Let’s Boycott Blogger
The Blogger issue has been really bothering me ever since I discovered that non-Bloggers users are being forced to leave a “Nickname” or comment Anonymously, without giving you the option of leaving behind the URL of your blog. This is just another move by Google to make us assimilate with them. I love WordPress and I’m going to stick with this service no matter what. Even if it means not being able to put those dumb Google Ads. Even if it means that I need to pay $10 for a CSS upgrade. Even if it means that I can’t add Java script. And a host of other reasons.
For one, WordPress has an amazing blogging community. I love the professionalism of those people who help us every single time we e-mail them. Not to forget all the contributors in those forums! 
WordPress has an open community and unlike Blogger, doesn’t pose such restrictions on users of other blog services. I always do my bit by asking people using other blogging services to consider shifting to WordPress. And some of them have.
So, if you love WordPress as much as I do, why not do something about it? I have created a small badge to show that I don’t support Google’s move. If I can’t leave behind my blog’s URL on a Blogger blog, then I don’t want to comment on such a blog.
If you want to show your support for this cause, then you can do two simple things-
1. Save the above image on your server (use Photobucket, Flickr or your WP space) and then upload it to your sidebar. I would appreciate it if you could link back to this post.
2. I have also added the term “blogspot” to my moderation list. (Dashboard->Options->Discussion->Comment Moderation/Blacklist). So everytime someone from Blogger wants to comment on my blog, then it will be added to the Moderation Queue or marked as Spam (Depending upon whether you choose to put the term in the “Comment Moderation” section or the “Comment Blacklist” section). If you mark it for moderation, then you can go to the moderation list, and remove the URL from the comment, just like what Blogger does. 
UPDATE: Blogger has started supporting OpenID. So you can log in using WordPress, AOL and other OpenID services. So this boycotting has been called off I thank all of you for your support.
Even if you could do one of these things, then I will really appreciate it. Thanks all!
People who have shown their support by writing posts/posting badges (A big thank you to all of you! I’ll keep updating this list)
Social Bookmarks:
Buying Blogger has to be the worst mistake Google ever made.
@Raphy:
It’s not so much as the buying as this whole “consolidation” thing that this company has embraced. It pisses the hell out of me.
even i am in love with wordpress..
blogger is too annoying..most of the pages dont even open properly in ma PC..
for everything u need to do coding..
So that means my comment will be marked as spam?
I’m also angry at what Blogger has done… meaning I won’t be able to reach commenters with WordPress blogs!
Already the comment system was crap, now Blogger wants to kill it off!
But suppose this is some temporary measure of Blogger’s? I just cannot believe that Blogger has done something so stupid! Actually I have stopped commenting on blogger blogs now, just went to one who is a friend. But overall there were a couple of blogger blogs where I used to comment, but now I don’t and won’t.
Let’s see what happens, I am hopeful that Blogger changes it’s mind? I think this is going to be a disaster for Blogger if it doesn’t.
@carrotmadman6:
Yes, it totally sucks, I know. Your comment was marked as spam. I’m sorry I had to delete the URL to your blog. Nothing against you, just blogger
@Arvind, Yeah…please spread the word. Blogger Sucks! Google Sucks!
@Nita:
I don’t think it’s a temporary measure. What would make them do something like this? It’s a lot of negative publicity, you know? I’m really annoyed with Google and its methods of trying to be the God of the entire tech world. I don’t want it taking over my life!
I’ve stopped commenting on Blogger blogs myself. Carrotmadman, one of my old blog friends, just commented now and I felt sad removing the URL to his blog. But I had to do it. We need to dish out what they are dishing out. This is the only way to protest
I have put the word “blogspot” in my moderation list. It’s pretty evident from their move that they want us to convert. And I’m not willing to. WordPress is good and it has an open environment. I could write tons and tons about Google’s Evil Nature. It’s weird that a company that preaches “Do No Evil” is the one that’s actually doing it.
