All Latest Earning Stuff: help

Showing posts with label help. Show all posts

New resources and help-options for Google AdSense publishers

This Quick-tip is about some new help resources and options that Google has recently introduced for AdSense publishers - including ones who use AdSense through Blogger. <a name="more"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSu4w5ZqTULKYexayGIAnLWjrv_ETziQcW0ZrFoVbuH03sumWoZhVE4XDdsp3BNhjCSz643Tnqf4Rf_2xwdVCG_bMo7HUJ-K7jY8Il1ykUdeO7xM9hTsrrMYKzJHtKkERvYIg8QGAl63-D/s217/quick-tips-blogger-hints-and-tips.png.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"> <img alt="quick-tips logo" border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSu4w5ZqTULKYexayGIAnLWjrv_ETziQcW0ZrFoVbuH03sumWoZhVE4XDdsp3BNhjCSz643Tnqf4Rf_2xwdVCG_bMo7HUJ-K7jY8Il1ykUdeO7xM9hTsrrMYKzJHtKkERvYIg8QGAl63-D/s217/quick-tips-blogger-hints-and-tips.png.png" title="Quick tips for Blogger Users - especially about how Blogger works with other popular tools" width="200" /></a></div>If you <a href="http://blogger-hints-and-tips.blogspot.com/2010/02/setting-up-adsense-on-your-blog.htmlhttp://blogger-hints-and-tips.blogspot.com/2010/02/setting-up-adsense-on-your-blog.html">put AdSense ads into your blog or website</a>, you are known as a "publisher", because you "publish" materials where advertisements, placed by people known as advertisers, can be placed. Recently Google <a href="http://adsense.blogspot.ie/2013/03/simplified-contact-resources-and.html" target="_blank">announced</a> a simplified, personalized contact options page for AdSense publishers, backed by an an email-based "help" service. This is a single source for many commonly used AdSense troubleshooting tools and articles, which often help you to resolve problems very quickly. Some troubleshooters lead to "issue-specific contact forms that generate emails to our team". These are backed by automated tools, that help to fix problems very quickly. Google say that "The new contact options page, troubleshooters, and specialized contact forms are available to all publishers with an approved AdSense account". Also, publishers who usually earn $US25 or more a week are now eligible for consultations via email, to help with <ul><li>Managing your AdSense account</li><li>Discussing strategies to grow more business.</li></ul> Account-holders who qualify see an alert about this on the contact options page. Google target a 2-day response time, although they note it may be slower during peak times. It's not clear whether publishers who were <a href="http://blogger-hints-and-tips.blogspot.com/2012/11/simpler-but-more-limited-adsense-sign.html">signed up quickly via a publishing partner</a> (like Blogger) will qualify or not.  I cannot test this, because I signed up using the older full-sign-up process - but I'd suspect that they won't.

New resources and help-options for Google AdSense publishers

This Quick-tip is about some new help resources and options that Google has recently introduced for AdSense publishers - including ones who ...

