As the author of the WWW FAQ, I regularly answer questions about the workings of the Web. If a question is frequently asked, I simply add an article to the FAQ. But sometimes a question is more detailed, more in-depth— not really a FAQ, but still of interest to others. You'll find those questions, with my answers, here in Innards along with commentary on other web-technology-related topics.

Q. If I create a blog on a free blogging site like Google's blogger.com and it becomes very popular, is there a danger that the blog-hosting company will take the blog for themselves?

A. The short answer: no.

The long answer: always read the terms and conditions of the site you are thinking about hosting your blog with. But Google will not steal your blog. All sentiment aside, Google has an enormous amount to lose by even considering such a thing. They have built their company's success through the goodwill of end users like yourself. Their reputation is far more valuable to them than any blog, no matter how popular!

To look at it another way, Google doesn't have to steal your blog because they are already earning advertising revenue when people look at it! This is a good reason to consider hosting your own blog using free software like WordPress and an inexpensive PHP hosting account anywhere, or blog hosting from WordPress.com.

I doubt any smaller site would try to steal your work either. But if you do go with free blog hosting, pick a reputable site like Blogger or LiveJournal.