I've thought about this a lot of times before. I assume all of you mortals know what blogger is. Well, of all the blog hosting services online, I see a lot of buzz at blogger. I mean, just go on and search for something in any blog search engine and you are sworn to get a result from a blogspot site. I can't understand why so much much people are hooked up with blogger. Some reasons I hate blogger are :-

• Too much "ameteurish".
• Doesn't have the latest features which are already there in most of the others. Blogger Beta is a relief. But still...
• You don't have full control.
• No plugin support.

And the list goes on. Even with this much cons, I've seen a lot of big bloggers as Amit Agarwal of Digital Inspiration, Matt of Pro-Seo etc on blogger. Still optimizing their *.blogspot domain. Google owns the domain, the space.

Google can say :- " I made this place. Down here, I make the rules, Down here, I make the threats. Down here, I'm GOD". The dialogue is from Matrix (Trainman to Neo). So, tell me what you feel.

There's a very simple answer really. It's free and easy to set up. Using blogger means you don't have pay for hosting and you don't need to do any install of blog software.

I prefer to have my blog sit on my own server and have the control over the domain. I also like the ability to customize things more to suit my own needs.

But a solution like blogger can work for many people. It's a good way to get started blogging, especially if you're unsure if it's for you and if you're going to be able to stay with it.

I might choose using the free service WordPress offers though since I think it's easier to port it later to your own hosted blog, but I'm not really sure of that and I'll deny I ever said this if I'm wrong.

I don't have a problem with Blogger. I have a few blogs with them. It's simple and easy to use. The only downside really is that the templates they provide are pretty boring.

Well, its not about the templates because believe it or not, its **** easy to customize the template and you can put new templates using style sheets and stuff. But, you know, the whole interface thing sux. Van claims that its bcuz of the sheer ease of use. But, why're the majors like Amit Agarwal, Matt or Stox here porting to blogger ? I mean, you might've heard of labnol.blogspot.com. Its a fantastic work. And, Matt also does good work. Why would these gurus need ease ? As a matter of fact, Wordpress is a lot easier when you consider it as a script and not a hosted service. Its easier that Nuke, Joomla and even b2. Believe me. So, why would they go for blogger.

Ok. I'm leaving the script thingy now. Why do they have the .blogspot domain ? Don't tell me they can't afford it bcuz....well...they can. You see, the reason why I came up with this question is bcuz one of my friends told me that Blogger gets comparitively more traffic than blogs on other platforms. This may be true bcuz whenever I see a .blogspot site in a Google result, I click it bcuz...well, I don't no. Maybe because of the whole lot of nice blogs at blogger. And, maybe Google might be giving more cash for adsense for blogger sites.

Yeah. Its a crazy opinion. But when I had my blog at blogger, I got $10 a day !! But now, I won't get that much. Maybe bcuz my blog isn't popular enough. But, I got this after 2 months of blogging when I've spent almost 3 months with my new blog and get low payouts. I really would like to hear some opinions from the blogspot guys here as Matt and all.

I think you'd have to ask the specific people using blogger as to why they do, but keep in mind that just because they have an audience now and know what they're doing they might not have when they first launched the blog.

Maybe now they would like to be on their own hosted blog, but since they have so many posts at blogger and people already know the address they've decided to keep it.

I don't know at all if this is true so please don't assume what I say next is fact, but I suppose there could be some kind of benefit being a subdomain of blogger instead of on your own new domain. Technically Google should see the subdomain as a brand new domain when it first launches, but maybe they favor it a little since blogger is Google.

Speaking of domains though if you've been with blogger awhile and have generated some authority which allows your blog to rank well then you would probably lose that rank and traffic moving to a new domain. I don't believe there's any way you can redirect your blogger domain to your new hosted domain. Maybe you can, but I don't think so.

If you were going to launch a blog next week then it probably would be better to host your own, but it may be better to keep a blog that's been active for a year or two at blogger than it would be to move that same blog to a brand new domain.

You're right, Van. Well, anyway, I surely would be glad to hear from the Blogger members here. Unfortunately, this forum is kinda inactive. I've noticed. Don't you think W-T has been a little inactive for a while ? Well, in HowardForums.com and all, I got 17 replied is 15 mins. The rate is about 13 posts/sec or something. I think. Assumption ok ?

