How would you use the empty space with blogrush gone?
Can you guess whats missing in the blank space between Alexa and dealdotcom widgets in my right side bar?
Well, there used to be a widget called Blogrush! Today I got an email from them telling me that my BlogRush Account has been made INACTIVE because this blog did not pass their Quality Review criteria. Huh?? It sure surprised me but also gave me a good chuckle ^_^
The email continues: “We determined that your blog did not meet our strict quality guidelines. Please do not take this personally but realize that we must abide by a very strict set of quality guidelines. (They are listed below.) If you feel you have made the necessary changes to your blog(s) to meet our guidelines, you can resubmit your blog(s) for review after this date: Wednesday, November 21, 2007.
Below is a complete list of our quality guidelines…
BlogRush Quality Guidelines:
- The blog contains unique, quality content that provides opinions, insights, and/or recommended resources that provide value to readers of the blog. Articles, videos, public domain works, press releases, and content written by others are okay to be used on the blog, but the ratio of unique content should far outweigh content from other sources.
- The blog should be updated on a regular basis (at least several times a month) and should not just go a few months between posts.
- The blog should already contain at least 10-12 quality posts. New blogs with very little content will not be accepted.
- The blog’s primary contain must be in English. BlogRush is currently not available for non-English blogs.
- The blog should not contain an excessive amount of advertising and links and very little actual content. The focus of the blog should be quality content.
- The primary content of the blog should not be “scraped” content from other sources and/or script-generated pages for the sole purpose of search engine rank manipulation. The focus of the blog should be quality content.
- The blog’s content (or advertising) should not contain any of the following types of content: hate, anti-racial, terrorism, drug-related, hacking, phishing, fraud, pornographic, nudity, warez, gambling, copyright infringement, obscene or disgusting material of any kind, or anything considered illegal.
Best Regards,
The BlogRush Team”
Wow!! this blog I thought was in English, gets updated way more than 10 times a month, its not scraped content (as a matter of fact I am completely at a loss myself how to stop those blogs from scrapping content), and there is nothing about terrorism or hate etc in here! So I wonder how they decided to make my account inactive!
Could it be because I never blogged about them to promote them? I signed up and added their widget and didn’t have the time to first write that I had come across this system, then that I had included the widget, and then a week later how the widget was doing or how bad the colors were, how most of the links appearing on it didn’t even have the widget installed etc! Everyone else was doing that and I didn’t feel the need. Same was the case with DealDotCom widget which was talked about by everyone but I just didn’t have the time!
Anyways, goodbye blogrush! I am also glad to let you go since now I can add some shopping ads in that place ;)
Did any of you get dropped by blogrush? And more importantly, what are you going to use that empty space for?
I think you’re better off without them. I got an email the other day saying that my site was personally inspected and had passed, yet I had removed the widget weeks ago.
They turned me off with their bravado posting – best this and best that – blah blah – I’d rather have the blank space or maybe I’ll add another Zappa quote.
SB
BlogRush was a bust from the moment it launched. I checked it out and when I could not block adult themed content easily from appearing on a family friendly site it was gone. The widget just slows websites down anyways. Better off without them.
[...] article on BlogRush removing her blog from their system in her article which asks "How would you use the empty space with blogrush gone?", I decided to find out how many people were writing either positive and negative things about [...]
Their loss!
BlogRush is doing a very good job at bringing themselves down! I’ve never bothered with signing up with them and I am glad I didn’t. They are a joke!
I’m glad I never bothered with BlogRush; it seems that a whole bunch of good blogs have been taken out of their system, but they left more, shall we say, controversial, blogs in there. Lucia posted about it – http://money.bigbucksblogger.com/the-tampon-blog-meets-blogrush-quality-standards/
Sephyroth
what a shame though… asking everyone to get in and sign up despite numerous problems, sending mile long emails full of promises on how great this service is going to be, and then dropping people haphazardly right and left accusing their quality is not up to par with their guidelines – is a bit absurd I think! These people went into it the opposite direction – you don’t start writing the plan or guidelines AFTER launch!
Welcome to my blog Sandra, Scott and LGR… and thanks for stopping to comment here…. hope to see you guys here more often …
thanks Aruni :) Im not the only one, they’ve been annoying people from the very start!
hey Sephy .. I understand, most of it is just peer pressure, like kids :) but yeah, I’ve read about this observation at many blogs, so we don’t really know whats going on behind those guidelines :)
Ditto Aruni’s comment (#4) – it is definitely their loss. If they want quality blogs using them then it makes no sense to make your blog inactive. All I can think is that it must have been a mistake on their part. But too late, damage is done. Too bad for them. Dummies. ;)
Could it be that they are looking for only tech related stuff????
Anyway, I’m not sure…I’ve not even seen their website. I hate widgets….although 1 or 2 or exceptions…but overall, I just dont like them.