March 07, 2013

What "Another blog or Google Site is already using this address" really means

This article explains what "Another blog or Google Site is already using this address" means when you see it while setting up a custom domain for your blog - and what you can do to fix it. <div style="clear: both;"></div><a name="more"></a><h2>What is a custom domain</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVlBoRoqTuF_bRCI7m_slQic12sqHYQb7hRwbObxX_koQIu25RMLp72cUS8koWpuGNivAPk9UIdhJbwVDzF9TT05sXiFdzc3Bd7pGwGLJKKhHaVVHeLu-F0AhqnIfaZvwtkjgv46KhA8jF/s502/banish-syd-the-cyber-squatter.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVlBoRoqTuF_bRCI7m_slQic12sqHYQb7hRwbObxX_koQIu25RMLp72cUS8koWpuGNivAPk9UIdhJbwVDzF9TT05sXiFdzc3Bd7pGwGLJKKhHaVVHeLu-F0AhqnIfaZvwtkjgv46KhA8jF/s320/banish-syd-the-cyber-squatter.png" width="200" /></a></div>A custom domain is a "real" website address, instead of the free one that you get when you first set up a blog using Blogger.   It's one of he essential steps if you want to <a href="http://blogger-hints-and-tips.blogspot.com/2012/11/use-blogger-to-make-a-website.html">use Blogger to make a "real" website</a>.   For example: <ul><li>You initially set up    www.yourBusiness.blogspot.com</li><li>Then you hear that people will treat you with more respect if you have www.yourBusiness.com  or www.yourBusiness.co.uk. </li></ul> In this case, www.yourBusiness.com  and   www.yourBusiness.co.uk   are both "custom domains", ie web-addressed without "blogspot.com" or "wordpress.com" at the end of the address. To use www.yourBusiness.com, you need to either use Blogger's custom domain wizard - available under Settings > Basic > Publshing +Buy a custom domain. To use www.yourBusiness.co.uk   (or any other type of URL that Blogger doesn't offer), you need to firstly buy the URL from another domain registrar, and then use a similar procedure to <a href="http://blogger-hints-and-tips.blogspot.com/2011/04/using-domain-purchased-from-another.html">use that URL for your blog</a>. <h2>Sometimes things go wrong</h2>If you're lucky - and most people are - then setting up your blog to use your custom domain is a smooth process:   there are a few minutes where your new address doesn't quite work for you, and a few hours while it doesn't work for people around the works.   But the computers all catch up with each other fairly quickly and within 24-72 hours it's working perfectly. But sometimes things go wrong - and that is when you see this message in one of Blogger's screens: <blockquote class="tr_bq">Another blog or Google Site is already using this address</blockquote> Mostly (pretty much always, in fact), this doesn't mean that another blog is using the address that you just paid $10 for. What it means is that something has gone wrong with the process of setting up the domain for your blog.   Nothing more, and nothing less. You can check this by looking at what happens when you try to navigate to the address.   Most probably you will see something like this: <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3jYotW7x9xgXPXuADJUlKzJz8SHSFDnaE-dr4o0ojb3zMHovOu2eTfYC13ty4H-TzlD5X3fjrNqpyPe_0dFdmOwRsOpa8hK8OLYghpPs8z_3YEXLXoTUURS41yFhrMtnCIMm-bLNQ20_h/s640/404-error-message-example-from-chrome-robot-in-pieces.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3jYotW7x9xgXPXuADJUlKzJz8SHSFDnaE-dr4o0ojb3zMHovOu2eTfYC13ty4H-TzlD5X3fjrNqpyPe_0dFdmOwRsOpa8hK8OLYghpPs8z_3YEXLXoTUURS41yFhrMtnCIMm-bLNQ20_h/s640/404-error-message-example-from-chrome-robot-in-pieces.png" width="640" /></a></div> That's what I see using Google Chrome - other browsers will display it a little differently, and Google may change the picture from time to tile.   But the key part is the "404" error code, which says that there is no website currently using the address. <h2>How to fix it</h2><h3>The Masterclass:</h3>Chuck from Nitecruzr.net has recently published <a href="http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2013/02/how-to-solve-error-another-blog-or.html" target="_blank">a comprehensive article about the various sources of this message, and how to fix it</a>.    As he explains, it's not so much an error message as a symptom.   Basically, it's Blogger's way of saying "there's a problem with your URL setup". His post may look daunting at first; there's a lot of technical language, and you need to delve into all sorts of places you may not have looked before, including <a href="http://blogger-hints-and-tips.blogspot.com/2010/02/setting-up-your-custom-domain.html">setting up an administrator account for your domain</a> in the registrar. And just to make it more complicated, Google changed they way that they offer domains (by removing free single-user accounts in Google Apps) in January 2013, so now it also depends on when you purchased the domain, too.   But it's worth trying to work out the problem, and its solution yourself, before asking for help (see below). You will learn about how Blogger works with custom domains, and it stops the help-forum people being overloaded with questions. <h3>Methods that used to work</h3>When I've had this problem in the past, the first thing I did was to check that Google Sites was disabled on my Apps account. This was easy, and often effective, but I suspect it's not so relevant any more. Another older approach was to enter the custom-domain into the <a href="https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=pZHHZdeYKeHitQbvxkvwnCg&email=true" target="_blank">Magical Custom Domain Form</a>, and wait 48 hours to see if Google have fixed it. In the background, the Google staff would check domain settings and fix up problems if they could. However it looks like that process isn't supported any more: clicking the link now brings up a message <blockquote class="tr_bq">We're sorry.The form at this URL could not be found. Make sure that you have the right URL and that the owner of the form hasn't deleted it. </blockquote> <h2>Asking for help</h2>If you really cannot work out a solution, then post a question in the <a href="http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!forum/blogger" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Blogger Product Forum</a> - I usually use the "How do I" category.    Include: <ul><li>Your blog's URL     (eg   yourBusiness.blogspot.com)</li><li>The URL you are trying to use   (eg yourBusiness.com or yourBusiness.co.uk)</li><li>Whether you bought the URL thru Blogger, or from another domain registrar</li><li>Details of all error messages you are seeing</li></ul> Post the details into a new question (use the big red "Post a Question")button - don't try to hijack someone else's question, because their problem and solution will probably be different, for this particular error message. Make sure your question has a meaningful title   (eg  "Custom domain - another blog or site is hosted"):   many helpers don't read questions with generic titles like "help" which don't give any clues about what skills are needed to answer the question. If your question doesn't get answered in a day or two, post an update in the same thread - even something as simple as the word "bump" will take your question up to the top of the pile again, and tell the helpers that you are actively looking for help with the problem. <hr /><h2>Related Articles</h2><a href="http://blogger-hints-and-tips.blogspot.com/2012/11/use-blogger-to-make-a-website.html">Using Blogger to make a proper website</a> <a href="http://blogger-hints-and-tips.blogspot.com/2011/04/using-domain-purchased-from-another.html">Using a website address from another domain registrar for your blog</a> <a href="http://blogger-hints-and-tips.blogspot.com/2010/02/setting-up-your-custom-domain.html">Setting up an administrator for a custom domain purchased through Blogger</a>

What "Another blog or Google Site is already using this address" really means

This article explains what "Another blog or Google Site is already using this address" means when you see it while setting up a cu...

