If you have a blog that currently has sexually explicit images or videos, Google will not just automatically delete the site. However they will make it private, meaning only users that are the admin or those the site owner has specifically shared a blog with will be able to see it. That way users will have the option to remove the explicit content if they wish and have it reappear publicly.
The change will come into effect starting March 23, 2015. This follows a change in 2013 where Google prevented anyone from monetizing sexually explicit content, as a way to crack down on sites with adult related advertisements. But clearly that wasn’t enough of a change to limit the amount of porn on Blogger.
Anyone trying to create a new blog after March 23, 2015 with sexually explicit content will have the blog removed.
Previously any adult blogs had an adult content warning interstitial, so there wasn’t the possibility that a person could end up on a Blogger-hosted porn site without warning.
Google will still make exceptions for nudity “if the content offers a substantial public benefit, for example in artistic, educational, documentary, or scientific contexts.” This is a gray area where many people run into problems – or even try to push the limits. For example breast-feeding photos are often hits with a platform’s anti-nudity policies, although many do end up getting reinstated when they are evaluated. It is unclear is the breast-feeding photos would fall under this, however blogger posts many “Mommy blogs” that often post this kind of content.
It appears that sexually explicit written content is still acceptable under the change, but will still be behind the adult content interstitial. However, the term “Do not distribute sexually explicit content” is in their current content policy and could definitely be interpreted to include written content.
Bottom line, if you want to host sexually explicit images and video – and potentially written content – you should start looking for a new host prior to March 23, 2015.
Jennifer Slegg
Latest posts by Jennifer Slegg (see all)
- 2022 Update for Google Quality Rater Guidelines – Big YMYL Updates - August 1, 2022
- Google Quality Rater Guidelines: The Low Quality 2021 Update - October 19, 2021
- Rethinking Affiliate Sites With Google’s Product Review Update - April 23, 2021
- New Google Quality Rater Guidelines, Update Adds Emphasis on Needs Met - October 16, 2020
- Google Updates Experiment Statistics for Quality Raters - October 6, 2020