If they have brains, then they should change this stupid new policy. Else, other blog providers should do something similar against Blogger. This is my contribution to the whole dishevel.
well, isn’t that too hard to blacklist the blogspot guys who came to commment on our blog… y should the blogspot users be punished for the blogger’s cause..
hey even my comment is awaiting moderation now..
i guess i am not from blogger
Ruhi …………….
……………………..
“Google Sucks!
”
@arvind:
Sorry Arvind
You mentioned the word “blogspot” and it went for moderation.
//y should the blogspot users be punished for the blogger’s cause..
I know…so why exactly should we suffer at the hands of Blogger? Tell me that!
@Dinsan, Sorry to disappoint you mate….but am I wrong?
ok i agree….i cant win over u..
Oh, and I was wondering why I was no longer being allowed to put my URL along with my name in there. That’s a very bad movie by Google’s standards. What are they trying to prove anyway? Do they think we’re so blogger starved that we’ll shift just to have our URL’s in there? Yeah right, give me shit. What I’ve done is that I’ve made an account on Blogger and have put the address of my WordPress blog in there so that I can atleast have a link that can sort of redirect them to WordPress. I hope Google takes this step back soon enough.
But I don’t really think having “magic word” in your moderation list is such a good idea. By doing that aren’t you doing what Google is doing. Iint ka jawaab pathar se may not always be the right strategy you know.
Surely the most user unfriendly move by google so far. Of Course, the people who lose from the move are the bloggers using blogspot. Here is a call for them to move to wordpress.
@ish:
I have put the word “blogspot” in my moderation list so that I can remove the URL of any blogger blog from the Comments field. If Blogger won’t let us put our URL, then I think we should also not let Blogger users post their URLs on WordPress.
I feel that if we don’t do it, then it won’t matter to Google at all. You are moving away from their path. What Google is trying to do is prohibit us from posting our URLs and reduce the ranking of non-Blogger blogs. As simple as that. I have even stopped commenting on Blogger blogs now. I don’t want to write a comment with a “Nickname” or “Anonymously”. That’s totally sick of them. I haven’t seen anyone else ever doing that. It’s a very cheap move.
@Myndfcukd, Thanks for your support
Coming from you, it’s a lot, esp. because you love Google a lot.
Your viewpoint is correct too. Anything that can force Google to revert the move is welcome.
@ Ruhi
I don’t think having the URL on blogger comments affects ranking in any way. Because of the no-follow attribute.
I did what ish did, fixed my blogger blog to lead to my wordpress one. Why I don’t like it is that it introduces one additional step for someone to come to my blog.
@Ruhi
I’ve just posted this problem on Bl*gger’s Google Groups – i hope they’ll take notice of it…
bl*gsp*t sucks!
@Ish, Exactly!
I think every single blogger needs to unite and oppose this move by Google. It would help if people from Blogger start moving their blogs elsewhere. Such a move by Google will definitely affect their readership. Like Myndfcukd has written in his blog, some bloggers are even removing Blogger URL blogs from their Blogroll.
@Myndfcukd, Oh all right.
Thank you for correcting me. I thought that it might be a possibility. Blogger doesn’t even let us import our posts from other blogs, if you’ve noticed. Why would they want to do that? It’s just plain weird.
Anyway, thank you for doing that post on your blog.
@Carrot, Hey , did you already buy a new domain name??
You are so FAST! Did you do it to remove “blogsp*t” from the URL?
Btw, I’m sure the Google groups are aware of this problem. Hopefully, Google will revert it soon. Thank you for showing your support. We need more people to join the movement.
@ Ruhi… a thanks wont help. Put a link on the post
Ruhi: You’re too fast for me. I was in the process of making a list. Have added two names, including yours. Hope to add more.
No, it’s a free domain available at dot.tk (sort of url redirection!) I had it since some time, but i never used it.
But now i can get through your bl*gsp*t ban!
