Sunday, April 28, 2024

You are Reading "Low Value Content"

I was slightly amazed to look at my stats and see that people actually read this blog.  Wow?!  I'm seriously both honored and humbled.  I know my Marillion Weekend posts from over a decade ago get a lot of hits so that's probably the majority of it, but then again I'm getting daily hits so I'm thinking that maybe people are just randomly stumbling upon it.  My thinking is that people are so wanting something to read now and then and not have to deal with pay walls, signing up, etc.  Well, you're welcome...and thank you for reading!

Due to the number of hits, I made the goofy decision to maybe try signing up for Google AdSense.  Now, I say that like I know exactly what that is, of which I don't.  I get the concept...you know, those annoying little ads that display on the side and title bars of a page that then take you to some bizarre product that you didn't even know existed, and now maybe are a bit scared to know that it actually does.  You get the drift.  And so, I signed up for Google AdSense...and received a bizarre "no" in response.

Why?  Apparently, I have "low value content".  Hmm.  Now, in expanding upon what that means exactly, I had to waste about thirty minutes of my time skimming through page after page after page of, well, ridiculous rules and regulations.  Everything limiting porn to guns to the war in Ukraine to politics...  On and on.  Then, it moved into "unoriginal content" via screen scrapes, "doorways", content that can easily be found on another site, created by AI, and so on.

Let me be frank - I'm pretty sure I haven't exposed my naked body or anyone elses in this blog.  Fairly sure, actually, so I should be safe there.  As for guns and the war in Ukraine, again, I'm sure I haven't crossed any lines.  I don't believe I have any "doorways" unless that's considered a link to my other blogs, which would make absolutely no sense to me at all.  So, I have to guess that I'm being accused of either screen scraping, which is pretty outrageously bizarre, or they're simply saying that my content has literally no value whatsoever to anyone in the world.  Hmm.  Yeah, that doesn't hurt at all :)  Thanks Google!

Needless to say, I deleted the request for the AdSense account and shrugged my shoulders.  I guess in this world you can post as an authority on any number of topics that you may actually know nothing about, and that's apparently okay.  However, if you just maintain a regular "blog", of both your thoughts wrapped in with some comedy and silly things that happen during your day to day life...well, sorry, you're kaput.  Oh, I probably shouldn't say "kaput"...that'll probably generate on a report somewhere.  Yep, flagged again.

And so, dear reader, of whom I at least greatly value your eyes and time, I just felt it was my duty to let you know that you're indeed reading "low value content".  You've now been warned.  And yes, I write every single word...the old fashioned way...using my brain and fingers.  You have my guarantee!

No comments: