If you already have the widget installed on your blog – now you can get a few other extras. However, to enjoy them you must be registered. If you already are - Great! All you have to do now is claim your blog. If you still don't have an account - go ahead and get one, it's free and simple. Once you've registered and claimed your blog, visit our video tutorial page to see how to use all the features outbrain has to offer.

For us to be able to provide you with cool extra features like rating statistics or widget-customization, we have to get to know you and your blog a little better. Mainly, we have to make sure that you are in fact the owner of your blog (and particularly - its URL). We do this by letting you plant an "outbrain key" in your blog (how?), which we can then find. Once we are done with this process, your blog is registered with us, and you have greater control over how we interact with your blog, and also gain access to interesting rating information we gather about it.

The process for claiming a blog varies, and depends on the platform of your blog and your account status at outbrain.
In general, we give you a chance to claim your blog in three places:

1. When you install the widget: As a non-registered user, when you choose to install the widget you are given the option to create an account with outbrain, and at same time - register your blog. If you choose to do so, then: for Blogger or TypePad, the installation would now include your "outbrain key". For other platforms, an additional "ownership verification" step would be added.
2. Right after you register (without widget installation): As a non-registered user, you can choose to create an account without any widget installation (this is most suitable for users who have the widget but don't have an outbrain account yet). As part of that process, you are asked whether you want to claim a blog or not. If you choose "yes", then after your registration is successful you would be given the option to claim a blog*.
3. From within your outbrain account: As a registered user, we allow you to claim as many blogs as you wish. All you have to do is choose: "Claim your blog" from the side menu. You would be asked for your blog's URL and platform, and whether you also want to install the widget or not*.

* - For Blogger or TypePad, this is a 1-click process. For other platforms, further instructions would follow.

If you already have the widget (or if you're not interested in it at this point) we recommend you use our simple registration form which can be found here. If you are interested in installing the widget in your blog, we recommend you register as part of the installation process, which you can start from here.

We encourage our users to leave the recommendations on but if you choose to turn them off you can do so by signing into your outbrain dashboard and clicking on the manage blogs tab. Click "settings" next to the blog you'd like to change. Then change the setting next to Recommendations to one of two choices: "Limited" (will show only recommended links from your own site) or "No Recommendations" (will turn off recommended links entirely leaving just the ratings).

Sponsored but Good

Sponsored recommendations, like all recommendations, are links to high quality stories that have been independently written. Sponsored recommendations are marked with an () icon. Advertisers pay us to distribute these recommendations but, to the best of our knowledge, they have not compensated the author of the stories for the content written or the opinions expressed. Outbrain editors review all sponsored recommendations to make sure we only select quality stories that are interesting and well written. Our goal is to provide your readers with links to great content, whether sponsored or not.

A significant percentage of the revenue generated on your site from sponsored recommendations will be donated to the charity you choose. The charities we've select were picked by outbrain employees. If you'd like to suggest another charity, send us an email at feedback@outbrain.com

No Problem, just change the setting for sponsored Recommendations to "off."

One option is that we don't have your correct email address. Try to sign in with your username and password, and you would be given a chance to review your account's email and change it if necessary. If it's correct, then our mail might have been flagged as spam and ended up in your junk mail folder. Check to make sure it's not there.

There can be several reasons why a blog claim process might fail. First, make sure that we have the correct blog URL by reviewing it in the "Manage Blogs" section. It's also recommended to actually visit this URL yourself and make sure that it isn't suffering from any connectivity problems at the moment.
In case you did all the above and it still doesn't work, here are more things to try, depending on the blog platform you use:

• Blogger & TypePad : It's possible that if you have more than one blog per account, you added the "outbrain key" to a different blog than the one you registered with us. We recommend you delete the pending claim and start over, and this time make sure that you choose the correct blog when we send you to your dashboard (in Blogger - using the drop-down list, and in TypePad - using the checkboxes).
• Wordpress & Drupal : Make sure that you copy the whole "outbrain key" we gave you. Also, make sure you press "save" after entering the key.

If you need further assistance, please check our Support Forum
Or contact us by mail at: support[at]outbrain[dot]com