@ruhi ..
its nice to take initiative … but the whole thing is if google wuldnt have purchased blogspot u wuldnt be blogging for FREE.. also .. blogger has no restrictions at all on what you want to do with your blog .. while wordpress is entirely dedicated to personal blogs ..
more over if google is made to realize that it was a bad move .. google will revert it back .. as it did in the case of pay out for people who purchase videos from google videos ..
Obviously google is not microsoft who dont care about its image in mass ..
i use wordpress only for personal blogs .. for other blogs i use blogspot or wordpress.org
that because of modesty of blogspot .. they dont think that u wuld move away from wordpress to their engine
@ ISH..
same pich.. my blogspot too is serving as a link up for my wordpress page…i have posted 2 or 3 topics but that to with great difficulty..
cheers to WP…i love this platform…
@ ruhi…
this badge looks great…
i have added it..
it will be in my sidebar too after some days
oops again i used the word blogspot that means it will be in ur moderation queue
@Carrot, Oooh!
You smart thing!
@Nishu, what do you mean by “blogger has no restrictions at all on what you want to do with your blog .. while wordpress is entirely dedicated to personal blogs ..”?
Blogger is more of a repository for people who want to earn money through Google Adsense. Nothing else.
//that because of modesty of blogspot .. they dont think that u wuld move away from wordpress to their engine
Haha
We’ll see how much Google cares. Hopefully, they’ll step back.
@Arvind, thank you
Glad I moved!
I initially blamed my friends. I was all “go into settings and fix that!” The blogging world is made up of diverse systems, why deny the linkage between them? Irksome.
i;ve got quite a few friends on blogger. its a bitch. i actually feel lazy going over to the site. the good news is that some of them are coming to wordpress soon.
ruhi – I put your stamp on my sidebar, but I don’t have time to diatribe in a post right now
hi ruhi,
i am shifting to wordpress!
have opened a new blog at http://empoweringall.wordpress.com
slowly shifting stuff from there to here.
finding wordpress more interesting!
thanks.
Good good! War and turmoil everywhere. And in the chaos the Geek Wrestler will rise…. EMPEROR! Oh sorry, got carried away.
You should change the lines in the post saying – I discovered that non-Bloggers users are being forced to leave a “Nickname” or comment Anonymously. Wasn’t that since day one? Its only in the comments section that I found out that they’ve removed the own URL thingy.
Most of my Malay friends [who are either on blogger or have shifted to self hosted wordpress] who have blogger use Haloscan comments, not the default. Don’t know if they’ve sealed that off too.
Blogger’s been shit for ages anyway.
did you notice this post on the wordpress.com homepage ? !!!!!!!!!!!!! bog of the minute !!!!!!!!!!!!! goood jobb Ruhiiiiiiiiiiii !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@Elisabeth, You made a wise choice
@Smack, I don’t know what exactly you meant…could you clarify your statement?
@Patrick, Thank you for your support.
It’s not imp. to do a post.
@Bap- It’s funny how so many people are leaving Blogger now…better late than never. I always try to coax my friends to start a blog only at WP. It’s easy and convenient.
@Latha, Another convert!
Yay!!
@Ashish, I think I need to edit the post. What I meant to say is that the URL thingy has been removed. Thanks for catching that error. Using Haloscan is a wise choice. I remember doing that for the week I was at Blogger.
@Dinsan,
Oh really? That’s cool. Thanks for informing me. Waise my blog has featured in the Top Blogs list many times.
I realised that some time ago too.
Still, that’s just one of the reasons I don’t use this service anymore.
WordPress could be better, but well, it’s a lot better than many other platforms.
Google has lost a lot of my acceptance, since it gained that popular after ..maybe 2002 and abused the thrust of its users.
Anyway, good to know that others care too!
@Ray- Thank you for commenting here
Yes, WordPress has tremendous potential. The good thing is that it is exponentially improving. So I feel quite relieved. I haven’t regretted my decision to join WP even once. Blogger is just a waste of time.