I can say instead of filling up the blog with all these colorful widgets….try to clean the sidebar :P
At least that’s what skellie suggests.
you know what Mayank? Skellie and I talked about this issue back then when she wrote that post :) I need to take those ‘fame me’ buttons outta there….
no its not the tech blogs they were looking for…. look at RT’s trackback link up in comments : http://www.untwistedvortex.com/2007/10/24/link-frenzy-blogrush-related-articles/
blogrush has inactivated a lot of the blogs for no apparent reason – oh well, for not having ‘quality’ – as they say!
hey teeni…thanks :)
No it’s not a mistake and I’m not the only one they kicked out so thats some consolation! Look at RT’s post and google it and you’ll see how many people they annoyed!
Pearl, I debated as Im sure you did whether or not to write a post on being removed form BlogRush. My site was removed as well. I only commented on it briefly in the same post that spoke of my improved Alexa rank. I have decided I can live without BlogRush and it creates space and opportunity for something else. Your site is one that I visit daily and will continue. In fact your site is going to get a link as a featured site at no cost to you. Look for it today
Oh, well! Just forget it. It only capable of sending a minor traffic. While you can generate a reasonable traffic from other source, there is no effect for you with the gone of BlogRush. :)
Whoa! I guess I just don’t understand them.
@MakingSalesMakingMoney: ( okay, who am i talking to here? :)) Thank you so much for providing a free link!! and I am flattered MakingSalesMakingMoney is visiting me daily – my good days don’t seem far now :D
@Ken: you are right, I put the widget once and didnt see much relevant traffic from it! so no hard feelings here!
@Mike: I think the theoretically the concept was good but this should teach us all a valuable lesson….. planning is the king in any new venture :)
Sorry, oops I’m Don from Making Sales Making Money I posted this morning and linked you up there too and offered a link up to anyone who linked to the post. When BlogRush was talking about abusers and sites that didnt qualify I gave not one thought to your site or mine frankly. but life goes on…
Hey Don.. welcome to fresh perspectives! I didn’t think of this site at all not qualifying either but I was honestly thinking of quietly taking them down one of these days!
thanks again for featuring my blog….
[...] How would you use the empty space with blogrush gone? [...]
Yes, Blogrush evicted me.
I feel small and rubbishy.
But then I thought about re-decorating that empty space.
And even though I use lowly Blogger, I must say my blog is way more Feng Shui than before.
Arigato, BlogRush!
Oh…and kiss my ass!
ah yes keep thinking that way Pearl……Karma always comes to those who wait……
I didn’t join up because I didn’t like the widget haha ….now I’m glad…..
great post ….. :)
My BlogRush is DEAD!…
Few days back, when I retrieve email, noticed that there is an email from BlogRush. The email said that:
We regret to inform you that your BlogRush Account Is Currently INACTIVE.
It's a message that stimulate my mind when I read the email. Lots of…
lol yeah, you sure lucked out Kim :) oh, I always believed in –
“good things come to those who wait, thats why I procrastinate”
I just need to start practicing that! :D
[...] I noticed the CLIQ widget and checked the site out, installed it and.. well… I need you to join me. But wait it’s [...]
I have stopped using the widgets, most of them, never used the blog rush. They generally slow up site load. Planning to remove the mybloglog also.
your site is really neat and clean Nirmal…. and filled with some excellent material…. Until I get to your level of visibility and traffic, may be I wouldn’t need those widgets ;)
Yours wasn’t the only quality blog that they dumped through bad judgement on their part, as you apparently know.
I had signed up after request from a fellow blogger, but when I saw the links on the widget on his site, I decided against installing it until I saw improved results. 4 of 5 links went to spammy sites.
Obviously I wasn’t the only one commenting on it, and they took things to extreme and became overzealous in their attempt to redeem themselves. Your site is a perfect example of their lack of judgement, whilst I still see spammy and non-related links in the widget at other blogs.
I’m so glad I didn’t waste time and space on it. Consider yourself rid of a bad concept and be happy for it ;-)
PS I haven’t read anyone comment on something that was my major misgiving on the widget to begin with. Has anyone thought about the fact that you’re providing a link to an unknown site from yours, and the possible ramifications from search engines to linking to bad neighborhoods?
Actually I did Deb, In fact just prior to it being removed I was considering removing it on my own and your decision and insight is good. There are just so many other things we can use. At first I was disappointed, posted about it, now I have moved on. Then I was notified that my Page was ranked. Brightened up my day. Keep doing what you do and do it well.
good advice Don @makingsales… I completely agree that people will read you if you write something of value! and then we may not need any of those widgets really! thanks for stopping by again!
hey Deb… good riddance :) like Don, it was on my mind to remove it, but somehow kept giving it what they say, benefit of doubt :) So they actually did us all a favor by removing it!
I don’t understand how so many places drop quality blogs/websites/etc. It’s hard enough finding stuff not typed by MySpace fat fingered monkeys. You’d think they’d keep the people who can spell. Not to mention the people who have actual grammar skills and, oh, something to say.
Brent2s last blog post..10 Tricks to Talking to Tech (Support), Part 2