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Put Your 2 Cents In What’s Technorati Worth Without Janice?

March 30, 2006 by Liz 114 Comments

Where’s Janice Myint in Customer Service?

I wrote an email this morning to Janice. It was the first that I wrote in two weeks. My reason for writing was because I hadn’t heard from her. I didn’t want to bug her . . . I knew her load had to be enormous and I try really hard to be the nice one. So here’s what I wrote.

Janice,
I haven’t heard from you are you swamped under?
I hope you’re not sick or really under pressure.
Smiles,
Liz

A few seconds later, I received this response from my friend, MAILER-DAEMON.

—– Transcript of session follows —–
… while talking to technorati.com.s5a1.psmtp.com.:
>>> RCPT To:<jymyint@technorati.com>
<<< 550 <jymyint@technorati.com>: User unknown in local recipient table
550 <jymyint@technorati.com>… User unknown

I know we know what we’ve lost here. Do you think that they do? I think they need to. Mr. Sifry, “looking into it,” hasn’t been enough. Janice made things happen. Now what?

The Technorati Brand

Customers decide what a company’s brand is and what it is worth. Heck, a business is not a business without customers. Would you take a moment to answer this question?

What’s Technorati’s brand value to you?

I think it’s time that we explain the situation in a calm, polite business-like fashion. Maybe then someone will hear what we’ve been saying.

After all, I am the nice one.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related articles
Technorati Without Janice–We Won’t Have to Know
Janice Myint at Technorati Is in Customer Support
Technorati Has a NEW Home Page–My Blogs Are Stuck Again

Filed Under: Successful Blog, Tech/Stats Tagged With: David_Sifry, Janice_Myint, Technorati, Technorati_brand, Technorati_Customer_Service, Technorati_service

Comments

  1. Mike says

    March 30, 2006 at 7:27 AM

    I’ve had them ” looking for my blogs ” for a little over 2 weeks. They finally found them, but still can’t get them to show up in the index.

    The whole thing’s just a little sad, for lack of a better word.

    I’m sure they want to be really good, but it’s an elusive goal and hard to find.

    I almost wish I were a coding, programming genius, so I could fix ’em.

    We’re just gonna have to take ’em as they are and get used to having something to bitch about. Their only hope is probably a massive influx of cash and a bunch of programmers, but I’m only guessing, as I have no idea of how massive the task really is and what they can and can’t do.

    Reply
  2. ME Strauss says

    March 30, 2006 at 7:32 AM

    Hi Mike,
    I’ve been with a company that’s being sold before. All of this window sprucing sure looks like that’s what’s going on. The bucks go to making everything look pretty and getting the books in order for due dilligence, while the infrastructure and the customers fall by the wayside . . . It’s the American way.

    I just don’t think that Janice necessarily had to be a causalty. If T’rati understood her value, she would still be there is all that I can see. I could be wrong on that–I don’t have all of the information.

    But out here in the customer world, SHE WAS the brand.
    Liz

    Reply
  3. David Sifry says

    March 30, 2006 at 10:21 AM

    ME,

    Thanks for your recent posts, I’m sorry that we haven’t been providing you with the service that you expect from Technorati. Ever since I read your post yesterday, I’ve been working with our engineers to figure out exactly what was wrong withyour blog, or with our indexing of your blog, but we’re somewhat puzzled as we can’t find anything wrong – your posts are getting indexed very quickly, and your link counts appear to be updating with reasonable frequency.

    I wonder if you can lay out your issue a bit more completely, or point me to your support ticket with the URLs that you are referring to.

    It is our goal to be 100% of service to you and to all bloggers, and I’m sorry that we haven’t been doing that well for you.

    I also apologize for the unresponsiveness, we’re a small company growing in leaps and bounds, and as a consequence, our support email backlog is high. We’re working on it, but we’re not where we need to be yet. My personal email is dsifry AT technorati DOT com, and my cell phone is 415 846-0232. Please don’t hesitate to drop me a line directly or call me so I can make sure that your issue is being handled with speed and resolve. If there’s anyone that you know that is also experiencing problems with the service, please feel free to pass that information on to them as well.

    Our goal is to be of service to you.

    Sorry for the problems.

    Dave

    Reply
  4. David Sifry says

    March 30, 2006 at 10:24 AM

    Oh, and one more thing – the problem that you had with sending email to Janice looks like you mistyped her email address. I used to do email consulting in the past, and the error you received looks like an indicator of that.

    Janice is still here, working hard, and doing yeoman’s work. Thanks for the kind words.

    Dave

    Reply
  5. ME Strauss says

    March 30, 2006 at 10:25 AM

    Wow! David. Thank you. I appreciate that statement, especially made so publically. I’ll write up the issues one more time for you.

    Reply
  6. ME Strauss says

    March 30, 2006 at 10:27 AM

    THAT is fabulous news. Thank you for letting me know. It must have an AOL error, because she’s in my address book. I contact her so often. I apologize and I’ll correct that with a very BIG Correction.

    Reply
  7. chartreuse says

    March 30, 2006 at 11:43 AM

    Now that’s customer service!
    Didn’t say they were not for sale though…

    Reply
  8. ME Strauss says

    March 30, 2006 at 11:45 AM

    Yes, Indeed. That is customer service. I’m quite impressed with it myself.

    You noticed that not mentioning that detail part too?

    smiles,
    Liz

    Reply
  9. Dave says

    March 30, 2006 at 1:42 PM

    You don’t want the due dilligence to be affected by upset bloggers now do you 😉

    Reply
  10. Brian Clark says

    March 30, 2006 at 1:47 PM

    Liz, now that you have David’s ear, can you get my link count to start again, too? 🙂

    Reply
  11. ME Strauss says

    March 30, 2006 at 1:49 PM

    Hi Dave.
    That’s exactly what i want. Due diligence can always use a fun little interruption. 🙂

    Reply
  12. ME Strauss says

    March 30, 2006 at 1:50 PM

    Brian,
    Be careful what you wish for. My person blog just got unclogged and I lost 80 links from where I was 4 weeks ago.