Hii Ruhi..I have done my bit by getting my 2 friends to join WordPress and abandone their existing blogs on Blogger..
You can also write steps to export a blog from blogger and import that blog in wordpress..
hi, I used to be on blogger, but I switched cause there was always these pop-ups of inappropriate sites, and I didn’t want to get in trouble at work. I prefer WordPress, it’s less porn-crazed.
Mitsu
@Nitin
That’s a great job! I’m not sure if I want to write the steps. It’s available in the WP FAQ section. Besides, it’s very easy to configure your WP account.
@Mitsu
WP has an amazing blogging community.
Yeah; Blogger is a repository for porn and Google adsense. That’s it. You made the right choice and won’t regret it one bit.
@Ashish: You are the one I could easily identify in this crowd of commentators!
Was it not from day 1 that we needed to use our nicknames in blogger? I thought this boycott came way too late. When lallopallo shifted to wordpress, he said wordpress users were not able to comment. I was little surprised. I thought blogger made some another new bad move.
Apparently it was not the case, but that we belatedly woke up to this.
WordPress sure is better than blogger. But if its a good blogspot blog, I still comment. I have found my own workarounds with it. I either add my link in the post. I also created a blogger blog that has my portfolio of all my blogs. I certainly don’t like that interface though. 
If you would have looked around you would see they were opening support for OpenID, which you already have with wordpress.com.
http://buzz.blogger.com/2007/12/openid-commenting.html
Yeah, so evil evil.
Ruhi: Don’t use profanities in the comments section, else I’ll delete your comment. You need to comment responsibly or not comment at all. I came to know about the OpenID system just 20 minutes ago and I will be updating the post.
Yeah… OpenID is on Blogger… time to end the anti-Blogger campaign…
I have beef that they don’t leave the comment form on the article you want to comment. You are relocated to another page, and you have to “show original post” quite often, especially if you want to quote a passage and comment on it particularly. Sometimes, because of my attention problems, I also have to reread the article to make sure my comment is accurate, whereas with WP I can just hit the Home key, reread, then hit End to go back to the comment field to continue posting my comment.
Plus, with Blogger, you have to constantly choose which option you want, especially if you would rather leave a nickname/pseudonym (like I do) rather than your real name for safety and personal safety. WordPress just shows the name you use to post your blog entries – when signed in, though
– and all you have to do is just comment and hit submit.
Plus, WordPress is just more hip nowadays. How many more people use WordPress for their blogs, hosts, and sites rather than Blogger?
P.S. I FOUND A WAY HOW TO USE YOUR BLOGGER ACCOUNT TO REDIRECT TO YOUR WORDPRESS.COM ACCOUNT.
Make sure you have a blogger account set up and have a url and everything else needed set.
Go into their dashboard.
Click on the tab “Settings”.
Click on the sub-tab “Publishing”.
You’ll want to click the link that says “Switch to Custom Domain”.
In the text field where you are supposed to put your new blog address, put in the address for your WordPress.com blog. This is where your blogger address will redirect you to to your “profile”. However, when you click on that person’s blog title, it will redirect instead to your WordPress blog rather than your Blogger blog.
Hope this at least is a temporary shortcut till they readd the url tag on their comment field.
@Poonam Sharma:
We did use our names, but also left behind URLs to our blogs.
Anyway, with Blogger’s move towards OpenID, this matter is kinda closed.
@Carrot, I need to remove “blogspot” from my moderation queue now
@Jersey, Hey thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment.
Fortunately for you, Blogger has taken up the OpenID thing and you can leave a comment using your WordPress ID. 
So the problems seems to have been solved.
Actually ever since I started going through blogger there was never any option of leaving my URL behind, so I am not aware of it. For me it was as if blogger was that way. So I would write my URL in comments.
What is Haloscan?
@Poonam Sharma:
Haloscan is a 3rd party comment service provider. You can use that instead of your regular commenting system in Blogger.