Too Clever By Half

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Deleting an account might delete the blog or blogs it owns—but it might not. ¶

And deleting the account might have other effects on a blog, too.

A CATALOG OF DISCONTENTS ¶

So why do the Responsive blog themes, introduce by Google in 2017, continue to give me pause nine years later? ¶

Don't get me wrong: the fact that these are responsive means they provide a superior user experience on mobile. That is huge. ¶

Most web traffic today comes from phones, and a responsive theme makes your work easier to read, find, and navigate from there. ¶

Nonetheless, there are tradeoffs.

Google introduced three new features to Blogger this year.

In July, Google introduced a new system for backing up our blogs.
As the year ends, we're randomly seeing two "beta" features that use machine intelligence to add hyperlinks from your posts to related Google searches.

The changes shared one thing in common: the absence of direct communication or explanation from Google about the new features. Bad Google!

The above links will take you to my unofficial guide to these new features.

Spoiler: Yes, Google can delete your blog. ¶

But someone else could have deleted it, if it is missing. Including you, by accident (or otherwise). ¶

It's easy to tell if Google is the culprit. Google will tell you, if you've let it.

"And when they went back to the blog, IT HAD VANISHED WITHOUT A TRACE!"

Not to scare you, but it's easier to lose your blog than you think. ¶

Secure your blog by understanding what can go wrong:

Google last month created a new tool to recover your blogging account if you are ever locked out.

It's insurance that you have to set up while you still have access. And it involves a trusted friend or family member.