    Liz

    Reply
  13. Brian Clark says

    March 30, 2006 at 2:10 PM

    That’s likely the 6 month drop off, right? Don’t have that problem yet! 🙂

    Reply
  14. ME Strauss says

    March 30, 2006 at 2:15 PM

    Yep, I got hit by that. I told Janice that Dave should be a gent and link to me just to make me feel better. 🙂

    Reply
  15. Brian Clark says

    March 30, 2006 at 2:17 PM

    That would be nice. But him showing up here in the comments was a classy move.

    Reply
  16. ME Strauss says

    March 30, 2006 at 2:22 PM

    Oh, he’s been here before. He knows the address well I think. 🙂

    I’m the nice one, you know. It was a class move for him to come see me today. I agree.

    Reply
  17. Mike says

    March 30, 2006 at 6:21 PM

    I’m not as happy as some of you, as I am still not in the index. We’ve had 13 blogs lost for over 2 weeks and they’re still gone.

    Mr. Sifry’s been as nice as can be, but I’d rather have efficiency.

    I’ll get all gushy when all 13 blogs are back in the index and I’d don’t have to ask every few days if they’ve found them yrt….only to have them ask me for their URL’s…again.

    BTW – I’m neither nice nor classy…but I am pissed.

    Reply
  18. Brian Clark says

    March 30, 2006 at 6:43 PM

    Wow… just like that, my link count is fixed. Liz, you need to start thinking of business models in the category of “getting sh*t done.” 🙂

    Reply
  19. ME Strauss says

    March 30, 2006 at 6:44 PM

    Mike,
    Whoa! 13 Blogs gone just like that. I’m on it!

    You need some service. Way more than me.

    Don’t say you’re not classy. You’re class from the start.
    Liz

    Reply
  20. ME Strauss says

    March 30, 2006 at 6:45 PM

    Hey Brian,
    You don’t need luck, when you can make things happen. 🙂

    Liz

    Reply
  21. Mike says

    March 30, 2006 at 6:56 PM

    Good luck liz. I’ve had ” several ” emails from Mr. Sifry and one of his employees, but after they take your info, they don’t do this :

    1) Tell you that I’ll get it done

    2) Get it done

    3) Check back and see if you see that I got it done

    I’ve done those 3 things for 2 decades as a Masonry Consultant and it’s led to over $35 million in sales.

    Anything less is uncivilized…like mustard that ain’t Gray Poupon.

    Reply
  22. Mike says

    March 30, 2006 at 8:23 PM

    Well, to my surprise Janice did in a couple of minutes what others couldn’t do in over two weeks.

    She asked the right questions, fixed it and then emailed to be sure we agreed that it was fixed.

    David, you’re lucky I’m not in the position to offer her a million dollares for her services, ’cause that’s what she’s worth to us right now.

    Thanks for the help, Liz, we couldn’t have done it without you and SB.

    We’re all lucky to have you as well as Janice. Someone better snatch you up before I have more money than employees !

    Reply
  23. ME Strauss says

    March 30, 2006 at 8:23 PM

    Sorry, Mike.
    I wasn’t ignoring you. I was pushing buttons.
    I agree with you 100%.

    If it ain’t happening no words are worth anything. That’s exactly what I was saying this morning. That’s why I said Janice IS the BRAND. In my book, she is the credibility of the place. She’s come through until this last upgrade–which is why I really thought she was sick or gone.

    The right buttons got pushed your blogs are free now.

    JANICE MYINT ROCKS

    And you King Mike have class.

    Liz

    Reply
  24. ME Strauss says

    March 30, 2006 at 8:58 PM

    Look at that, Mike.

    You and I were singing each other’s praises in harmony at exactly the same second. That’s so very cool.

    🙂 🙂 😉

    Liz

    Reply
  25. HART (1-800-HART) says

    March 31, 2006 at 7:28 AM

    WELL .. this seems to be the thread to be on to ‘fix’ things .. time 7:25am CST – Fortunately, I never know what to look for in Technorati or to determine if my stats are right or wrong (probably because I don’t really understand what’s the big deal – if you aren’t on the top 100 list) ….. but definately .. this doesn’t look right .. all 25 of my claimed blogs are zero.

    Reply
  26. ME Strauss says

    March 31, 2006 at 7:33 AM

    EVERYBODY HART!

    Hi HART! The thing is if you blogs WERE working, you would be getting traffic from technorati. I get 10-20 targeted good leads a day. Those people get sent to the page they are looking for. They system when it works is a good one.

    If you want me to help I need you to email me a list of the URLs of your blogs and the user name that you use. I’ll pass it on to the right person and we’ll get things going for you. It will at least get you up and running for a day or two so that you can see who things are supposed to work. 🙂

    Have you thought about coming up with titles for you blogs. That might help. 😉 🙂 🙂

    Liz

    Reply
  27. Mike says

    March 31, 2006 at 7:45 AM

    Hart, ol’ buddy, that’s EXACTLY what happened to mine.

    I’ll bet Liz can get yours fixed faster that “I” got mine fixed.

    We is usually faster than I, and especially in this case.

    Make sure to link to this post and mine after these two ladies work their Techno-Voodoo !

    Reply
  28. ME Strauss says

    March 31, 2006 at 7:48 AM

    Thanks MIke. Janice and I are a magical team together. Hope the new owner at Technorati doesn’t try to pull us apart–we’ve beocme so close–people are starting mistake us as twins. We do look a lot a like don’t we?