February 18, 2013

AdSense and India

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"></div>Today's post is directed at prospective publishers from India. I have debated with myself for some time now whether or not to address this issue in my <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidpV9glVuXnpNGMYI8ndRSeqxgoqRYVu4d6Fo2kUe5cjRqemhYBB5buBT63jy8yJFiOZOZBwb-8GB05vSrGOmWFyFl9KbUU8jr5Z5pf4-6nMmisGDRVtiL_a-urNpIyVoE-T3Bbw7EkRM/s1600-h/stickboy14.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437023682288460498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidpV9glVuXnpNGMYI8ndRSeqxgoqRYVu4d6Fo2kUe5cjRqemhYBB5buBT63jy8yJFiOZOZBwb-8GB05vSrGOmWFyFl9KbUU8jr5Z5pf4-6nMmisGDRVtiL_a-urNpIyVoE-T3Bbw7EkRM/s200/stickboy14.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 137px;" /></a>blog, mainly because picking out any one group of people might give the wrong impression. Hopefully, I don't offend anyone with this. I chose to write this post because we have been seeing some questions in the <a href="http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/AdSense?hl=en&utm_sourceid=aso&utm_campaign=ww-en_US-et-google_forum_portal&utm_medium=link&utm_source=HC&utm_medium=leftnav&utm_campaign=adsense">AdSense Help forums</a> lately that should be addressed. Please keep in mind, I don't work for AdSense (or Google) and I do not represent them, so these answers are not to be considered "official", but are based on what we've seen, or read in the <a href="https://www.google.com/adsense/support/?sourceid=asos&subid=ww-ww-et-u2u_breadcrumb&medium=link">official AdSense Help Center</a> or the <a href="http://adsense.blogspot.com/">Inside AdSense blog</a>. The first question of concern is this one: "Is It True That AdSense is No Longer Accepting Applications from India?" As far as we can tell, this is not true. AdSense is still accepting applications from publishers in India. Like any propsective publisher who fills out an application, publishers from India must meet all the qualifications in order for their application to be accepted. Whoever is telling people that Indian publishers are not being accepted anymore at AdSense because they are from India, is wrong. The next "most asked" question is this: "Is it true we can't use a blogspot address and must get a domain name if we are from India?" The answer again, is no - this is not true. Any publisher may apply for an AdSense account using a blogspot address. There is no requirement to purchase a domain or webhosting to get started, so don't let anyone talk you into buying a domain name before you are ready, or before you can afford it. Blogspot addresses are perfectly acceptable to AdSense, providing the blog you use to apply for AdSense with meets all the policy requirements. The last big question is: "Why does a publisher from India have to wait 6 months?" This one is harder to answer. It's one that we can only guess at, based on some of what we've experienced in helping Indian publishers. The <a href="https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=9724">official statement in the AdSense help center</a> says "In some locations, including China and India, we require publishers to have owned their sites for 6 months. We've taken this step to ensure the quality of our advertising network and protect the interests of our advertisers and existing publishers." (notation: quoted directly from the AdSense pages linked above.) This means that the six month stipulation is not just in India and China, but it does include India and China. To my knowledge, there is no "official" list for the countries, so "in some countries" could mean any country AdSense chooses to include. For the most part, we are noticing this seems to be applied to many Asian countries, not just India. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIKnrYznJMt9d1XYX9uphIw7J28g3-CjwVyz9pQKllfj76DL0s5llzLSh3vdHyQi2Vzrc2L88ne-9HmxRR3qmmLikjWo-yJe_WUP075bGmYOQpfH7Ip7bBiudSQFtiRvN5dHpVgVIBFWo/s1600-h/Stickgirl8.