Protect your Blogger blog from splog

Creating and using a blog via Blogger is fast and easy. So many have joined the rage. But it seems that sometime in the summer of 2005, spammers caught onto the "opportunities" that blogs presented. Thus started two types of unsolicited annoyances -- spamming of blogs ( splog) and creation of blogs solely to link to other blogs and web sites to try to drive traffic and search rankings to them. The other sites are notoriously worthless or worse.

Google bought Blogger and offered free blogs. But soon the splog activity was overwhelming them and seriously aggravating actively blogging Blogger bloggers (I couldn't resist). Problogger.net slammed Blogger and asked if it was a haven for sploggers. It even suggested that blog search sites might have to start excluding blogspot.com blogs. Google responded to these threats to the blogosphere:

• They added a word verification option for adding comments to a blog posting. If you an Admin of a blog, you should turn this feature on in self defense.
  
• They added a "Flag" button in the blogger navbar. Clicking it alerts Blogger that someone finds the blog offenseive or against the terms of service. Unfortunately, some sploggers have found a way to leave the navbar displayed but hide or delete the Flag icon.
• Supposedly, Google now reviews blogs that are included in their "Next Blog" (using the navbar), but it's not totally effective. Some still slip through. Actually, it's not just "some". One check of 50 "Next Blog" clicks revealed about 20% were splogs.

Other reading about splogs:
Splog Reporter, Started 8/20/2005 in response to spamming of blogs. It equates sploggers with terrorists.
How to fight surging splogs. Wired Mag offers tips and a bit of background.
Splog Reporter adds Firefox extension
Splog Spot lets you search for splogs! Really! It bills itself as the world's largest splog database.
Fight Splog! reports 442 servers splogging.
Blogging industry infected with splog flu