    🙂
    Liz

    Reply
  29. HART (1-800-HART) says

    March 31, 2006 at 7:54 AM

    Liz – Have you thought about coming up with titles for you blogs. That might help

    That’s like a mastercard commercial .. Priceless 🙂

    Titles? D’oh! But, I think I will take you up on that offer, so watch for an email .. thanks in advance (to all ever involved with this)

    ~~~
    Mike – I’m 100% in agreement there!

    Reply
  30. ME Strauss says

    March 31, 2006 at 7:57 AM

    EVERYBODY HART!

    Sorry, HART! I don’t usually take the easy ones, but that one was easy and just a tad clever, so I just couldn’t leave it there . . . not on a sunny morning.

    Bring on the email. I’m ready. Happy to help!
    Liz

    Reply
  31. David Sifry says

    March 31, 2006 at 9:04 AM

    We’re here for you. I’ve been working with Janice and we’re working on all of your issues. The biggest one seems to be the issue with http://www.petlvr.com/blog but the rest of you should have seen forward movement, either corrected indexing or corrected link counts.

    Please let me know if you have any other issues. We’re still working through the issues with http://www.petlvr.com/blog.

    Dave

    Reply
  32. ME Strauss says

    March 31, 2006 at 9:44 AM

    Wow, Dave. Thanks for keeping an eye out for us.HART will appreciate that. I know that I certainly do.

    I’m going to have to send you guys flowers soon.

    Reply
  33. HART (1-800-HART) says

    March 31, 2006 at 10:55 AM

    Yes! I am very appreciative and watching with great interest 🙂 plus (if it helps) I’ve already drafted a great Thank-You letter/post like Mike 🙂 and probably I should be looking at my Flower Business customers for a contra *wink*

    If anybody needs to get ahold of me btw …
    hart (at) PetLvr (dot) com

    Reply
  34. ME Strauss says

    March 31, 2006 at 11:18 AM

    I am delighted that you’re already at the part where you’re saying “thank you.” That means that things are done and working. YEA!!! Another one bites the dust.

    Go Tech!

    Reply
  35. HART (1-800-HART) says

    April 1, 2006 at 2:20 PM

    Hi. While the wheels may slowly be turning, only of 5 of 25 sites are showing up, of which 2 are duplicates, and 1 is an old old blogspot site which is still ‘claimed’ but I haven’t accessed since last July. My PetLvr site is one of the sites showing up, and still looks a little weird. There are statistics .. it shows last update 23 days ago, yet include updates from 12 hours ago..

    I wonder if that “petlvr” issue mentioned above is the reason of no movement on all my other sites?

    I’m in no rush .. nor upset or anything like that.. although I am a little curious to see if a ‘working’ system can benefit me and my sites somewhat.

    I just wanted to pass along an update, to let you know that nothing has been an ‘instant fix’ as of yet, so the flowers haven’t been shipped yet.

    Reply
  36. David Sifry says

    April 1, 2006 at 2:46 PM

    Hart, can you please send me a list of the 25 sites you’re referring to?

    Dave

    Reply
  37. ME Strauss says

    April 1, 2006 at 3:00 PM

    EVERYBODY HART!

    I guess it’s time I fess up and admit that I AM David Sifry. 🙂

    Hi Hart. Sorry I didn’t get here sooner, but it appears that David has come to help on this–on a Saturday. So I’ll step aside and let him do what he’s become good at.

    Meanwhile, keep me apprised as things move forward if you need help. I can IM Janice of the little wonky things that show up along the way. Thanks!

    Liz

    Reply
  38. HART (1-800-HART) says

    April 1, 2006 at 4:46 PM

    Hi Liz … I’ll keep you aprised! I just emailed David the same list I forwarded to you just a few moments ago … Hope David can figure this out!
    Thanks in advance David!!
    😀

    Reply
  39. ME Strauss says

    April 1, 2006 at 4:49 PM

    Hi HART!
    Wouldn’t it be great if we get this thing running like a sweet machine? I’m pulling for you!

    Liz

    Reply
  40. HART (1-800-HART) says

    April 1, 2006 at 4:57 PM

    Thx. I’m just going with the flow .. I have always been of the attitude, that it never hurts to ask … So – I asked to fix my blogs! Hopefully everybody gets what they want ..
    1) me/ listed blogs and a useful tool for me!
    2) you/ well, you are already the queen of successful-blogging .. I don’t know what you get out of this
    3) David et al/ GOOD P.R. ! You Guys Are Great! and
    4) their techs/ my problematic blogs help them solve the mysteries of the universe and other solutions!

    Reply
  41. ME Strauss says

    April 1, 2006 at 5:02 PM

    Hey,
    I like getting you what you need. That’s what I get.

    I also like knowing that thins are working right–that nobody’s moving the same box twice. That the universe is moving as it should.

    That feels good to me.

    Good PR for the folks for good work done is always NICE too!

    MY GOAL is to be TECHNORATI’s biggest CHEERLEADER.

    But my first love is my readers, especially those who sit at my bar!!!
    Liz

    Reply
  42. marianne richmond says

    April 4, 2006 at 8:48 PM

    Wow! I am sorry to have missed this until now…Great to see all the fixes in a few days and the attention of Technorati. Also good to know Janet is still around.

    Reply
  43. ME Strauss says

    April 4, 2006 at 8:51 PM

    Hi Marianne,
    I started to email you and I glitched on the address. Then I lost my attention while I was multitasking–honest that was what really happened.

    It was BEFORE I read your article–twice. 🙂

    Liz

    Reply
  44. HART (1-800-HART) says

    April 4, 2006 at 9:06 PM

    in case anybody’s interested in an update … I can now see 6 of my 25 claimed blogs .. one more blog since my “April 1st, 2006 at 2:20 pm” post. Maybe I broke it. Sorry guys.

