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Update: MyBlogLog and BlogCatalog users getting banned! by Mar Matthias Darin This is an update to my previous article about MyBlogLog and BlogCatalog users being banned from Google AdSense and other advertisers (henceforth referred to as the Syndicate, The choosing of the name will become apparent shortly). Recap: MyBlogLog is a major problem. There are no gray areas on this. Any site with MyBlogLog can be watched for Click Through Rates (CTR) as this screen shot from Net Business Blog clearly shows:  This will show outgoing links from any MyBlogLog listed blog (put this in the address bar): http://www.mybloglog.com/links/?url=[add url here] You do not have to be logged in or even have an account for this to work. That is very dangerous to allow this information to be released freely to the public. My recommendation for MyBlogLog? Get rid of it faster then a hot potato. It gives out way too much information that should be private. Now on to BlogCataLog... I have found a lot of information here that suggests that CTR displays were a problem under the previous owners. This is supported by plenty of criticism that BlogCatalog was a pathetic rip off of MyBlogLog. I've spent quite a bit of time going through BlogCatalog extensively, including adding some friends and subscribing to a few favorites. At this point and time, MyBlogLog and BlogCatalog have some similarities, but BlogCatalog is not a rip off of MyBlogLog. The only issue I can find that the Syndicate could possibly have is that the discussion areas allow users to ask each other to visit their sites. Under Google's TOS, this is a traffic exchange. Which would classify every other social bookmarking site out there as well. I have found articles where people have been banned from AdSense for having too much StumbleUpon traffic using the usual "Invalid Clicks" rhetoric. Since Google has written their TOS to pretty much say they are the "god" of the universe and by using their service, you agree to whatever their great and grand thinking decrees, its leavs you with no chance in hell of any legal recourse. Hence why I refer to this as the Syndicate. When you put the Syndicate into prospective, they expect to be the center of all money making of the internet and anything or anyone that diverges from this is instantly labeled as "invalid" to protect their greed under the guise of protecting the advertisers. The Syndicate only cares about their advertisers as long as they (Syndicate) are the ones making the money. At one time, such tactics were referred to racketeering, mob style or gangland style strong arm measures, blackmail, and any number of other crimes including fraud when publishers aren't paid. I will continue to watch BlogCatalog for any signs of illegal activity and document them here should I find any. But I will say that thus far, BlogCatalog has shown (under the new owners) no evidence, that I can find, of any wrong doing. 
Top tags: mybloglog, blogcatalog, syndicate, advertisers, banned, information, users, adsense, allow, areas Comments from Daniel If you take a look at the BC discussion guidelines, we make it clear that links are to be for reference only not the focal point of a discussion. We do our best to remove any and all exchange and link dropping threads. Our discussions are intended for discussion not a place to simply drop links to your blog. If you see any of this activity please report it and we will be more than glad to take action. I think we are on the same page on this issue. We put our bloggers first at BlogCatalog, if there is something we are doing that is causing problems for our member's sites, we will do whatever we can to fix it. Comments from Bas - Istanbul Expat Thanks for informing me about that MyBlogLog stuff. Time to get rid of it! I wonder why you label that information being public as 'dangerous' though. Care to divulge? (your captcha really bugs me by the way) Comments from Mar Matthias Darin Daniel: Google has their TOS vague enough that even asking someone to critique a web site where the link is in context to the discussion can still be considered a taffic exchange. Pay close attention to the third paragraph on this page (The devil is in the details): We occasionally receive questions from publishers interested in using traffic exchanges to bring traffic to their site. While these services may help advertise your site, we don't recommend using them, as they may also result in similar invalid activity. We realize that you may have questions about a specific traffic service and whether it could potentially create invalid impressions or clicks. However, please understand that we're unable to comment on any particular third-party service. Notice the "we don't recommend using them"? Here's what Google is really saying based upon their actions: If any AdSense member uses a traffic exchange (as defined by Google) and you get too much traffic from that site, Google reserved the right to ban that site. I will elaborate more in my next post with other Google policies which specifically address your other comment on this post, but this is the quick answer. Bas: For you alone to see that type of information helps you plan your marketing. For me, a potential competitor, to see that information tells me whats popular on your site and thus providing me with a way to steal your customers by offering the same products you do for less or to offer your advertisers more to leave your site and come to mine. I've had some very colorful comments about my captcha, but I also have (maybe) 1 spam per thousand comments. Comments from ViSalus 117.197.192.171 Thanks for this excellent compilation of companies operating in this space. Comments from Mar Matthias Darin You're welcome. Comments from K Fields 209.193.43.64 I really like blog catalog. I have found some really interesting blogs there including this one. And I have made some very nice blogging friends too. I have an account at Mybloglog but for some reason my password no longer works there, and I can't get back into my account. I went to the admins there about it, but they were not helpful at all. I have tried now and then to get in yet still run across the same problem. I'd open a new account, but because I would only want to promote my blog, which is already on there, it isn't accepted. Ugh! I have no problems on blog catalog and the admins has always been very helpful when I have had questions. It has brought some traffic to my blog, but not enough that adsense should worry about it I would think. It gets pretty bad that when you use adsense but can't encourage anyone to visit your blog for fear of losing it.. no Traffic... No legit clicks... Doesn't make any sense at all. ~K Comments from Mar Matthias Darin BlogCatalog has proven to be a good resource. I still have found nothing to even remotely make me question them. I'm going to say that, at this point in time, BlogCatalog is worth looking at and participating in.
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