Germany but write in English. Pardon me if I appear thick, but I don't get it.

  4. kamenin
    Member

    If you aim for an American readership there's probably nothing to gain from a high rank on google.de. Maybe claiming it as American will help to promote it in google.com?

  5. scopettg
    Member

    I doubt the American readership is the motive.
    Most people started out blogging in foreign host precisely to 'eliminate' the nationality problem, and to play safe, not to promote their site overseas or for google.
    Blogging shouldn't have a 'nationality' in the first place.
    Usually only governments who want to control netizens by offline media rules will want to place in Nationality.
    When you blog in WordPress, WordPress's blogs are all American blogs, because WordPress itself is American company, if there must be a nation. Just as Yahoo, when it becomes Yahoo China, it faces some sort of competition from Baidu, and many restrictions so heard from China.
    Just share the view here on nationality of Blogging. Hahaha...

  6. timethief
    Member

    Tip: Google knows all
    Scroogled — Google controls your e-mail, your videos, your calendar, your searches… What if it controlled your life?

    Personally-Identifying Information - When it comes to privacy online I’m firmly convinced that most people haven’t a clue that every time they visited a page with Google ads, or used Google maps, or Google mail—even if they sent mail to a Gmail account— Google collected your personally-identifying Information.

  7. julienne
    Member

    Google peeps into your Google mail too,

    It needs some 'keywords' to help with searches so mind your mail is'nt *hot mail..haahahahha

  8. omtersaaist
    Member

    @scopettg and @lettershometoyou: if you write in English for an international audience then there is no point indeed in indicating a country
    @kamenin: claiming your blog as American will probably make your blog end up higher for search results in the US, but will probably be disadvantageous for search results outside the US. That's probably not what scopettg and lettershomeoyou want...

    There are some clear use cases however where indicating a location to Google is really advantageous:

    1.
    you're blogging in English but you cater for a specific country, instead of an international audience. You might be a British blogger writing about British politics. You might be a German designer or engineer writing in English but still wanting to show higher up in Google.de for English-language queries, because your potential clients use English-language jargon to find expertise (and experts to hire).

    2.
    You're blogging in a language other than English that is spoken in several countries, but you write for your own country: people writing in Dutch might either target google.be (Belgium, which is half-Dutch-speaking) or google.nl (Holland), people writing in German might either target google.de (Germany) or google.at (Austria).

  9. scopettg
    Member

    Hi Timethief & omtersaaist!

    Yes~ Google can get all the info. But once WordPress does so, governments could try to blur WordPress declared Nationalities of its participants, especially those Asian governments. And WordPress will have to entertain all the incoming 'demands' and 'concerns' from such governments, interest bodies and big shots.

    You get the point?

    Although WordPress is officially based in USA, hence under an USA legal environment, WordPress should observe how Baidu could have competed with Yahoo when Yahoo China was happening.

    The blog contents which are legal under USA jurisdiction may be points of contention in Asia. It is the same that Taliban malicious attacks in Taliban Blog Host may be legal under Taliban regime, but Bush will never like them. Hahaha...

    This is a very serious blogging and commercial move and concern. Splitting wordpress bloggers into languages is ok. Classifying bloggers into nationalities must be carefully thought. Blogs like Malaysiakini who blogged about politics in Malaysia is a good example.

    Even a blog like mine expressing unhappiness with a government linked company is threatened a legal action by the Singapore unit with Singapore lawyer and with Singapore law.

    What will happen if WordPress classify bloggers by nationalities? See? You can bet government will use the excuse trying to blur things and intervene.

    This is very serious.

  10. omtersaaist
    Member

    OK scopettg,

    I understand your concern.
    But my posting was in no way an argument for WordPress to classify its bloggers into nationalities. (in fact, WordPress has nothing to do with the story, only Google has).

    I used the phrase "nationality of your blog" more as a metaphor - the only thing I wanted to explain is that you can make your blog score higher your local version of Google if you indicate your location.

    Nobody forces you to do that. And if you assign a country to your blog in Google, I do not think there is a way Google actually reveals that information.

    Hope that will clear things up a bit.

  11. scopettg
    Member

    Google will always send cookies and know the IPs. IPs will pinpoint from where you contribute contents to WordPress Blog Host.

    There is no need for WordPress to specify a blog belongs to which nationality. Because in a blog, it's not a normal/traditional media. And participants from all over the world blog, and nationality becomes unnecessary. Google as a search engine will and should place these blogs under USA, and USA jurisdiction because those contents serve the host's interest. In fact, if any of our blog is deemed undesireable, it is not us who will act but WordPress from USA.

    So you see, if you want to be blogging under Belgium, you can go to a Belgium blog host. Or you can ask wordpress to start a host in Belgium itself. If WordPress start letting blog divided into nationalities for Googles... it's not only Googles that will 'help' you. Government, powerful entities and so on will come in the name of their nationalities after WordPress.

    That's how Yahoo China was fighting a loose game with Baidu. Yahoo China simply got into too much 'adjustments', so I heard. People will say... "Wordpress China? China must control what... ... Because it reflects China!"

    You got the drift? That's the number problem about blog host. Because blogs are unprofessional, and many governments especially Asian's don't understand blogs at all beyond their suspicious eyes on their impact of self expression. Look at my blog. Damn~ It is a clear cut consumer case, and that ERC threaten to take legal action citing a Singapore lawfirm.

    In IT, I may not be as good as most... But in this, I must warn you guys and gals... It's going to be a potentially very big bad move.

    If WordPress do so, kindly inform us, especially those Asia.

    If you have WordPress Blog Myanmar, know that Myanmar government may be so zealous on WordPress... Do you want such attention???

    "Myanmar what?! That Myanmar side of WordPress blogs support monks! We must do something on WordPress!!!"

    Better stay clear. We are bloggers. And that's why divided into languages, but don't label nationalities. You never know which government will be so excited... ... Government have IT experts, including hackers. And politics can be very dirty.

    Scope meant well.

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