hi, !

... if two cells are merged and something is entered in the merged cell
the count functions "see" the second cell as blank...

FWIW over "merged" CELLS, the cout functions DO NOT "see" the other cells as blank
THERE ARE (really) blank cells, since "merged cells" ARE NOT a "single" cell, but a range of CELLS

so, in order to not include "the other cells" (from a merged cells range) in a countblank function...
do NOT include "the other cells" within the function/formula, or even better, DO NOT USE "merged cells"
or... be aware that "merged cells" are not "single cells" (?)

hth,
hector.