Originally Posted by jenyfari

I don't have a problem with Blogger. I have a few blogs with them. It's simple and easy to use. The only downside really is that the templates they provide are pretty boring.

i have a bunch of blogs on blogger and i am tired of the boring layouts

but its easy to use

its easy to move things around.. its almost like a little game
lol

Who would have imagined my first post on WT would have been about Blogger? LOL

I started years ago with Blogger because it was easy. I didn't have to think or learn a new program.

I stay with blogger and make new blogs because it's easy and MSN loves them. They are indexed much quicker by MSN than any others. My WP blogs can take up to a week or more to be indexed by G, Y or MSN.

But for the average person, I'd bet you it's because it's popular and easy. Why else would they use it?

I find blogger easy and nifty. My first blog was with Blogger after all. Although I much prefer my own domain and site, I cant ignore Blogger, I had a blog that was never indexed by Google and yet gets visitors every day...I have no idea where they come from.

Yes. Ease is a traction. But I think wordpress is just as easy as blogger is. But the only problem is, wordpress.com won't allow ADs in the blogs. How rude of them ?!

Blogger is popular for the same reason sites such as xanga and myspace are popular.

Offer people a (decently) good service for free and most people will love it.

Remember the average computer user is not as tec savvy as you or I and has no clue what they are missing out on.

WhatPress?

One reason Blogger is so popular is, well, because it's popular. A friend of mine, someone who's very active politically, had been sending me clips from different blogs, mostly hosted at .blogspot subdomains, and pretty soon he had his own Blogger account. If you asked the guy why he went with Blogger, I'm pretty sure he'd say he didn't know there were other choices.

Most people really don't care who hosts their blog - they just want to have one.

Well, when you're really new to blogging, Blogger is a good choice. I started off my blogging practice at Blogger but found it inefficient within no time. So, I got some hosting and put up a Wordpress blog which I'm really happy about. I'm satisfied with it and I wouldn't be changing over to any other platform. Its the best CMS in the world.

Old blogger = perfect (Untill the blog becomes popular)
New blogger = Garbage

I would suggest anyone getting into blogging get thier own domain and host it themselves. If your blog becomes popular you will regret being tied down to blogger.

Originally Posted by astrojith

• Too much "ameteurish".
• Doesn't have the latest features which are already there in most of the others. Blogger Beta is a relief. But still...
• You don't have full control.
• No plugin support.

Blogging isn't suppose to be about pimping out a space on-line, features or full control. Blogging is about publishing. Easy publishing. Blogger provides that in droves. The purpose for blogs is to provide the average person an outlet for their ideas and an ability to become part of the machine that creates media. It's about the content and what someone does with it and that content being relevant to somebody.

What good does it do to have a blog that you have full control over, loaded with plug-ins that doesn't look amateurish if nobody cares to read it? Or if the information in it is of benefit to nobody?

If I was writing a book I wouldn't care or expect to know what trees where cut down for the paper or how the paper was made or what ink was being used.

Originally Posted by MrBrownThumb

What good does it do to have a blog that you have full control over, loaded with plug-ins that doesn't look amateurish if nobody cares to read it? Or if the information in it is of benefit to nobody?

What in the hell do you mean ? Doesn't control make it better ? Blogger lacks everything from control to utility. But, I think a guy who's famous with blogger can be glad he got there if he started off with a good foundation. He should have a good top level domain and he's good to go.

But, this little problem affects Wordpress too if you're hosting at their servers. You'll still be enslaved by their domain.

Originally Posted by astrojith

What in the hell do you mean ? Doesn't control make it better ? Blogger lacks everything from control to utility. But, I think a guy who's famous with blogger can be glad he got there if he started off with a good foundation. He should have a good top level domain and he's good to go.

But, this little problem affects Wordpress too if you're hosting at their servers. You'll still be enslaved by their domain.

No amount of control or utility or fame, top level domains or anything makes blogging better. You seem to have a problem and want full control over everything involved w/blogging. If you don't want to be a slave you could build your own site or blog from scratch and have all the widgets and code you could ever want.

"You see, blogs are maintained by people to express their ideas and generally about something they know well. "

That is what you said in the thread where you were complaining about wordpress. Read what that sentence and read the rant that you've got going here and see if the two ideas match up.