Aggregation? Aggravation!

So you start blogging. Next step, you’ve got your RSS feed being distributed. Heck, you probably didn’t even have to sign up for that. That RSS feed, you don’t realize it at first, but lots of folks are latching onto it to read your posts. They are subscribing themselves in a tool called a feed reader. If they want, they can still visit your site, but now they can save themselves the trip. And life goes on.

But one day, your readership tapers off as well as your RSS subscribers. The clicks go down, and you begin to wonder if your content sucks or what. Being certain it can’t be your writing or lack of goods as a blogger you start searching around.

It’s then you find it; there’s a site aggregating your content. A site that is taking your feed and posting it right back onto the front of their homepage. Not just an aggregator clearly showing that you’re a contributor but not related to their company, but an aggregator selling ads on the side.

So you step back and think. Is this adding value to your site or stealing it. Yeah, you’re just not 100% sure it’s legal, and yeah it’s aggravating but what to do? No point ruining your name or someone else’s but you have the right to your opinion about this practice. Naturally, you do what you know best; you blog.

This is really happening to friends of mine. My blog hasn’t been added to the site. I am an interested party though, and wanted to share what my fellow bloggers had to say.

I encourage you to visit the blogs. Read them through, and consider what’s said. Agree or disagree, that’s your right, but please take an interest. It could be your blog next.

News Bitch

Little Bald Doctors

WOBL in Training

Superfunpatrol

The State of Discontent

Mamalogues

Slacker Moms-R-Us

MidwestBlogs -St Louis

Prologos

Highway 61

A Bun’s Life

Courtney Watson

The Art of Self Destruction

I’ll post more as I gather them. Stay tuned.

If reading about all this isn’t your thing, then might I suggest kittens.

Mom On The Run

Great advice! I found two of my posts were "stolen" from the trackbacks the site sent...

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tojosan

Thanks Rebecca. I thought it was funny and it reminds me of what Flickr does some times.

Tim,
I purposefully did not link to the site in question nor specifically mention the person running the site. The other bloggers have shared that information well enough.

In fact, on some feed systems there are methods to block specific IP addresses. The problem is that sites such as Blogger.com and Wordpress.com do not have those built into their system. If a blog is self hosted, much more control is available.

There are other suggestions in this post and others about things to try. I'm hoping to hear some results from those.

Thanks everyone for the great feedback and participation. Be sure to check out the other blogs linked in the post. Or heck, just check out the kittens.

Todd

tim7423

I think I'd be ok with it if there was a clear link back to my blog. Links are as good as currency in my opinion. I choose not to place ads on my blog. I understand the bitch of this site taking feeds from blogs and then advertising on their site without compensating the original blogger. I have not looked at the site in question I must admit. My understanding is that sometimes there is a link back and some times not. Or the link back is not clear and or hidden to some degree.

Also I'm no expert, but isn't there some way to block that site from using your feed? I would think there would be some way of scripting something to block him. WIthout blocking legit people from the feed of course.

Rebecca

i'm still giggling at your comment about if reading isn't your thing

slackermommy

Thanks for the support!

Great advice Geekmommy!

Great suggestion Geekmommy! Thanks for the idea and for stopping by.

geekmommy

I posted this same comment over at the StLouis site:

Sounds like the easiest solution for the nonce is to simply preface each blog post with something like "If you're reading this anywhere other than (blogurl.com) - you're helping someone else take money out of my pocket by reproducing my work without permission. Please don't feed the aggregator! Go to (blogurl.com) to read my work!"

Less than 50 words... gets the point across.

It doesn't seem right. I'm at a place where all I can do is investigate legalities and watch. My blog has not been involved directly yet. The manager of the site didn't indicate that it would be but I did make it clear of my wishes not to be in more than one email directly to him. I trust that is sufficient.

For me, the best thing to do while I wait is be supportive of those that feel frustrated and affected by it personally. In that respect, I'll keep to these style of commentary/story type posts. No reason to name call or accuse from me.

Thanks for stopping by and commenting.

Dayngr

There absolutely has to be something you can do about this through his ISP or regarding copyright infringement. Maybe a harsh letter from a lawyer. Seriously, that's just not right.

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Aggregation? Aggravation!

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