Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Google Update - Important

While perusing blogs, I came across this notice.  I copied verbatim what Patricia had on her blog.

I don't want to lose any of my Followers [it does break my heart when my count drops; just sayin] So, please read and stay a Follower :)

This is an update from Google and if you are a follower of my blog this will affect you.

An update on Google Friend Connect

Posted: December 21, 2015  In 2011, we announced the retirement of Google Friend Connect for all non-Blogger sites. We made an exception for Blogger to give readers an easy way to follow blogs using a variety of accounts. Yet over time, we’ve seen that most people sign into Friend Connect with a Google Account. So, in an effort to streamline, in the next few weeks we’ll be making some changes that will eventually require readers to have a Google Account to sign into Friend Connect and follow blogs.

As part of this plan, starting the week of January 11, we’ll remove the ability for people with Twitter, Yahoo, Orkut or other OpenId providers to sign in to Google Friend Connect and follow blogs. At the same time, we’ll remove non-Google Account profiles so you may see a decrease in your blog follower count.
We encourage you to tell affected readers (perhaps via a blog post), that if they use a non-Google Account to follow your blog, they need to sign up for a Google Account, and re-follow your blog. With a Google Account, they’ll get blogs added to their Reading List, making it easier for them to see the latest posts and activity of the blogs they follow.

We know how important followers are to all bloggers, but we believe this change will improve the experience for both you and your readers.
Posted by Michael Goddard, Software Engineer

Once you create a Google account, you will need to become a Follower again because all previous Followers who did not have an account will be permanently removed from our Follower lists.  If you choose not to open a Google account, you can still follow my blog using Bloglovin' or via email.  You will need to check each blog that you currently follow to see what options they have for you.
 
I wanted to let you know what is going on Effective January 11th, 2016 anyone that does not have a Google account will no longer be able to follow blogs with blogger unless they sign-up for a Google account. In addition, blogger will also remove any followers without a Google account from the blogs they are following.

ps - Thanks Pat for this information!



Thanks for stopping by~

7 comments:

Hannelie said...

Thanks for the info Vicki! I saw a drop of 4 followers on one day last week, which was strange (and sad)... wonder if this was a coincidence or...

cm said...

Thanks for sharing this, Vicki...I thought technology was supposed to make things easier *grin*
Hugs~c

Cornelia (fun stamping) said...

Thanks for sharing, Vicki - blogger people have gone mad :! What's wrong with them??? If you don't mind, I will also post this on my blog. No wonder I am loosing followers...thought I have pissed some people off...

Ruth said...

I saw this posted on another blog I follow. Have to say it confuses me no end - I only just added the thing to my site and have the tiny number of 11 followers....... Thanks for the information. I need to let my intrepid band know!! Xx

Patricia St Martin said...

I feel the same way and we can not do anything about it other them let our followers know.
Hugs Pat

Aileen said...

Vicki, sometimes I find the more I read the more confused I get. being hearing impaired I often misunderstand what people say and answer wrong. My family think its hilarious entertainment when I continue a conversation that hadnt even started! Being blonde is also not a help as people think we miss a bit because of the blonde hair:) Now I have a blog and struggle to understand what options I should make available on the side bar. if you have time can you tell me a) should we remove the option of being sble to link up through Network connect? B) I saw you had another option to follow there other than bloglovin, instagram and.....bugger cant remember and cant go back as Im on my ipad. Just if you could answer the first question would be good. Cheers

Aileen said...

Sorry it was Feedburner??