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437025607939729346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIKnrYznJMt9d1XYX9uphIw7J28g3-CjwVyz9pQKllfj76DL0s5llzLSh3vdHyQi2Vzrc2L88ne-9HmxRR3qmmLikjWo-yJe_WUP075bGmYOQpfH7Ip7bBiudSQFtiRvN5dHpVgVIBFWo/s200/Stickgirl8.png" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 144px;" /></a>My own observations seem to show that there are enormous numbers of people from India trying to get AdSense accounts, and trying to do so before they understand what is required of them in order to get approval. I'm not sure why this is, though in some cases it might be differences in language and how well a person understands what they have read when they signed up for AdSense. (This is not, of course, limited to Indian publishers but to a lot of publishers for whom English is not the native tongue.) Another thing I have noted with publishers from countries outside of the USA (keep in mind that I am not in the USA either) is that many of them do not understand or even are aware of the differences in legal requirements between their own countries and the USA. In the USA, copyright infringements can cause all sorts of problems, and many non-US publishers don't seem to understand why they can't use copyrighted items, or why they can't give away things like illegal software. There are many websites I have reviewed for publishers (many from India as well as other areas) that contain illegal software, movies, music and wallpapers, and this will be one of the reasons for not getting your application approved. And it's one of the reasons you can have your account disabled too - no matter where you live. If you read the Terms of Service for AdSense, down near the very end it says that AdSense is bound by the Laws of California and the USA and since they must operate under those laws, any publisher must also conform to those laws. This is an important bit of information that a lot of publishers miss seeing. Webmaster Guidelines One other thing that many new or applying publishers miss is the <a href="http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35769">Webmaster Guidelines</a>. These go hand-in-hand with the<a href="https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?answer=48182"> AdSense Program Policies</a>, and all publishers are required to adhere to both of these. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigkx7B73uKnpcIIiW8yeolz6HS5jtN-lYF22MWK153PXWfZGFgSQXiLPuPEW0VofUlI2KGLa5PDNWgrUsNTzlIqYzrIcpVtunu1lD4w5yadHEP2fUUqTRMtodtKSQubwcbT6j7rIx2I_s/s1600-h/stickgirlIndia.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437024032425745218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigkx7B73uKnpcIIiW8yeolz6HS5jtN-lYF22MWK153PXWfZGFgSQXiLPuPEW0VofUlI2KGLa5PDNWgrUsNTzlIqYzrIcpVtunu1lD4w5yadHEP2fUUqTRMtodtKSQubwcbT6j7rIx2I_s/s200/stickgirlIndia.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 127px;" /></a>Webmaster Guidelines indicate that a publisher must have "substantial original content". I suppose "substantial" will mean different things since it's a little subjective, but it really means you must have "enough" content to be accepted for AdSense. So what is "enough"? Since they don't actually give us any stiplulations about what "enough" is for AdSense, we have to guess at it. My own opinion is that you should have at least 10 lengthy posts (175 to 200 words or more per post) in your blog before you apply for AdSense. 20 would be better. And they should really be written works of your own, not articles you've copied from someone else, or from somewhere else. Other Important Considerations Other things of importance you need to consider when applying for AdSense. You MUST use your own identity - your own name and address and country, and personal details. Otherwise, when it comes time to get paid, you won't be able to. Publishers in many countries may not change their payee name, nor their country. AdSense simply does not allow this. This means you would be required to cancel your approved AdSense account, and then apply for a new one all over again, using the correct information, so make sure your application for AdSense has the correct name and the correct country. This is very important if you want to get your payments, so don't try to get quicker approval by using a different country. You can't change it later. If you have any questions about your application before you submit it to AdSense, post a question in the AdSense help forum - don't be afraid to ask for help. If it's a question we can answer in the forum, we will do our best to help you. If you want to ask a question here, please feel free to leave a comment, and we'll address your question as well as we can. We aren't perfect, and we aren't AdSense, but we are certainly willing to help you have a successful AdSense application. One final note: there seems to be quite a lot of rejection emails (for everyone, from just about anywhere) for "Domain Ownership not Evident" when people apply with a Blogger blog. That's because blogspot URLs are considered "subdomains". In order to have adsense approve that blogspot URL, you MUST submit an application to Adsense using the "Monetize" link on your blog's dashboard. That lets adsense crawlers know that your blog is a blogspot blog, and not just a regular subdomain. </div>