    Reply
  45. ME Strauss says

    April 4, 2006 at 9:08 PM

    EVERYBODY: HART!
    HART! ONLY 6!!!

    That’s not good enough!!

    We need to get that number WAY higher! like up to 25!
    Don’t you think?
    Liz

    Reply
  46. HART (1-800-HART) says

    April 4, 2006 at 9:33 PM

    Well .. I am techorat-illiterate .. I don’t use technorati.com as a source for research (I prefer to randomly surf blog sidebars or my bloglines) and hardly anybody ever expect anybody to link to my blogs anyway (except me,myself, and my H.E.N.) so that was never a curiosity. I do have watchlists to watch for my own name HART but nothing has shown up for 233 days ago (I probably stopped looking at 100 days) ..

    Honestly .. I’d rather know why it is NOT being updated.. than sitting back waiting for a miracle fix, or waiting every four days for a new claimed blog to show up on the list .. you know what I mean? Should I be reclaiming? Do I need new code? should I start over on some blogs? Is somebody else cross-referencing as duplicate ownership? Too many questions if I keep thinking. Thinking is not good. Thinking Hurts HART’s brain after 6pm.

    Reply
  47. ME Strauss says

    April 4, 2006 at 9:37 PM

    EVERYBODY: HART!

    I’m already working on it. Though I can’t do much, since all of California is closed at this time of night, you know.

    Still we can’t have HART’s brain hurting. That makes my head hurt and that’s doubly not good.

    Reply
  48. HART (1-800-HART) says

    April 4, 2006 at 9:39 PM

    ok. Scratch that. I just receive an email from David. Apparently .. technorati thinks I am a spammer? (well, obviously a lousy blogger)

    I’ve been reviewing some of your blogs, but to be frank on a bunch of them, there really isn’t any original content. That, along with the Adsense ads leads us to count those blogs as spam. May I suggest that you add more original content to those blogs? Then we’d be happy to review the blogs.

    Oh well. Thanks for your help Liz, and David et al. Subject closed

    Reply
  49. ME Strauss says

    April 4, 2006 at 9:42 PM

    It looks likes there’s a reason behind everything after all.

    Reply
  50. HART (1-800-HART) says

    April 4, 2006 at 9:48 PM

    Oh .. I should also add after that above italic .. he added ..
    “The other blogs get lumped in because you’re using the same adsense ID on those blogs”

    I wonder if all the bloggers out there reading this that having problems .. are ones with multiple blogs and using just 1 adsense account number? I mean .. isn’t that what adsense channels are for? Or, am I reading that wrong too? Are we even allowed to have multiple adsense accounts?

    Reply
  51. ME Strauss says

    April 4, 2006 at 9:53 PM

    That’s a really good point. If Adsense is the gating factor and you can have only one account–I DON’T KNOW THAT–then if one blog looks suspicious . .. there’s a problem with all of your blogs. Ewwww.

    That could be an issue for a lot of little networks who use Adsense. Hmmmmm.
    Liz

    Reply
  52. David Sifry says

    April 4, 2006 at 10:52 PM

    The issue is that a whole bunch of HART’s blogs have little or no original content, and appear to be computer generated. All of his blogs use the same adsense ID as well, which links all the blogs together in one basket. I suggested to HART that he start putting more original content on his 25 blogs, and we’d be happy to review them and put them back into the index. In the meantime, our systems will automatically mark all blogs that are using his adsense ID as spam…

    We are working our hardest to make sure that only human-generated blogs that are made for human readers are indexed into Technorati, so that hard-working writers get rewarded for writing great original content.

    Dave

    Reply
  53. ME Strauss says

    April 4, 2006 at 10:57 PM

    David,
    That makes total sense. I hope you didn’t misinterpret my previous comment. I think your call on original content is the right one.

    If Adsense and Google cared more about splogs, you wouldn’t have to.

    Reply
  54. HART (1-800-HART) says

    April 4, 2006 at 11:20 PM

    Sorry. That doesn’t make sense, and offends me. I posted his viewpoint and a possible reason why my blogs were having issues being seen on technorati, and left it at that. If that’s the way their system thinks, I’m just a little guy – and have no say.

    Now it’s an accusation and personal. I have one “computer generated” blog .. http://HART-Oscope.blogspot.com which my Cancer horoscope is automatically emailed everyday until my next birthday. If my Curling Blog is a spam site .. then I guess my whole HART-Empire Network and 1-800-HART site is just one great splog. I am Evil.

    Oh wait .. sticks and stones .. Everyone’s got a right to their opinion. I thank David’s advice to “Start putting original content” in my blogs .. it is very good advice .. in fact, Now I’m over it.

    Should I be deleting my technorati.com account though? Or, will it be done automatically? I certainly wouldn’t want to ruin technorati’s reputation.

    Reply
  55. ME Strauss says

    April 5, 2006 at 6:37 AM

    HART,
    Apology. Bad and unclear choice of words on my part. By “call on original” I meant the statement that David was right to support original content on blogs. Now as I go back to read it. I realize It also implies that I was saying that I agreed that your blogs are not. HOW COULD I KNOW THAT? I’VE NOT READ ALL OF YOUR BLOGS.

    I AM IN THE WRONG HERE FOR TALKING TOO SOON AND UNCLEARLY.

    Thank you for bringing that to my attention. Sorry to have offended in any way. I hope you know it was unintended. My brain was analyzing the system, not this one situatioin.

    HART, you are not evil.
    Liz

    Reply
  56. Mike says

    April 5, 2006 at 7:20 AM

    I don’t really want to be too critical of any bloggers and this is not directed at HART, but I absolutely hate splogs.

