Posted on 11-08-2006
Filed Under (Geek Squad) by Colleen

If your blog is being hosted at wordpress.com, you may want to check your email:

Hi,

It has come to our attention that you may be involved with PayPerPost.
This breaches our Terms of Service.

Either:
- every post that has any connection with PayPerPost is removed immediately
or
- the blog is removed with no chance of it’s return

If you choose to remove the posts your blog will be checked and if there
remains any doubt then we will remove it.

Do not ignore this email.
Action will be taken in 7 hours from the time this email is sent
.

Back up now, so you can move things over somewhere else.

Edited to add: Despite ASSumptions being made all over the internet, I am not, not have I ever hosted a blog on wordpress.com, and despite your uh…well-wishes, this blog “ain’t goin’ nowheres”. I simply posted this email to provide information to my readers and friends, some of whom DO host their blogs on Wordpress.com.

Edited AGAIN to add: Read this entry for more info.

[tags]WordPress.com, Wordpress, PayPerPost, TOS[/tags]

Popularity: 2% [?]

(18) Comments    Read More   

Comments

Kim on 8 November, 2006 at 11:35 pm #

What a pain in the ass.


DTrain on 9 November, 2006 at 12:28 am #

Whoa, that SUCKS. Any idea if other blog sites are gonna follow suit?


Whitney on 9 November, 2006 at 1:52 am #

That doesn’t sound good! I wonder why they’re doing that – they don’t want people “profiting” off of them or something??


Osman on 9 November, 2006 at 4:44 am #

i am afraid blogger will do same :(


Kath on 9 November, 2006 at 12:33 pm #

Well, that blows!


VC Dan on 10 November, 2006 at 6:59 am #

They have taken a no-ads approach to their free blogs — not even AdSense. Personally, I don’t think it’s a smart business move, but their loss is a gain for other hosts/bloggers. Posties are already sharing suggestions for best providers, migration tools etc. for true “blog ownership”.


Colleen on 10 November, 2006 at 10:04 am #

I agree Dan. If this is the push that people needed to get their own domain and blog from it, then it will end up being a good thing. I just wish they were giving people more than 7 hours to move things over, but when it’s against the TOS, it’s against the TOS.


Denis on 10 November, 2006 at 12:18 pm #

Colleen, in case you’re wondering: how the heck am i getting so much traffic to this one post? It’s because the Scobleizer linked to you: http://scobleizer.com/2006/11/10/wordpresscom-doesnt-allow-payperpost-and-other-seo-gaming/

How did that happen? I saw your post and forwarded it to his e-mail. He doesn’t like PayPerPost, but has been doing a good job of keeping the debate about PPP going.

Btw, 7 hours to pack your bags is insane!


marcus on 10 November, 2006 at 5:59 pm #

you tell them Colleen. Now I’m gonna have to start my 3 month wait over again (I was only 2 weeks away…LOL)


[...] Like I wrote in Investing in a Deadend, here’s another reason to only create content (your writing, photos, music, or movies) in a web space that is under your direct control so that you can easily move to another web host if you need to. Wordpress.com is giving people only 7 hours to remove content Wordpress.com doesn’t like from blogs hosted within wordpress.com. [...]


Simple Kind Of Life » assumptions on 12 November, 2006 at 12:20 pm #

[...] People are so quick to assume. When I posted my entry about wordpress shutting out PayPerPost bloggers, I never imagined how many people would pick it up, and assume that I was: [...]


[...] There is a great conversation going on over on Dave Taylor’s blog regarding Wordpress acting as a blog police by not allowing wordpress users to post sponsored or paid blog entries. I think I agree with Jason Preston’s comment: I think Wordpress.com’s actions, especially after the clarification, are completely reasonable. [...]


WordPress - The new blog police? » B3H3 Blog on 17 November, 2006 at 10:49 am #

[...] The more I think about it, the more that I’m bothered by what Matt Mullenweg and his team at Wordpress.com are imposing upon the thousands of bloggers using this hosted version of the splendid Wordpress software. As came to light through a posting from blogger Colleen on her weblog, they’ve sent out a letter to their customers warning that any sponsored or paid blog entries are grounds for immediately deletion of their blog and a permanent ban from using the service in the future. [...]


ehab on 25 December, 2006 at 10:28 am #

anyone wants to “buy” 3 month old blogs ;) :P

hehehe

by the way .. how does the WP ppl find out about which WP member is talking about PPP ?


[...] I’ve blogged about this issue before, here and here. It was my friend Marcus who shared the email with me – after it received it and freaked out because he was left with only a few hours to move his blog. I find it interesting that WordPress has opened up the lines of communication with PayPerPost on this issue, considering the extreme action they took previously. Ted stated that: The problem is that they seem to think that wordpress.com users are all against PPP and don’t want anything to do with us. [...]


Marcus on 14 May, 2007 at 4:43 pm #

I wonder what is the reason for this?


Brandon J on 22 May, 2007 at 11:46 pm #

Everything is a personal choice. If Wordpress wants to lose business by only catering to a small percentage of bloggers than that’s their choice. If I was running a business, I would try to increase my customer base; however, some blog hosts want to be tailored.

It would be dumb for blogger to do this, because they are Google and Google owns blogger and Adsense.


Digital Beat on 29 June, 2007 at 7:48 pm #

Very odd e-mail which seems a bit threat if you read between the lines. I bet theres“s tough competition between different blog platforms and companies. People never should be caught in between them. Without bloggers there would be no competition.