AdSense and India

Today's post is directed at prospective publishers from India. I have debated with myself for some time now whether or not to address t...

February 11, 2010

How to Add A Privacy Policy to Blogger, and Privacy Policy Text

NOTE: post updated November 30 2016 because of the multitude of changes to both AdSense and Blogger functionality. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIWxw8xYCLxAObwSy5wXyrw-3mwrbtgag_Tz90KgW5Bl82GgY1DI_qXkltCNGXEYIEbncsrd2vJciLz7QgtrnFsF2XbuMLN9pTaaCn5693vJmefcNQ7PEv6YLvdxpCQ-rjJh5wJyQNVLE/s1600/BloggerStickFigure.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIWxw8xYCLxAObwSy5wXyrw-3mwrbtgag_Tz90KgW5Bl82GgY1DI_qXkltCNGXEYIEbncsrd2vJciLz7QgtrnFsF2XbuMLN9pTaaCn5693vJmefcNQ7PEv6YLvdxpCQ-rjJh5wJyQNVLE/s320/BloggerStickFigure.jpg" width="185" /></a></div> Over the last 10 years, I’ve made of the Google help forums and discovered that there is a never-ending stream of questions coming into the help centers. Some quite simple, but others much more complex. What I also discovered is that help can sometimes be as simple as pointing someone to the right link in the vast network of Google help links. I don't consider myself an "expert" on all Google's help systems, but for the most part I have learned how and where to find help when I need it. What you’ll find though, is that getting a direct answer from any person who actually works for Google is difficult, at best. And only those who qualify for direct email support can have it. The rest need to<a href="https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!forum/adsense"> use the help forum</a> to get answers, and the help forum has volunteers who have been using AdSense for a long time (some have been using AdSense since it first was acquired by Google, so that's a lot of knowledge just waiting for you to ask for it). While not related to all the Google categories where you can find help, one of the issues that cropped up a lot when Privacy Policies were first a requirement was how to add it to Blogger, without having it be your first post. <a href="http://photographyofgrace.com/TUTORIALS/PrivacyPolicyForBlogger.pdf">Adding A Privacy Policy to A Blogger Blog</a> This can be done quite simply by adding the pages gadget to your blog. Pages are static (not like a blog post) and can be added as tabs across the top of your blog (the same as you see above in my menu), or can be added as a link in your sidebar. Create your page, and copy and paste the sample privacy policy from below. Be sure you use your own blog's URL (or your website link) in the body of the privacy policy, and provide your own contact information. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgub-vN3IHZHKNnvk2DCPEeHal8sG7_hUXXHvlJ6wxnvpkLC12LMwCWRLH72OFjgJIP5PgKTazN0s_Nhci_Bb5rXMN_gRC4QsdJ6A-bQii2zCQB8uOMMZ2KfaGNQOgWAtIAzYgP59_sUv0/s1600/PPolicy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgub-vN3IHZHKNnvk2DCPEeHal8sG7_hUXXHvlJ6wxnvpkLC12LMwCWRLH72OFjgJIP5PgKTazN0s_Nhci_Bb5rXMN_gRC4QsdJ6A-bQii2zCQB8uOMMZ2KfaGNQOgWAtIAzYgP59_sUv0/s320/PPolicy.jpg" width="262" /></a></div> If you don't want to use the pages gadget, or have too many pages already, you can create a post and "backdate" the post (use a date that is before the very first post on your blog) using the "published on" option in the post settings. When you publish that post, it will not appear in your current posts, but will be the first post on your blog ... hidden away from recent posts. Grab the URL for that post, and then add it as a link in your sidebar, or your blog's footer, or in your own menu section. When anyone clicks on the link they'll be able to access your Privacy policy. Either of these methods are fine, and it doesn't matter if you are using a custom domain with your blog, or if you are using a blogspot URL. <div> SAMPLE PRIVACY POLICY TEXT(you can copy the text below and paste it into your blog to create your own privacy policy) Start of policy text: Privacy Policy We take your privacy seriously. This policy describes what personal information we collect and how we use it. (This privacy policy is applicable to websites falling under the primary holder fill in your website(s) and urls here.) Routine Information Collection All web servers track basic information about their visitors. This information includes, but is not limited to, IP addresses, browser details, timestamps and referring pages. None of this information can personally identify specific visitors to this site. The information is tracked for routine administration and maintenance purposes, and lets me know what pages and information are useful and helpful to visitors. Cookies and Web Beacons Where necessary, this site uses cookies to store information about a visitor's preferences and history in order to better serve the visitor and/or present the visitor with customized content. Advertising partners and other third parties may also use cookies, scripts and/or web beacons to track visitors to our site in order to display advertisements and other useful information. Such tracking is done directly by the third parties through their own servers and is subject to their own privacy policies. Controlling Your Privacy Note that you can change your browser settings to disable cookies if you have privacy concerns. Disabling cookies for all sites is not recommended as it may interfere with your use of some sites. The best option is to disable or enable cookies on a per-site basis. Consult your browser documentation for instructions on how to block cookies and other tracking mechanisms. Special Note About Google Advertising Any advertisements served by Google, Inc., and affiliated companies may be controlled using cookies. These cookies allow Google to display ads based on your visits to this site and other sites that use Google advertising services. Learn how to opt out of Google's cookie usage. As mentioned above, any tracking done by Google through cookies and other mechanisms is subject to Google's own privacy policies. About Google advertising: What is the DoubleClick DART cookie? The DoubleClick DART cookie is used by Google in the ads served on publisher websites displaying AdSense for content ads. When users visit an AdSense publisher’s website and either view or click on an ad, a cookie may be dropped on that end user’s browser. The data gathered from these cookies will be used to help AdSense publishers better serve and manage the ads on their site(s) and across the web. Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the <a href="http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html">Google ad and content network privacy policy.</a> Contact Information Concerns or questions about this privacy policy can be directed to fill in your contact information here for further clarification. End of policy text. ----------------------------------------------- <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheJKeN_Cz8444fi_QV3WwzHw7bzFnu3xEqt5BJ8uXYBY_E_L9uYqcGv4A6NBSxLwj3Dt5mDKdrYoMPHqjMwcj2mtptg7VnyI3cm5Z2zs34seMqaQ7iQezOJ6EXUfK01XjjVunsXY6SdJU/s1600/LetsTalkS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheJKeN_Cz8444fi_QV3WwzHw7bzFnu3xEqt5BJ8uXYBY_E_L9uYqcGv4A6NBSxLwj3Dt5mDKdrYoMPHqjMwcj2mtptg7VnyI3cm5Z2zs34seMqaQ7iQezOJ6EXUfK01XjjVunsXY6SdJU/s200/LetsTalkS.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>On my own privacy policy, I include other useful information for my readers. The above text is required by AdSense, but if you want to take it a step further you can also add this information, or include other information related to controlling ads or privacy concerns. I like to this that the information I included on my privacy policy is actually of some help to people - not everyone will read it, or even look at it, but there are people who want to know how their information is used, and while I may not have cookies or login requirements, Blogger and AdSense both do use cookies, and we are responsible for letting people know that. (note that for Amendment 3, if you do receive paid promotions like free items to review, you must not claim that you aren't receiving compensation/payment when you are). Whether or not you want to add any of these amendments to your privacy policy is up to you (in terms of what AdSense requires), <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/ftcs-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking" target="_blank">but do note that the FTC requires bloggers and writers to disclose whether or not they are being paid for links on their sites</a>. Amendment 1: <blockquote class="tr_bq">Some third-party advertisers used by Google may use a different cookie. You may opt out of most third-party advertising cookies by <a href="http://www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp" style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: Play; font-size: 15.4px; text-decoration: none;">following this link  and visiting the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page</a>, or <a href="http://www.evidon.com/consumers/profile_manager#tab3" style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: Play; font-size: 15.4px; text-decoration: none;">by visiting this Consumers page to opt out of all advertising cookies</a>.</blockquote> Amendment 2: <blockquote>PLEASE NOTE: Some advertisers may use cookies to serve interest based ads. You may choose to opt out of the cookies as noted in the policy below. You may also set your browser preferences to be asked to opt in to cookies, rather than having to opt out. Each browser may have specific options available to opt out of cookies all together, to be asked first if you want to accept the cookies, or to allow cookies.  To find the instructions for your own browser, please visit <a href="http://www.aboutcookies.org/Default.aspx?page=1" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">"About Cookies"</a> and select your browser for instructions.</blockquote> Amendment 3: <blockquote> DISCLAIMER This website is a personal endeavour to provide useful help/information for others. This site may from time-to-time display advertising or sponsorship, both paid and free. Any product endorsements which have paid compensation will be identified as such. All advertising is in the form of advertisements generated by a third party ad network. Advertisements are identified by the advertising network and where available, links are shown in the privacy policy to opt out of advertising cookies. The owner of this site is not compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Products used in tutorials or listed here are products used by the site owner and/or have been purchased by the site owner. No endorsement fees have been paid. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider.</blockquote> Amendment 4: On some of my other websites, I also include links to helpful online security, and local laws. If you wanted to include something like this, make sure to include links to any local websites (ie: for your own country) where they list privacy, security, or copyright laws for your country. <a href="http://epic.org/" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">EPIC.org</a> <a href="http://privacy.org/" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Privacy.org</a> <a href="https://www.cippic.ca/" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">CIPPIC Cdn.</a> <a href="http://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/rules/rulemaking-regulatory-reform-proceedings/childrens-online-privacy-protection-rule" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Children's Online Privacy Act</a> <a href="https://www.priv.gc.ca/index_e.asp" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Internet Privacy Laws Canada</a> <a href="http://www.informationshield.com/usprivacylaws.html" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">US Privacy Laws</a> <a href="http://www.findlaw.co.uk/law/government/constitutional_law/fundamental_rights/500284.html" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">UK Privacy Laws</a> <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/index_en.htm" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">EU Privacy Laws</a></div>