    If all a blog contains is copy and pasted, aggregated or somehow other gathered articles, then I will not read it, will not subscribe and will think of it as a splog.

    That doesn’t mean it has no value as a site, but not to me and not as a blog.

    If there isn’t a blogger listed by name, letting me know they’re responsible, interested and involved in the blog, it ain’t a blog. Blogs are journeys, not sites to plaster with ads. Nor is a blog a bunch of gathered news. That’s a portal, not a blog.

    We have 13 blogs, all 13 of which are added to by hand, with a real voice and opinion. It’s tough work for 2 people. It takes 8 – 10 full hours everyday for my writer/wife to do the 11 she writes, along with her design and hosting business.

    Just the 2-3 I write on are tough to do everyday, along with 8 to 16 hours in my offline business.

    I can’t blame Technorati for wanting to include only what they think was written by hand, has original and quality content and a voice…after all, they are a gathering, ranking, profiling service for blogs, not sites. Again, blogs are a journey and have a voice. Gathered up news is not a blog, even if you use blog tools and call it a blog.

    You could call me a duck, but that won’t make me one.

    You can also call me an asshole, and that one might stick ! Just my opinion here and I can appreciate both sides, but I’m hoping Google, Technorati and everybody else rids the world of spam, splogs and crud.

    Pay attention here…I have not called any specific blog a splog and especially not HART’s…I haven’t read his whole stable, but if they aren’t voices, don’t have original thoughts and fit within all the parameters I’ve set, well, I don’t need ’em and don’t want them in the same blog index as the ones we work so damn hard to write.

    Reply
  57. ME Strauss says

    April 5, 2006 at 7:32 AM

    Thanks, Mike.
    I can’t help but agree with your view.
    From the 30,000 foot look, it sure seems that a choice for original content is a choice for Technorati customer-users as a whole–both those who index and who search.

    I always get a little nervous, when other people are making choices that affect me though. 🙂

    Liz

    Reply
  58. Mike says

    April 5, 2006 at 7:57 AM

    Well, I a rebel looking for a cause most of the time. Got a lot of opinions and need to get rid of ’em.

    I don’t want big bro making my decisions either, but Technorati is a private service and can make their own rules. I’d fight for their right to do so, even tho the 6 years I did for Uncle Sam were enough for me, I’d give him a few more minutes, if need be.

    If Technorati really wanted to make it better for those who search for blogs, they’d employ me ( kidding ) as a weeder, as in someone who weeds outs the splogs, and WRONGLY TAGGED blogs , because that affects how the reader looks at their service. If all I see are blogs with lots of links that are under the wrong tag, because the tag they need to be under is full of blogs with more links than they have, then I lose confidence and look elsewhere for my info.

    Heck, you could hire college kids, I’ve got 3, to do this. If I’m not mistaken, Google uses humans to do pretty much the same method to weed out some of their undesirables.

    Reply
  59. ME Strauss says

    April 5, 2006 at 8:05 AM

    Oh YEAH.

    You have hit on something there. It’s a vicious circle. I’ve been playing with it on my Liz Strauss.com blog. I want to tag every post with only one tag, but if i do, I know I’ll lose traffic. So then I tag them with three–that’s my limit. I have discipline and give it some thought.

    Now we move out to the masses, who
    don’t have time,
    don’t know how,
    don’t care
    or want to game the system.

    They throw tags on like water. That’s how a VW blog gets number 1 under GOLF. Tags–folksonomy works and doesn’t because there are humans behind it.

    I’ve put more tags on this blogs posts at times, because I go to my stats and see that Google has sent someone to the wrong post, when what they want is right next to where they landed.

    Your idea for a “college kid cleanup” is a good one. Heck, high school interns would do it for free just to have the experience.

    Liz

    Reply
  60. HART (1-800-HART) says

    April 5, 2006 at 8:43 AM

    Pay attention here…I have not called any specific blog a splog and especially not HART’s…I haven’t read his whole stable, but if they aren’t voices, don’t have original thoughts and fit within all the parameters I’ve set, well, I don’t need ‘em and don’t want them in the same blog index as the ones we work so damn hard to write.

    Well .. that’s part of the problem of the blogosphere .. People with opinions. It’s also part of the solution. Some people think that quoting SETH or DARREN counts as an original voice or opinion. People think their opinions are ‘The Final Word’ or even should be news. Some people even think that apologies for not posting blog entries counts as content.

    Mike .. I am not going to defend my blogs or why my opinion is 100% different from yours, and certainly have no plans to explain myself – unless one asks me.

    Even Blog Explosion kicked out my 1-800-HART’s Picks blog last August 2005 immediately by saying “We don’t want Product Blogs Here”. Does that mean there should be no product blogs ever again in the world?

    Now .. after 10 months of blogging and using Technorati ..we find out that secretly, if you have more than 1 blog using the same adsense account – you are at risk at being singled out and called a splog?

    If they don’t want me – that’s fine and I have no problem .. I’ve been rejected out of other clubs too. It’s when the general impression that I am a thief and everything else one thinks a splogger is .. or steals RSS feeds or who knows – that’s when I think back to other Era’s of the world and parts of the world people should be ashamed that other people think that way.

    Anyway – I was prepared to discuss this last night – but, my post got lost in moderation. I am now out the door until tomorrow morning – I just wanted to post something – I am not hiding today – I am just not available.

    Reply
  61. ME Strauss says

    April 5, 2006 at 9:00 AM

    HART,
    I’m glad you got the chance to give your response before you had to hit the road. I don’t think anyone would think you might be hiding. That’s not who you are or ever have been.

    I do think that it’s good to let this conversation air out. Sometimes words need room to sound right.

    Liz

    Reply
  62. Mike says

    April 5, 2006 at 5:26 PM

    HART,

    I’m done here as of this post.

