Google controls a prodigious amount of Internet real estate, so copyright violations are not an uncommon experience. Therefore, Google has very well defined adherence policies for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If content on Blogger, or any other Google platform is in violation of copyright laws, one can send a completed copyright infringement notification to remove the offending bloggspot post. There is also a removal request tool that simplifies the process of notifying Google about legal violations on Blogger or any other Google property.

 

Blogger has a well defined content policy that expressly prohibits specific content within Blogger.com. Specifically, the following categories are forbidden:

 

• Hate Speech

• Crude Context

• Violence

• Harassment

• Personal or Confidential Information

• Impersonation

• Illegal Activity

• Regulated Goods and Services

• Spam

If you wish to remove a blogspot post that is in violation of Blogger.com’s content guidelines, there is an easy interface to report inappropriate content.

 

Unless you are new to the world of the web entirely, you will no doubt be aware of the process of search engine rankings. This is effectively where your website will be found in the list of websites that are relevant to the search that the person has actually put in. this means that you need to be a high quality website with unique content, and you also need to be able to provide people with all the help that they need when they searched for you.

 

Turning up and offering people things that aren’t relevant to your search will eventually hurt you rather than aid you in “casting the net wide”.

 

However, as good as having positive search results can be, you need to have something that actually fits the bill and gives you the help that you could need in making sure you do things the right way quickly and properly. The problems also start to mount up when what you offer isn’t as well received as you thought it might be. This can lead to the creation of negative content about your business, and this can easily be the catalyst to fewer views, less sales and less money in the bank.

 

To avoid this problem, you need to understand how this system actually works and how you can manage it properly. Search engines like Google, though, hold all the keys and this can make it incredibly hard to make a success of yourself online; even if you do everything that they ask, and more!

 

Unfortunately, it is somewhat common for an individual to take to the Internet in an attempt to destroy someone’s reputation by spreading false, defamatory content online. Occasionally these malicious individuals utilize platforms like blogger.com. Blogger is protected under the Communication Decency Act section 230(c) which states that website owners are not legally responsible for content authored by third parties. Blogger does provide resources for reporting sites and users who misuse the platform, but if these measures fail you may need to consult an expert or online defamation attorney to remove blogger.com posts.

 

Ways to Remove Negative Results from the Google

I’ve gotten nasty information removed by calling the blogger and having a nice long “blogger to blogger” talk with them. Appeal to their conscience. Explain why it’s good for them to change the information, and explain why hosting negative or defamatory info might reflect poorly on their own website. Don’t accuse them of bad journalism or insult them – respect the effort they took to make the content but urge them to consider an alternate headline, tone, etc. Ask if there’s anything you could do to help them out in exchange (write a review, give a link, do SEO for their site, send them a “thank you” gift, etc.).

Sometimes the author of the information won’t budge, but a forum or social site moderator will want to avoid conflict and will be more receptive to removing defamatory or misleading information. It usually doesn’t hurt to ask.

 

Check to see if the site is buying or selling any paid links, keyword stuffing, hiding text, cloaking content, or doing anything else in direct violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. If you find anything spammy, report the site to Google or report paid links inside of Google Webmaster Tools console.

 

If the site is infringing on your trademarks or copying your content, and they are located or hosted in the USA, you can file a Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown notice with the OSP (online service provider) and if that fails, you can file it with the search engines. Check out this excellent guide to enforcing copyrights.

 

Some people have successfully offered a cash settlement to have negative information down. A lot of online bloggers are in it for the money, and so are most of the reputation extortionists (Web publishers, like the RipoffReport, who encourage and directly profit from anonymous complaint content). It could be cheaper and easier to “pay to make it go away” than to pay for months of reputation management, content and link building efforts. Beware, though, of opening yourself up to ongoing extortion. And be careful of what you put in writing. You might want to contact the webmaster anonymously, by telephone, to test their response to such an offer, rather than send them a written letter or e-mail that they could reprint on their website.

 

You can send an official-looking letter threatening to sue people for defamation, and that could be enough to scare people into taking down content. Beware: if you threaten to sue someone, make sure you have a case and actually plan on following through with it, if necessary. Many times, I’ve seen legal threats backfire and make the situation flare up much worse. Threats of litigation bring out a harsh and unforgiving side in people, and it can prompt your defamer to want to “stick it to you” even worse.

 

• Ask Nicely

• Ask the moderator to remove the offending thread or post

• Audit the site for Google Webmaster Guidelines violation, and report them

• File a DMCA Takedown Notice

• Offer a Cash Payment / Settlement -Some people have successfully offered a cash settlement to have negative information down. A lot of online bloggers are in it for the money, and so are most of the reputation extortionists (Web publishers, like the RipoffReport, who encourage and directly profit from anonymous complaint content). It could be cheaper and easier to “pay to make it go away” than to pay for months of reputation management, content and link building efforts. Beware, though, of opening yourself up to ongoing extortion. And be careful of what you put in writing. You might want to contact the webmaster anonymously, by telephone, to test their response to such an offer, rather than send them a written letter or e-mail that they could reprint on their website.

• Threaten a Lawsuit-You can send an official-looking letter threatening to sue people for defamation, and that could be enough to scare people into taking down content. Beware: if you threaten to sue someone, make sure you have a case and actually plan on following through with it, if necessary. Many times, I’ve seen legal threats backfire and make the situation flare up much worse. Threats of litigation bring out a harsh and unforgiving side in people, and it can prompt your defamer to want to “stick it to you” even worse.