How to Add A Privacy Policy to Blogger, and Privacy Policy Text

NOTE: post updated November 30 2016 because of the multitude of changes to both AdSense and Blogger functionality. Over the last 10 years, I...

September 08, 2009

Get Yourself a Website, and Avoid the Scams

<div><a class="addthis_button" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&username=gracey"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" height="16" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" style="border: 0pt none ;" width="125" /></a><script type="text/javascript" src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js#username=gracey"></script></div> If you are fairly new to web technologies, this little info package is designed to get you started. I won't build your website for you, but this will help you understand where to go to get one, and what you should ask yourself before you start - also, what not to do. These days we get a lot of questions on how to get a website (usually they are after <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY35_yWOPjspDAn3rC9LIEAasqCUJdJObxgM1QZFOLFFJgcZxAu20YNuRTP4r3QmVHk-IuSEYvr3ZrHCWbwuMBEvMg16IuO1HP8IV1nHeQt3P2Uss1EYBjKQ6WwLKynK1vWjD0smXO6AWW/s1600-h/_DSC0022awebb.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style=""><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368355840585228418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY35_yWOPjspDAn3rC9LIEAasqCUJdJObxgM1QZFOLFFJgcZxAu20YNuRTP4r3QmVHk-IuSEYvr3ZrHCWbwuMBEvMg16IuO1HP8IV1nHeQt3P2Uss1EYBjKQ6WwLKynK1vWjD0smXO6AWW/s200/_DSC0022awebb.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 121px;" /></a>"free" websites), or how to make your own website. The fact is, if you don't know anything about web design and don't understand anything about coding, then the easiest way to get started is with a web host that also provides web building tools. Where you start is going to be entirely dependent on what you want in a website. If you just want to share your experiences with the world, then blogging is the perfect platform for you. Most free blogs are "ready to go" services. You select a template design (the look and colours of your blog), add "widgets or gadgets" (things that let you add stuff to your blog) and start typing. If you don't intend to add any advertising sponsors to your site, then you can use <a href="http://www.wordpress.com/" style="font-weight: bold;">Wordpress</a> or <a href="http://www.windowslive.com/" style="font-weight: bold;">Windows Live</a>, <a href="http://www.livejournal.com/" style="font-weight: bold;">LiveJournal</a>, or one of many other blog platforms (just search for "free blogs"). If you think you might want to add some paid advertising in the future, opt for <a href="http://www.blogger.com/">Blogger.com </a> If you are out to build a "website" as opposed to a blog, then you need to look for a webhost that offers free websites. Here's a list of free website offers that appear to be reasonably popular to the "free website crowd" to have a look at: <ul style="font-weight: bold;"><li><a href="http://sites.google.com/">Google Sites</a></li><li><a href="http://www.blogger.com/">Google's Blogger</a> </li><li><a href="http://www.wetpaint.com/">WetPaint</a></li><li><a href="http://www.yola.com/">Yola</a></li><li><a href="http://www.weebly.com/features.html">Weebly</a></li><li><a href="http://snappages.com/">SnapPages</a></li><li><a href="http://www.edicy.com/">Edicy</a></li><li><a href="http://www.doteasy.com/">DotEasy</a></li></ul>For those looking to setup photography sites, or photographic galleries there are offerings like <a href="http://www.smugmug.com/" style="font-weight: bold;">SmugMug</a> and <a href="http://gracey.redbubble.com/" style="font-weight: bold;">Redbubble</a>, among a bunch of others that offer similar things. Not all of them allow advertising either. Of all the above sites, I maintain an account at Redbubble, and have an account at google sites, though that is yet undeveloped. Not having used any of the above, I can't give any real recommendations, I only know quite a few people recently have tried these sites. Then there are places like <a href="http://www.squidoo.com/" style="font-weight: bold;">Squidoo</a>, <a href="http://hubpages.com/" style="font-weight: bold;">Hub Pages</a> and <a href="http://knol.google.com/k" style="font-weight: bold;">Google Knol</a>. In essence they are one page "shorts" that you can build on just about any subject. Simple and easy to start. And, if you really don't want a website or blog, there are all kinds of community/social sites that allow you to share things in little short snippets, like Facebook or MySpace (I don't care much for MySpace - there's way too many users who spam), or orkut (don't care much for this one either) and a host of others you can look up. Then there's the ever popular "twitter", though for the life of me I can't see why it's so popular. Everything on twitter runs about as slow as molasses, and became so frustrating I canceled an account within days of opening it. Regardless of which option you choose, there are things you'll want to consider - whether or not you intend to use sponsored advertising, or if you want to sell your own advertising. Many free hosts already do place their own advertising or banners on your free website, so you'll want check whether or not advertising by the website owner is allowed. Many forms of advertising require you to be able to access the code or html for the site, or require the use of widgets, gadgets or plugins, so giving consideration to your future plans when you select a free webhost is something you'll want to do before making your final decision. Once you've decided, and signed up an account for your choice of spots, then you start filling it with interesting stuff. Now, if you surf around the net a while you'll see a lot of places that carry the same content, things like news aggregators, and articles on a huge array of subjects, but...many of these same articles, very nearly word-for-word, can be found on hundreds of different