    I have no desire to argue what’s a blog or not. Nor do I want to decide any of the other issues here.

    I will say this – we have one AdSense account and well over 30 sites and 13 blogs on there. No group has ever booted our butts out. Not Technorati, not Google, nor any directory.

    As for opinions…if you wrote on your sites, that’s what would be there, your opinion, and then they’d be blogs, then you’d have original content and then everybody would quit bootin’ your butt.

    I’m comfortable with all I did and didn’t imply.

    I never said steal or stole. I said gathered, as in aggregated…legally. RSS feeds and articles can be used legally, and that’s what I was implying. That don’t make it a blog though. That’s a site or portal. A blog has a voice and an owner who puts their stamp all over it…not gathers other peoples thoughts or posts or articles.

    Feel free to reply, feel free to accuse, feel free to imply , feel free to say anything you want…I’ll read it, but I’m moving on to something positive.

    Enjoy the free reign.

    Reply
  63. Easton Ellsworth says

    April 15, 2006 at 9:48 AM

    I’m an editor for the Know More Media blog network. We’ve claimed about 75 blogs in Technorati. Our account pages doesn’t work right. So far my experience with the tech support has been that they are nice folks who are extremely busy, and I understand that. But hopefully we can get the account fixed soon. We want to be able to add tags and grab the JavaScript code for each blog, but for many of them it has not worked for several weeks now. All we can do is claim and wait.

    Reply
  64. ME Strauss says

    April 15, 2006 at 9:55 AM

    Hi Easton,
    Whoa! 75 blogs with a screwy account that doesn’t sound right. All orginal content I assume. KnowMoreMedia is known for that. It’s a holiday weekend. This might not get noticed until Monday, but then . . . there’ll be something happening. You can bet on that. The Customer Service team likes a challenge. 🙂

    Liz

    Reply
  65. David Sifry says

    April 15, 2006 at 10:56 AM

    Liz and Easton,

    We’re looking into it. Thanks for the feedback.

    Dave

    Reply
  66. ME Strauss says

    April 15, 2006 at 11:04 AM

    Wow, Dave.
    Working on a holiday weekend. That’s service!

    Thanks for letting us know.
    Liz

    Reply
  67. Easton Ellsworth says

    April 15, 2006 at 11:05 AM

    I appreciate your help, Dave. Thanks for listening. Perhaps the problem with our account will provide a good case study to help you with other users as well.

    Reply
  68. ME Strauss says

    April 15, 2006 at 11:06 AM

    Hi Easton,
    Glad to hear that Dave’s got you on his radar now.
    Liz

    Reply
  69. Joe says

    April 17, 2006 at 8:04 AM

    Hey Liz,

    You told me to stop by if I was still having problems with Technorati updating my Blog.

    Well, it’s up to day 26 of not being updated. I ping everytime I write a new post (which is daily).

    I normally use Ping-O-Matic, which does include Technorati in their service, and yes it is checked as a ping.

    Could that be part of the problem?

    I ping Technorati directly for my other blogs, and they seem to be semi-current between 2 and 10 days. I don’t even update them everyday.

    Working at Home on the Internet is my primary blog and that’s the one I’m concerned about. It would be nice to have them all update when I ping them, though.

    Thanks for any help.

    Joe

    Reply
  70. ME Strauss says

    April 17, 2006 at 8:14 AM

    Hi Joe,
    Yeah, I haven’t seen your links on my blog yet. But there were a few weirdness, even this morning at Technorati. I got a 0 of 0 ranking on Successful Blog. I think that means it better than number 1 🙂

    I suspect that Mr. Sifry and Ms. Myint are going to have a day after the holiday kind of Monday. I’ll check in when California opens up.

    You shouldn’t have so many blogs that aren’t updating and links posting that aren’t showing up.

    I don’t use ping-o-matic anymore. I have the Technorati code in my blogs. I also like Blog Flux and Pingoat alot.

    Can you post back with the URLs of your blogs?
    Thanks Joe
    Liz

    Reply
  71. Joe says

    April 17, 2006 at 8:48 AM

    Here they are:

    http://mcbsconsulting.blogspot.com
    http://worldpoliticsinternet.blogspot.com
    http://joesfreewarefinds.blogspot.com
    http://waharchive.blogspot.com

    The first is the most important, and the one that isn’t being updated.

    Thanks,

    Joe

    Oh, and I do have the Technorati embed with the search and blogs that link here thingy.

    J.

    Reply
  72. ME Strauss says

    April 17, 2006 at 9:11 AM

    Thanks Joe,
    That will help clear up your sticky links problem I think. I’ll pass them along when I get the chance to. Too bad I don’t live in CA, I still need a money making gig in my life. Maybe then, I could work with Janice Myint and David Sifry.

    Reply
  73. Joe says

    April 17, 2006 at 10:22 AM

    Hey Liz,

    Thanks.

    They should pay you a finders fee at least 🙂

    Joe

    Reply
  74. ME Strauss says

    April 17, 2006 at 10:24 AM

    Joe,
    They pay me in FAbulous service. I can’t complain in any way. 🙂

    Liz

    Reply
  75. Joe says

    April 17, 2006 at 11:24 AM

    Hey Liz,

    While looking at my ranking (still 26 days)on Technorati, I happened to see Mr. Sifrey’s favorite blogs in the sidebar. You know the one they have for promotional purposes.

    I looked at some of his favorites (34) and the newest update was less than 10 minutes ago, and the oldest was 5 hours.

    I don’t want to sound sarcastic, but…

    Sorry, I guess this whole comment is sarcastic.

    Thanks for your help, but they should fix the problem for all their subscribers.

