Part of me accepts that Doc40 being slapped with a Blogger Content warning should be a badge of pride and a confirmation that what I’ve been doing for so long actually does set a much needed hepcat among the malevolent pigeons. Unfortunately that’s not the whole story. Since the damn thing appeared and I was branded as objectionable, hits on the blog have fallen off by some 30% because, as far as I can tell from the tracker, I no longer get any search engine referrals except for the simplest requests like “Doc40” or “Mick Farren”. All those searches that used to arrive looking for “Buddy Holly” or “FEMA death trains” have simply vanished. And that is a real piss-off, because Doc 40 has been going so long that it’s a weirdly random – but very extensive – free resource of information and images. It also means I am not garnering new readers and spreading the good word by these kind of referrals. What to do? Maybe I should switch to Wordpress as our friend Peromyscus has suggested in her comment, but I think for the moment I’ll wait and see what happens next. As our pal HCB put it in a comment yesterday, “Seems like there ought to be somebody you could contact for some kind of explanation about the new barrier--a bit of research is in order. Might make a nice piece as well.”
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The secret word is Conundrum
And thank you all for all the support.
Heh heh...Good luck trying to get an answer from a soulless machine...
ReplyDeleteYou're a journalist, Mickey, and the blogger mucky-mucks owe you an answer. They need to be called on this.
ReplyDeleteWV - underofl
How appropriate! Under Awful
Well, guess I'm just going to have to visit the site a deal more often then (more often still if the day job didn't have Orwellian filters over what you are allowed to see). Don't think about it...
ReplyDeleteThere must be some way to contact someone. This can't be more than the result of one jerk clicking the "Report Abuse" button.
ReplyDeleteAn Internet pal's Blogger blog was flagged as a "spam blog" for no apparent reason, & he was able to get it restored through human (Well, e-mail, I s'pose.) contact. ('Though it happened again & he did go to WP.)
It is disconcerting to see the Objectionable Content page when visiting, though I can't see it scaring off too many adventurers.
Worth at least one article, it's a fucking disgrace some unknown person slaps this decision on you. It pisses me off every time i come here, which i do daily. Maybe its payback for moving to Brighton!
ReplyDeleteDamn warning doesn't go to cookies. Sorry this is costing you random traffic. There are people in this world who need a random dose of Mick Farren.
ReplyDeleteI've read the rules and you didn't brak them. I now think my comment about CIA operative attempting to deface art may have peaked the attention of the world of spooks. Yep it's a CIA plot and you need to demand the facts. That's the best explanation I can give you.
In any case I will follow you to whatever blog host you choose and keep coming here no matter the warning hurled at me.
Make 'em talk Mick.
They've been the best read in years, your blogs that is, you press right right on.
ReplyDeleteThere's more than one way to skin a cat and these actions will only induce defiance, this "governing" is clearly an attempt to dumb-down a problem.
You're obviously creating waves Mick, but political tsunamis? Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
I plan to continue showing up here.
ReplyDeletebtw where did that image come from, totally awesome one.
Somewhat shocking that you can be unilaterally chastised by the act of an anonymous 'report this site' without the chance of reply. Blogger censor-bots be damned.
ReplyDeletechange the name to Dog 40 and re-up the whole damn thing. Or start a second blog and link the old one to it. Lotta work, but easier than to discuss with birdbrains
ReplyDeleteThanks Mick, I now have a new goal in life - to join the objectionables. I have come across of a number of blogs suffering a similar, the punk blog 'Louder Than War' was completely blocked for a while for seemingly 'expressing strong opinions'. They battled it and got it removed after a few days. I for one will keep coming and reading. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteI've bookmarked the link that you get if you click on "I understand ..." ( b*******) so it no longer costs me the extra click. Keeps your regulars with you but can't offer any suggestions for new or passing trade.
ReplyDeleteGo for 'em!!
msb
Thank you, Anon. I too have bookmarked the bypassed click link. All Doc 40ites should. Not that it solves the random traffic problem, but it's one way of voting with your clicks. Mickey, maybe you should point this out to your readers.
ReplyDeleteI feel oddly shy about asking for readers to make moves to thwart the system. I'd so shouldn't be necessary. On the other hand, folks seem to be leaving more comments. I really like that. And over this long English weekend I may get under the hood and see what can be done.
ReplyDeleteWhile I wasn't offended, might it have something to do with the nude photo of what was rumored to be Liz Taylor but in fact wasn't? It seemed like the content advisory started within a couple days of that post.
ReplyDeleteMick, give it 6 months and then try wordpress.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is great and there's nothing offensive about it, probably some jerks who think they're funny did this.
JK