It used to be a time, back when I was an article marketer writing to promote my products, where you could write a 400 word article and post it in various sites.
It was not uncommon for marketers to write an article for EzineArtices, and post that same article on other sites such as Squidoo, Blogger, WordPress.com and other lesser article directories.
Back then, even a big article directories such as EzineArticles.com had a 30% rule for approval. Meaning that if you wrote an article and published it somewhere, you needed to change it by only 30% for them to approve your article. Other Web 2.0 sites and article directories would let you get away with 100% duplicate content.
Yes, duplicate content was allowed, and not only allowed, but ranked by Google, until they realized that they had a problem with their search results filled with low quality duplicate content. So, in September 2009 Google slapped the world of affiliates and their duplicate content along with all those article directories and web 2.0 sites that were supporting this behavior.
Today, if you want to post on EzineArticles, Squidoo, Hubpages, ArticlesBase, ArticleDashboard, GoArticles, StreeArticles, or any other reputable article directories out there, you need to have 100% original content.
In other words, no reputable article directories would let you go through with an article that is 70% similar to another anymore.
What is Duplicate Content and Plagiarism in 2013?
First of all, for a little clarification on these two terms, duplicate content and plagiarism.
- The term duplicate content is usually used when it’s done by the original author of such content who is try to use such content under multiple URLs.
- The term plagiarism is usually used when someone steals (also called scraping) someone else’s content.
So, both terms mean the same thing.
A duplicate content is the exact same replica of your content no matter under what URL it’s been published.
If you have a blog post, and try to post it on EzineArticles, even with a different headline and sub-headings they will deny your article for duplicate content.
As per Wikipedia: Duplicate content can be substantial parts of the content within or across domains and can be either exactly duplicate or closely similar.
If someone steals your content to put such content on theirs or other sites as if it were theirs, it’s called scraping content (plagiarism) and it’s illegal.
If someone is scrapping your content, there are ways you can make sure Google knows that you are the originator of the content, and ways you can make sure your content is safe. There is a very informative post about finding who stole your content, right here.
Is All Duplicate Content Wrong?
Now you may think that all duplicate content is wrong, wouldn’t you? I have to admit that after Google affiliate slap I wasn’t very clear on that myself. But it’s when I started to see some people who had taken complete posts of mine with all my links and name to post them on their blog, that I went and investigate this further.
I know that article re-publishing was allowed before 2010. I’ve seen my articles on EzineArticles on some people’s blogs many times before, and it was OK, as long as they kept my name intact. But what about now?
When is Duplicate Content OK – Or is it?
I started doing some research on my scarce spear time about content syndication, which is when someone who is lazy to write their own content, go to your blog and post everything as is on their own blog. And that includes your name and a link to your own blog. As shown in the images below.
Here is another one…
Well, while this is allowed, it’s not necessarily 100% OK, and I’ve read several articles and blog posts from people who don’t like it.
While forbidden duplicate content is done with the intent of deceiving and manipulate search engine results, syndication of your content, will not deceive the reader or the search engine because it’s giving back to Cesar what belongs to Cesar (you), but does this makes is completely OK?
[box type=”note”]They are using your content for the advertising of their own company or product, and people who do this, don’t even as much ask permission to the writer of the original content. Needless to say that they haven’t even taken the time to ever try to get to know you or comment on your blog.[/box]
So, here is a recap, just in case you haven’t read this important part. People who take your content “legally” to post it on their site…
1) Don’t even ask permission
2) Don’t even know you
3) Don’t even comment on your blog
Do the people I’ve seen taking my blog posts ever asked me? No, they most certainly did not. Did they make any effort to get to know me? No, they did not. Have I ever seen them on my blog? No to that question as well.
So, while this type of duplicate content method, called syndication is allowed, it doesn’t make it necessarily OK with the blogger.
Write your Own Content
I have to admit that I am still not quite sure what those bloggers are trying to accomplish by using other people’s blog posts on their own blog, but to me the truly right way to use somebody else’s content is by linking their content to yours, rather than just showing how lazy you are by taking someone else’s post.
Write you own content, and people will love you for it. If you can’t write, hire someone that can do it for you. If you can’t write and can’t hire a freelance writer either, then maybe you’re in the wrong business.
