I heard this crazy but real fact from a friend. I confirmed it at their site too. Don't you think this is "too much" ? I have some friends blogging at wordpress.com and they told me that "I'm trapped at wordpress.com". I think they're right. Even if Blogger doesn't have that many features that wordpress offers, it is really sad to hear this. Why not let the honest blogger get some reward for his hardwork ?

I decided to send a message to the guys at wordpress regarding this. The email is given below :-

Dear sir,

I see that you have banned bloggers from using Adsense, YPN or any other advertising in your blogs. Well, I'm sad to say that there is big flaw in your decision.

You see, blogs are maintained by people to express their ideas and generally about something they know well. If a site is working solely for the purpose of getting more money, then it is okay to ban that site. But, why not let the honest blogger get some reward for his work ? He deserves it. I think this is a very negative approach and a lot of my friends who had their blog at wordpress.com even commented that "I'm trapped at wordpress.com".

So, please take my request to include AD programs into consideration and "free" all those poor bloggers who got "trapped" at wordpress.com. Wish you all the best with your success.

Don't you I'm working for a good cause ? If so, please help get adsense back by copying this email and sending it to wordpress contact.

Use some other platform ? Don't care. Just send it. Help the guys at wordpress escape from their bondage.

NOTE FOR MODS :- Could you please change the title to " Help Get Adsense Back In Wordpress.com ". A nice campaign. Isn't it ?

The theme of this message is getting rather old.

"Such and such a company screwed me, so I'm going to get mad and write a letter."

There are other companies out there doing the same thing. You can even install WordPress on your own site if you want to and they'd have no control over it. And this is assuming it IS true.

The best solution, as mentioned above, is to just download WordPress and host it yourself. They're giving you free software and hosting, you can't really complain about their services.

You're right. But my best friend is trapped there. Any way of getting him out ?

How is he trapped there?

Well, he said he has blog there and he had quite a lot of readers. He could've made a lot of money from it. He earned almost $200 per month when he was in blogger. That was before he moved to wordpress. He struggled to get some popularity and now, he got it. But, if he change to private server and domain, he will lose all his link popularity. But, he is really sad that he can't get a penny out of his content. He gets some $10 a month as donation and thats all. What would you call this ? Trapped or what ?

Put up links and tell people to move, including why. Double post for about a week or move everything over.

As for banning someone from Wordpress, it's perfectly fine.

For one thing, it's in their TOS that you agree to when you sign up. So you can't say that you didn't know. They can stop you from having whatever kind of blog they want to because they're paying for the hosting.

For another, Wordpress hosts blogs so people who can't host one somewhere else can use Wordpress. If you have ads, then you're making money, and you can host it somewhere else.

So yes, I think you're letter, while having good intent, is a giant pile of crap.

*duhh*

Giant pile of crap ? Well, I really would like to see people who actually blog for "nothing". I still think rewarding the quality blogger is necessary.

use blogger!!

Actually, blogger lacks quality. The whole script is a big headache. Of course, it is easy. But no as powerful as wordpress. So, I guess there's no other way than to face the truth.

Blogger may lack quality but maybe the Adsense clicks there pay higher? As what I hear from time to time...

I dont know how true this rumor is.

Hey, its not a rumor. I actually got more payment from my previous blog which was hosted at Blogger. I don't if it is the platform or my traffic that helped.

so he wants to blog for a living?

I may be wrong but that's kinda what it sounds like. He should blog for free! Just for the joy of knowing people care about what he says!

I would never donate to a blogger, if he wants to write his thoughts down for a living, he should become an journalist and write editorials for a local newspaper.

carterdea

that was the risk for using free hosting, better use the paid hosting in which you can install and using multiple type of plugin...

blogger is better if you want to get an income from adsense. It free and owned by google..

Originally Posted by astrojith

Well, he said he has blog there and he had quite a lot of readers. He could've made a lot of money from it. He earned almost $200 per month when he was in blogger. That was before he moved to wordpress. He struggled to get some popularity and now, he got it. But, if he change to private server and domain, he will lose all his link popularity. But, he is really sad that he can't get a penny out of his content. He gets some $10 a month as donation and thats all. What would you call this ? Trapped or what ?

Can he use a re-direct?

If you friend wants to use adsense on a blog, why not buy a cheap web hosting space and domain? If the words of your friend can make $200 a month, surely he can afford $3 (1and1.com) to $20 (media temple) for hosting per month.

As said by others, just forward the blog readers to another blog that can legally host adsense. If the host must be free, when why not use Googles very own blogger?

However this puzzles me...

"Well, he said he has blog there and he had quite a lot of readers. He could've made a lot of money from it. He earned almost $200 per month when he was in blogger."

Why did he leave Blogger? They allow adsense, it was and still is completely free, and he had popularity.. his move to wordpress does not make sense to me at the moment.

-Good luck.

Originally Posted by astrojith

I heard this crazy but real fact from a friend. I confirmed it at their site too. Don't you think this is "too much" ?

Too much? Why? Your avatar says you blog for karma, right? Well, isn't karma a different thing than profit? I'm sorry but this reminds me of Metallica, who makes music for the love of their craft, but then turn around and sue their fans.

I always thought the point of a blog was to have a soapbox, a way to spread your ideas more than a few miles? How does money fit in with this noble idea? My friend wants to start a blog because he thinks stop signs, speed limits, and keep right except to pass are signs that respect for law is disappearing, and wants to engage the community with ideas and debate on how to fix this problem before it gets more serious. Whether he's a little nutty or not, he's launched a blogger account ( but not used it yet ) to spread his message and, in his mind, do what he can to make the world a better place.

So I don't see this as too much at all. Would you blog if you weren't getting paid for it? Is that karma?

Also, how are people trapped at WordPress? Can't they simply copy their posts over to some new system? Sure, they give up a URL and any link building they've done, but please tell me WP doesn't claim to own the copyright on your content? That would be too much.

Originally Posted by astrojith

Well, he said he has blog there and he had quite a lot of readers. He could've made a lot of money from it. He earned almost $200 per month when he was in blogger. That was before he moved to wordpress. He struggled to get some popularity and now, he got it. But, if he change to private server and domain, he will lose all his link popularity. But, he is really sad that he can't get a penny out of his content. He gets some $10 a month as donation and thats all. What would you call this ? Trapped or what ?

I like your posts, but you're completely wrong here.

I wouldn't call that trapped at all. I would call that someone faced with a slightly tough choice, and isn't happy that they chose to stay with WordPress. Trapped would be if WP was holding your friend against his will. But that's not what's happening, your friend can leave any time he likes, he just chooses not to.

Originally Posted by astrojith

*duhh*

Giant pile of crap ? Well, I really would like to see people who actually blog for "nothing". I still think rewarding the quality blogger is necessary.

If blogging is your karma, then that should be its own reward.

In another thread, you said article submission is evil because it promotes spam. But how is writing blog posts because you're being paid by advertisers for your reader's attention ( or in other words selling something you don't own ) anything but spam?

Have a look at The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs - the man is a brilliant writer with an axe to grind. The man continued blogging even when it was costing him more money than he was able to borrow for his defense fund.

wordpress.com is owned by wordpress.com. They are free to make their own rules. They provide a service for free and are in control of it. If someone doesn't like their rules they are free to find their own hosting or switch to another blogger.