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Hate or like Google, on the Internet you just cannot do without them, they have so taken over the Internet that one begins to wonder what would life online be without a company like Google? Let me say without any benefit of doubt, Google is one company I have a lot of respect for because they are always ahead of the game. However, I am mindful when I use Google services and the simple reason is that anything can happen with our without reason.

Earlier in the year, I received a mail from Google that one of my email accounts ([email protected]) has been blockedin violation of Google’s terms and services which were never explained in detail even when I tried to find out; all my pleas fell on deaf ears and my account was never restored. Now do you know why that was quite painful because that is the email connected to my affiliate paypal account which had close to $200 worth of affiliate payouts and that is now history.
Recently, Jide Ogunsanya of Ogbonge Blog and I were on the same panel at the Digital Marketing Nigeria Summit where we both argued for and against using Blogger and WordPress CMS – he is a fan of blogger while I am that of wordpress and our lines of argument made our points clear.
But on that very day, I got back to my work desk and saw this email:
Dear business owner,
At Google, we want businesses like yours to get the most from the web, and we hope that your Get Nigerian Business Online website cfagbata.gnbo.com.ng has helped you to connect with more customers.
We are announcing that Business Sitebuilder websites within the Get Nigerian Business Online Program will no longer be accessible from December 31 2014, but there are some great alternatives available to you.
Earlier this year, we introduced Google My Business to connect you directly with customers, whether they’re looking for you on Search, Maps or Google+.
You also have the option to move your existing website to our trusted partner, Hostgator, an international provider of cloud-based web presence solutions with over 15 years of experience helping small businesses succeed online. Their family of brands, through parent company Endurance International Group, serve over 3.7 million subscribers worldwide.
Moving your website to the Hostgator platform lets you continue with your website, and also allows you to access a range of powerful business features, including eCommerce, website security, backup and restore, and 24 hour support. Learn more at africa.hostgator.com/nigeriagetonline.
Remaining online is a huge asset for your business, and you can do so by independently signing up for Google My Business, or filling out this online form for assistance. The team of experts at Hostgator can then guide you through the process of signing up for Google My Business, transferring your current website, or creating a new one.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
The Get Nigerian Business Online Team
The first comment I made after reading this simply here is another reason to be mindful of any Google services one uses. Imagine how many small business owners will become websiteless because of this decision? Besides this point, I remember supporting this project with everything I had and wrote repeatedly about it on various blog – don’t take my work for it, just Google “GNBO Nigeria” and you’d certainly find at least one article written by me in support of the project.
For Google, it is usually a policy or business decision so I do not exactly blame them afterall it is their company, they have pulled down a number of services in the past that hurt me personally such as Google reader but I am happy to have found a very cool alternative by the name Feedly, so life goes on :)
I love Google and I’d continue to use some of their services but I’d not hesitate to switch to an equally good alternative so I can at least spread my risks because just like this physical world is important, the digital world is also quite important.
I heard about what happened to Linda Ikeji from wife and my only comment was another silly mistake: “How can you grow this big and not decide it was time to move onto a more permanent platform such as wordpress?”
I am not big on gossip, infact I really do not want to know what is happening in other people’s lives so Linda Ikeji’s blog is not where I would readily visit except I happen to land there through research or something but I am conscious to quickly move on because I don’t want to get used to sensational stories which by the way is very addictive.

That said, Linda is arguably one of Nigeria’s most successful bloggers and her experience with Google simply lays credence to the fact that when using any of Google’s services have it at the back of your mind that anything can happen o!
If you are serious about blogging then wordpress is your best bet. Need help setting a wordpress blog? Get in touch!
3 Comments
Olukunle
There is a lesson we need to learn, Awuf can kill! If you recently check out Jide Ogunsanya’s FB update, he s now seriously warning against Google, he has learnt in the hard way. Sometimes ago, my PageRank was crashed by Google, thank God for their reconciliation feature. As you have deeply advised…spread your risk…Good post bro!
CFAgbata
Thanks for stopping by bro! Whether or not there is a reconciliation feature, it is dangerous to use Blogger as one’s main blogging platform because anything can happen indeed.
Precimax clean
It was very much informative and helpful.
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