I write blog posts and articles just about each and every day, and I don’t expect everyone able to do this, because that’s what I do. That’s my job. But I am sure you can at least make your little grey cells come up with one article per week, don’t you? I mean it doesn’t have to be a 1000 word article such as this post here, but could you write at least 450 to 600 words per week?
Throughout this blog I’ve given many tips about finding ideas to write about and learning how to write faster. What don’t you take that advice and apply it to yourself?
I hope you a re more clear on the subject of duplicate content and plagiarism now. So, your turn now, let me know what you think in the comment area.
Photo Credits: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Hi Sylviane, I am also wondering about Triberr – the reposts. How is they are not considered duplicate content?
I test my guest posts to be sure they are not duplicate too before posting (unless I know them very well that is and most I do).
I can’t imagine copying a whole blog post or article like the above. I can see a sentence with a link back to the original source. I do that at times too. It’s known as referencing something – especially with stats. Or if you want to give someone credit for something they showed you that inspired your post.
Thanks Sylviane and have a wonderful day ahead.
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Hi Lisa,
Hum that’s an interesting question. I know that there are some type of content duplication that are considered OK, such as forums and thing like that, so it may be OK in the case of Triberr.
I do not understand how anyone would like to republish a complete post either. Beats me 🙂 Don’t see the purpose of it either.
Thanks for coming, Lisa.
Have a great week.
Hey Sylviane…
Firstly thanks for sharing the post….I guess the republishing of the entire post is really annoying for the original owner of the content!!!
But yes as you have stated in our article that duplicate content publishing is acceptable as long as they acknowledge your name with it and your article is used just as a reference and not entirely copied!!!
Anyways thanks for highlighting the issues regarding duplicate content!!!!
Was nice visiting your blog!!!:)
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hi Sylviane
Duplicate content it’s no joke… I mean, there are lots of people who knowingly or not, steal your content, and run with it… some even rank over you into the search engines… this has been tested and reported in black hat forums and public blogs.
I recommend you use a WP plugin. They help disable right-click function of the mouse as well as the copy-paste option for the end user/site visitor.,,
*** I’ve seen, and used at least two different solutions, which come free
Hope it helps
Hi John,
I actually had a plugin installed about 3 weeks ago that was preventing copy and paste, but after discussing it with a very successful blogger friend I disabled and deleted the plugin.
Why? Well many people copy and paste blog posts for many other reasons that do not include stealing and they will simply stop coming if they are not able to do so anymore. Some people do not even know how to share a link either, and coping is the only way they know how to share content.
I have other tools such as Tynt that let’s me know what’s copied on my blog.
Nice meeting you, John, and thanks for coming.
Hey Sylviane,
Man how the rules change right! This is the issue I have with Google. Back when I was doing a lot of article marketing I was doing what was approved too! I was playing by the rules and doing the right thing. For the most part I never really spun an article because it sounded so horrible I’d rewrite the entire thing but it still was similar in nature.
Then Google slaps everyone for doing this as they changed their rules. That hurt not only the directories but me too. But wait, I was doing what was right and what they “told’ us to do. Man, Google really sucks sometimes you know.
Now the only reason I don’t mind if someone copies my post word for word and places it on their blogs with all my links in tact as well as giving me credit of course because my links are still there. Anyone reading that post no matter whose blog it’s on if they get curious and want to click on those links they’ll be taken to my site. Anyone else that does that without leaving them in tact is illegally stealing your content.
So that’s why reposting on Triberr is okay because it’s not only the entire post but all credit is giving to the original author along with their bio and everything else. It’s like they wrote a guest post on your blog but it was actually their own first.
Will this change in the future too? Probably, we’re talking about Google remember. I know everyone has their own opinions just like you do so I’m sure there are plenty of people who don’t like this either. Thanks though for explaining it and I’m sure everyone will get a clearer picture of this now.
~Adrienne
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Hi Adrienne,
Yes, I know what you mean. I’ve been there too. We were doing what we were told and it wasn’t good anymore all of a sudden.
I am OK with my posts being posted by other people because it’s just extend the post (I guess), but I don’t think that it brought me any traffic. As a matter of fact, my traffic has dropped lately and I can’t wait to put the product I purchased into action to change that forever because I’ve got so tired of this traffic fishing thing, it’s not even funny.