    Joe

    Reply
  76. ME Strauss says

    April 17, 2006 at 11:29 AM

    HI Joe,
    I hear what you are saying, its a statement whether it’s meant to be one or not. It spoke loudly to you and probably does to many others who are in the same spot as you are in.
    There’s a branding post here. Are you going to write or should I?
    Liz

    Reply
  77. Joe says

    April 17, 2006 at 11:44 AM

    Hey Liz,

    I think you should, you already have the Branding Series and the ongoing series on Technorati.

    I will however, write something soon and reference your newest post on the subject.

    What I write will depend a lot on the outcome of the situation at hand.

    Joe

    Reply
  78. David Sifry says

    April 17, 2006 at 11:47 AM

    Joe,

    Check your main blog – because of the copius SEO and unusual advertising mechanisms on that blog, we had it listed in our review queue. I’ve just done the review and you should start seeing indexing of that blog from now on.

    The 3 other blogs looked fine, but I’d recommend that you have your blog software ping us directly (you can also bookmark http://technorati.com/ping to do it yourself) whenever you post…

    Dave

    Reply
  79. ME Strauss says

    April 17, 2006 at 11:47 AM

    I can’t write too quickly, I like to frame these things. You know that. Besides, I have to write something for Lizstauss.com still and the morning is already gone.

    I’ll do it this afternoon.

    Reply
  80. Joe says

    April 17, 2006 at 12:21 PM

    Hey Dave,

    Thanks for looking into this. I use AdSense, how would that be unusual? Even the positioning is pretty standard.

    If you’re talking about the Meta tags I put in the Blogger template, do you think it would be better to take them out?

    I have Ping-o-matic set up for all 4 Blogs, is there a problem if I use that service?

    Again, thanks for looking into my problem.

    Joe

    Reply
  81. David Sifry says

    April 17, 2006 at 12:30 PM

    Joe,

    Looking at the blog homepage only, I noticed at least 6 Google Adsense placements, Chitika, TextAds, Clickbank, and other ads and links to SEO resources.

    Not that there’s anything wrong with it, but it is a bit unusual from ost blogs, even blogs that have advertising or affiliate marketing programs on them – they usually limit themselves to one or two programs.

    Anyway, you should be indexed fine now, please let us know if you have any further issues!

    Dave

    Reply
  82. Joe says

    April 17, 2006 at 12:38 PM

    Hey Dave,

    Thanks, I will have to watch how many affiliate links I put on, I really don’t want to over do it.

    I am just trying to provide links for the Work at Home types (hence, the name of the blog) so they can make money with their sites (and me make something too).

    Google only allows 3 adsense links per page, but I think the position at the end of each post may look like a lot, especially with shorter posts.

    Thanks,

    Joe

    Reply
  83. ME Strauss says

    April 17, 2006 at 12:38 PM

    Thanks Dave,
    For keeping an eye out for the folks here.

    I know Joe’s links to this blog have come flowing through nicely. 🙂

    It’s great to see you! I’m coming out to CA one of these days and we’re going to share a cognac and whatever is your favorite beverage.
    liz

    Reply
  84. David Sifry says

    April 17, 2006 at 12:45 PM

    Hey, “Be Of Service” is our mantra. So thank you for having a great blog and for helping us to diagnose some of these issues.

    Dave

    Reply
  85. Joe says

    April 17, 2006 at 12:52 PM

    Hey Liz,

    Thanks for all of your help, I really do appreciate having a friend like you.

    Joe

    Reply
  86. ME Strauss says

    April 17, 2006 at 12:52 PM

    Why thank you, sir. I appreciate both your service and your mantra.

    Say “hi” to everyone!
    Liz

    Reply
  87. ME Strauss says

    April 17, 2006 at 12:53 PM

    Aw shucks, Joe.
    You make it easy to be a friend.
    Liz

    Reply
  88. HART (1-800-HART) says

    April 17, 2006 at 2:23 PM

    Joe .. actually, if you View Source .. your site is showing 13 google codes … (do a search for “pub-“). Despite that some code is supressed from view – you are over the limits per page, I can tell you that google, if looking, don’t see what’s displayed on the page – they look at the source.

    That – is from experience when last August I asked a question (thinking it never hurts to ask a question). There is a reason why blogs only display 1 post per front page – instead of 10 posts. It’s to limit the looping of the code on the blog. Some just show summaries for a reason with little code and then plaster it on individual single blog permalink pages.

    Of course, I never got banned or delisted from asking google the question .. (Yes ..I’m now reduced from 7 claimed blogs to zero blogs in technorati).

    It’s nice to see others get help though .. nice for Liz’s effort and interjection and hope to many bloggers with similar problems that someday they could be part of a working system.

    Reply
  89. Joe says

    April 17, 2006 at 3:07 PM

    Hey Hart,

    Thanks for the heads-up.

    In the template the code only shows 3 times. And that is OK as far as I know, however, I sent an E-mail to Adsense to confirm that there won’t be a problem.

    I like to keep as much info on the front page as possible due to the type of blog I have.

    Now it’s up to the powers that be at Adsense.

    Joe

    Reply
  90. Joe says

    April 19, 2006 at 9:16 AM

    Hey Hart,
    FYI, Adsense got back to me and told me I had 8 codes and to get rid of 5.

    I rearranged some, got rid of some and shortened the page to 3 posts.

    I’m waiting now for a re-review from adsense.

    Thanks,

    Joe

    Reply
  91. ME Strauss says

    April 19, 2006 at 9:21 AM

    Hi Joe,
    Thanks for the update. Yeah the rule is three. But sometimes it’s hard to tell how many three is.

    We’re back to that math thing again. 🙂

    Reply
  92. Brian Clark says

    April 19, 2006 at 9:38 AM

    My blog is hung up again for the last two weeks. Is there something I should be doing to make sure my posts can show up? I ping every time I post, and TEchnorati has no problem seeing incoming links.

