Is 2.0 better than one?
Although this blog may appear as my first attempt at blogging, it isn't. This is my second attempt at blogging. I originally started my first blog about half a year ago, which documented all my thoughts, accomplishments, and progress. I thought it would be an excellent idea to help keep me motivated and focused. Blogging really did work wonders in helping me improve by adding some structure to my routine. It was my own personal electronic trading journal and an easy way to see how much a little daily effort can compound into significant progress over a short period of time. This blog was my crown jewel and contained everything I had learned on my journey. I had built up almost 300 posts in about 6 months. All was well!
Unfortunately, this would not last. One day I signed into my blogger account to create another post and I was confronted by a message from google:
"Blogger's spam-prevention robots have detected that your blog has characteristics of a spam blog. Since you're an actual person reading this, your blog is probably not a spam blog. Automated spam detection is inherently fuzzy, and we sincerely apologize for this false positive."
It seems that Google uses a fuzzy logic algorithm to find and eliminate potential blogs that are considered spam. I was informed that my blog would be suspended upon further review. SUSPENDED, SPAM, WHAT THE $%&!? Obviously this was some kind of mistake because I was real person with a real blog and I fell into the category of "false positives". My blog wasn't even open to the public. I scoured the internet to find a contact number for google, which I found out is nearly impossible to find. Google likes to interact with its customers through the web through pre-determined help facts, which were not helpful in this case. I quickly received and email reply to my restore request which read:
"Hello, Your blog at ######## has been reviewed and confirmed as in violation of our Terms of Service for: SPAM. In accordance to these terms, we've removed the blog and the URL is no longer accessible."
I was devastated. It was as if I had blown up my trading account! Although I did not lose any money, the thought of losing all that mental capital and my primary resource for development was nauseating. I eventually found a thread on there help page:
Steps to Try and Restore a Blog Marked as Spam By Google
I went through the appeals process and the admin was as helpful as he/she could be in this case. My case was escalated, but ultimately my blog was removed from the blog-o-sphere. AWFUL!
Don't get me wrong, I love all things Google and I know they have the procedures in place to improve the enjoyment of their products. I was an unfortunate casualty of the process abiding by the needs of the many.
So what could I do? The only thing I could do, start all over again. My first blog was an invaluable tool. I could sit there and wine or I could begin all over again. Sometimes life is gonna kick you in the crotch, knock you down, and stomp on your face all while laughing at you. The best thing you can do is learn from your mistakes and move on, which is what I am doing with this new blog. In fact, I have already thought of several improvements and ways to fortify my blog from problems like this in the future. Before I know it I will be back on my feet in no time!
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