Google upgrades blogging service

Google has announced an important upgrade to Blogger, the world’s first major blogging platform

Google has announced an important upgrade to Blogger, the world’s first major blogging platform. Founded 11 years ago and after having played a major role in popularizing blogs, Blogger users are now promised more freedom than ever before when it comes to customizing their site’s design. In addition to choosing from a wider range of professionally-designed blog templates, bloggers will have more control when it comes to adding their own personal touch. Users will now have the option of modifying the colour palette they use when setting up their blog, selecting from a wide range of stock photos as background images and even making major design changes to their template by using an HTML and CCS interface.

The new upgrade is still in its testing phase, but users can already access the service by signing on to Blogger in Draft (draft.blogger.com).  While these changes may make Blogger much more appealing that before, some Google critics point out that the search engine giant has been slow to adapt and offer services that its competitors in the Blogosphere have long provided. For example, Wordpress has for years permitted users who purchase an upgrade to modify their blog’s design through CCS. Siobhan Quinn, Google’s blog development manager, agreed that this was the most significant improvement to be introduced to Blogger in many years. Quinn added that allowing users to customize their template was crucial, as this serves as the brand image for millions of individual blog enthusiasts, as well as for businesses that turn to the Blogosphere in order to keep in touch with their clients.