    It just won’t see my own posts, and the link count doesn’t update.

    Reply
  93. ME Strauss says

    April 19, 2006 at 9:40 AM

    Hi Brian,
    I wonder if it had something to do with the outage that happened over Easter weekend. I know that David Sifry was working on Saturday even though it was a holiday.
    We’ll shake the bushes some to see what happens.
    Liz

    Reply
  94. HART (1-800-HART) says

    April 19, 2006 at 9:49 AM

    Hey Joe .. glad that my ‘heads up’ comment helped.

    I believe you are limited to only 3 ad units and 1 link unit maximum (I forget how the google search fits into this limit or if it’s extra) .. so it looks like they should give you the nod of approval!

    PS .. It never hurts to ask … when I was in contact with them, after I asked if I ‘passed’ their test .. I asked them for optimization and placement tips too .. you might be surprised if you just reply back to their next email with that question and see what THEY come up with!

    Reply
  95. ME Strauss says

    April 19, 2006 at 9:53 AM

    EVERYBODY: HART!
    Thanks HART!
    Always good to know that you’re out there, listening to this half of the show. 🙂

    Reply
  96. Brian Clark says

    April 20, 2006 at 11:21 AM

    Well, maybe this comment thread is no longer the Sifrey hotline. 16 days and my posts are still invisible to Technorati. I’d email Janice, but I always get a form response that isn’t exactly on point.

    Reply
  97. ME Strauss says

    April 20, 2006 at 11:23 AM

    Hi Brian,
    I’ll drop a word to Janice to see whether you might get some help. 🙂
    Liz

    Reply
  98. Brian Clark says

    April 20, 2006 at 11:55 AM

    Wow… Liz, you and Janice should start your own business. The two of you are quite a team.

    Janice just emailed me and found the problem with my posts not being indexed. Very cool.

    Reply
  99. ME Strauss says

    April 20, 2006 at 11:57 AM

    Thanks Brian.
    Always like to help when I can.
    Liz

    Reply
  100. ben says

    May 5, 2006 at 8:16 AM

    Hi,

    Liz is looking at it, but recommended I detail my non-indexing woes here as well. I posted in this comment thread but will put it here for redundancy:

    My situation:

    I signed up for Technorati on April 27, and claimed my blog http://sillyoldbear.blogspot.com

    Immediately I noticed if I searched my blog for common terms (such as “kids� since I write about my kids) that it would find entries starting about 380 days ago. After a couple of posts, which were written with technorati tags (unless I messed up) I noticed the new posts would show up. But there seems to be no indexing of search items for the last year.

    I’ve started to use Feedburner, which seems to be working okay, and lists the technorati search bot in the subscriber list, btw.

    After much google searching, I read that a) Technorati spider only looks at the main page and not old links or archived links and b) you must be using valid markup. But the only valid markup I have found is at technorati itself, last time I checked Boing, Boing for instance there were over 100 errors reported. So I don’t think that’s exactly true.

    I was going to wait and see what happened with the searches but when new posts would show up within minutes I thought perhaps it didn’t take very long. If I’m just being impatient let me know (but why are there posts from two years ago in the index but not from last fall?)

    Thanks for any insight you can share, even pointing me in the right direction to dig for help would be fantastic.

    Thanks for the help, anyone, and also I don’t mind if you dispell some rumors about how technorati “really works” I’ve read that it reads only newsfeeds, that it reads only the main page, that it reads everything, etc.

    B

    Reply
  101. ME Strauss says

    May 15, 2006 at 5:53 PM

    Dear David Sifry and Janice Myint,
    It seems like I can help every blog get fixed, except the three with my name on them. Every link that I get I lose 2 instead gaining one. I whisper this here, because I don’t want to make a big noise. I know you’re busy . . . Month nine . . . you have 37 million blogs. I have 3.

    Reply
  102. Mike says

    May 15, 2006 at 10:19 PM

    Shhh ! Not too loud Liz, I’ve snuck into the Top 10 for my tag…don’t wake ’em up…..shhhhh

    Reply
  103. ME Strauss says

    May 15, 2006 at 10:20 PM

    WAY Cool. I’m not telling, but I’ll go look.

    Reply
  104. ME Strauss says

    May 21, 2006 at 8:45 PM

    HART,
    I hear you. I think they’ve quit listening here.

    Reply
  105. HART (1-800-HART) says

    May 21, 2006 at 8:52 PM

    It was hopeful, at the beginning .. and encouraging in the middle .. I can’t wait for the ending

    Reply
  106. ME Strauss says

    May 21, 2006 at 8:54 PM

    The ending is 50 million, I think.

    Reply
  107. David Sifry says

    May 22, 2006 at 2:12 AM

    Huh?

    Dave

    Reply
  108. ME Strauss says

    May 22, 2006 at 6:22 AM

    I figure when Technorati reaches 50 million blogs in the index, that’s when I’ll realize my blog isn’t ever going to be fixed. I get tired of the weekly emails to support and the comments outlining out screwed up my blog has been for the last 9 months,

    https://www.successful-blog.com/1/technorati-still-wonky/#comment-9155

    https://www.successful-blog.com/1/put-your-2cents-in-whats-technorati-worth-without-janice/#comment-8156

    Reply
  109. windyridge says

    November 8, 2007 at 1:32 PM

    I’ve written to support twice, got an answer they were working on it. One of my three blogs doesn’t show fans in my profile page. It reads zero. People may be discouraged from my blog because of that. It’s been about a month and no change. 🙁

    PS your blog has so many posts I want to read I will have to spread it out over the week! I just found your blog and have a lot of catching up to do.

    Reply

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