websites. That's known as "copied content". Copied content isn't all that interesting to most people. Let's face it, if I want to know about a Nikon camera, I'm going to start at Nikon and from there, I might look for some user reviews, but I would be more likely to read a camera review from someone whose used it, than someone who copied their review from another website. What you need to write, is something of your own. A lot of you are probably asking "what do I know that's interesting?" Think about this for a moment. Is your life an exact duplicate of anyone else's? You might have similar stories, or been through some similar things, but you as an individual are unique. You probably won't see everything the same way anyone else does. The easiest things to write are those things that have a personal impact on you - your thoughts and ideas on anything from politics to health, to raising a family or remaining childless. What ever it is, it should be something you can write about from your own experience. Imagine if Erma Bombeck had never sat down to write her tales of family life? I'm not saying every personal blog will be an instant best seller, but writing what you know is the best start you can give yourself. Once you have experience with your website or blog, you can branch out. Research things that are of interest to you, and then write about them. Share things like family recipes, or "how-to-s" if you have hobbies or a home business. Do anything, except copying "canned, pre-written" articles. Right about now, there are thousands upon thousands of websites carrying "information" on finances, stocks, forex, news, and technology. And the majority of them carry the exact same articles, and the exact same information. People are getting tired of those. Very tired. They want something fresh, something new, something unique. Don't get caught by thought of easily filling up your space with these free articles. For the most part, nobody really wants to see them again and again. And here is a very big "what not to do". Don't get caught in buying into these "make money on the <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEd-8OhujGcSVjz1Q59zVs1i5Va0wOPXJxmAWZ1uTT-WJyiBEc3jeQlsIpusB_dixhRZXCVp8rZ_iS1rVEPA27u37CB2aO53_yN9Q2BtTz3el-UI9JaMrt5oq3RmHWsHpY_4LUPip1GMpj/s1600-h/FakeSites.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368357914552582834" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEd-8OhujGcSVjz1Q59zVs1i5Va0wOPXJxmAWZ1uTT-WJyiBEc3jeQlsIpusB_dixhRZXCVp8rZ_iS1rVEPA27u37CB2aO53_yN9Q2BtTz3el-UI9JaMrt5oq3RmHWsHpY_4LUPip1GMpj/s200/FakeSites.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 163px; height: 200px;" /></a>web schemes". There are almost none that will win you any income, save a very few (and they do not advertise with big flashy web pages or ask for money up front) and most will cost you a great deal, both financially and emotionally. Scams play on the need for money - who doesn't need money today? They practically guarantee big returns, instant cash and lots of it. They nearly always offer you a "free info package" all you have to pay for is shipping (anywhere from 99 cents to $1.79 or $2.29 etc.) The catch is in the fine print - and yes, it really is there if you read it. This free information pack or free trial costs you a fee every month (usually $59.95 to $79.95 or so) if you don't cancel it within a certain number of days (usually 7 to 15) - the biggest trick of all is that the "free trial" often doesn't get to the purchaser within that specified cancellation time. Even worse, most people don't bother to read the fine print, and may not discover til a month (or many months) later that they are paying these fees. By the time they try to find the website they got the free trial from, it may be gone entirely, making it very difficult to the find the trail to cancel the "program". What often happens is the consumer ends up having to file a dispute for the costs with their bank or credit card, then having to cancel bank accounts and credit cards and setting up new ones. If you are interested in earning money online, regardless of where you find the original offer, don't ever sign up for <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6jkH4Ast1rKa9cnTOB4rpHYOFF-2cNMR9o84mt8K72DSl00telhw3VCneVPlNmP8ZBEk7U6J9L-sLUomPYFDqyt8dv5_2k7E8hLxjXzs4DA-vDP-tgpP7eAii-Ey_0v1WOxjvL7aT2kr7/s1600-h/NoEasyMoneyPig.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368358309167780018" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6jkH4Ast1rKa9cnTOB4rpHYOFF-2cNMR9o84mt8K72DSl00telhw3VCneVPlNmP8ZBEk7U6J9L-sLUomPYFDqyt8dv5_2k7E8hLxjXzs4DA-vDP-tgpP7eAii-Ey_0v1WOxjvL7aT2kr7/s200/NoEasyMoneyPig.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" /></a> anything until you've done some research. After all, would you buy a car without checking it out, or a pair of pants without making sure they fit? Buying into anything online is no different, but it's a lot easier to find out information online, all you need to do is run a websearch for the name of the program or website and check out the search results. When you see a lot of bad reviews or information, back away quickly. It's time for consumer's to take responsibility for what they do. If we all learned to do that then these scam sites would go out of business pretty quickly. Consumer's online need to educate themselves. For most, all it takes is to be scammed once. What surprises me are the ones who sign up for one scam - discover after paying for it all that's it's a scam, and then a couple of weeks later sign up for another. If you don't learn after the first time, you deserve what you get the second time. Yeah, that's harsh, but folks, we are supposed LEARN from our mistakes. Now...go have a look around the net for a place that feels like home, and build your website. (originally posted by the writer, me, on my other blog)

Get Yourself a Website, and Avoid the Scams

If you are fairly new to web technologies, this little info package is designed to get you started. I won't build your website for you, ...

September 08, 2009