Thank you for coming by and I hope you are feeling better 🙂
Hi Sylviane –
I’m glad you disabled the copy and past plugin – it makes it easier for me to highlight one of your quotes below 😉
“I have to admit that I am still not quite sure what those bloggers are trying to accomplish by using other people’s blog posts on their own blog, but to me the truly right way to use somebody else’s content is by linking their content to yours, rather than just showing how lazy you are by taking someone else’s post.”
I’ve never understood the steal other people’s work mindset either. It’s a shortcut mentality that just ends up being a complete waste of time.
Plagiarists and content thieves would be much better off posting something just once or twice a month as long as it’s theirs and it’s authentic rather than ripping off other people.
Not only would their self-respect improve, but they would probably get just as much traffic over the long term.
There’s just no need to steal someone else’s work when it’s so easy to use it as a springboard to follow up or “continue the conversation” with your own ideas on the topic in question – and on a number of occasions on my still-in-its-infancy blog, I’ve done exactly that.
It’s sad and ridiculous that there are people out there who seem willing to squander their entire lives and personal potential looking for shortcuts and always trying to take the easy mediocre way out.
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Hi Brad,
Well, that’s why I did disabled the plugin that good intentioned Mayura had installed for me a couple of weeks ago when he revised all my plugins.
I am not yet where I can afford to lose readers because for some reason they need to copy my content to read or share it. I discussed this with my good friend and blogger Adrienne and I followed her advice.
Yes, me too, I’m still scratching my head trying to understand what those people who republish content are trying to do. I don’t get it and I think that it shows that you’re not expert yourself. Each time I want to bring someone’s work up in my post I gladly link to them, and it’s also good for my blog, so everybody get something out of it.
Thanks for coming and have a great week.
Hi Sylviane,
I agree with Adrienne. Triberr is o.k. because it’s giving full credit to the author (that’s a simple explanation). I find that different than copying someone else’s post to use as their own and I think that’s where people need to make the distinction. Triberr calls it reblogging (with full permission of the author as long as everything is left intact.). It is not considered plagerisim. Plagerism is stealing the blog, posting it’s info and not giving the author the credit. The distinction seems very clear to me.
Wickipedia states for reblogging “Reblogging (or, in Twitter parlance, retweeting) is the mechanism in blogging which allows users to repost the content of another user’s post with an indication that the content of the repost is a “reblog” from another user.
It does provide a way for people to share good articles in it’s entirety that they like with others (giving full credit of course for the original owners). It can also drive traffic to your website (if the article is good content and the author has followers) that will follow the original poster. if the original owner has followers, say like an Adrienne Smith :), her followers will follow her to the post on your website, hence you get additional traffic. It can work, but you definitely want to reblog or repost people who have a following if you want to get additional traffic.
I’ve used reblogging as well when ‘life gets in the way’ and it’s been too busy to write. Reblogging is a good way to put some good content on your blog and it saves you time if you need a quick post. However, I have found that good content on a reblog is very, very, very hard to find so it’s not that easy.
Anyway, my thoughts on it.
Regards,
Barbara
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Hi Barbara,
Yes, there is rebloging which is still writing a short blog (yourself) that is introducing someone else’s blog. I’ve seen one of yours recently.
But, in the case of the examples I put on my post is while my name and links are all intact they literally copied and pasted my post on their blog. Which is a bit weird to me, even though that is not called stealing.
As I was saying in the post, those people have never asked me or even told me they were doing this. Never bothered to know me at all and never commented on that same post they supposed to love so much. A big bunch of BS if you ask me 🙂
Thank you for coming, and have a great rest of the week.
Hi Sylviane,
There has been a lot of buzz about duplicate content lately and I am so glad you wrote this post to clarify it.
Well, first of all, I like writing my own content and would never scrape an article from someone else because it wouldn’t be “me.” And as Adrianne mentioned above, it’s ok if someone else takes my content as long as they give me credit for it.
But how can we really know? I found a few of my videos on someone’s niche site saying that I approved this. Oh no…I got after them with a big stick! They tore it down. but how can we know if someone is taking our stuff? I trust Google may catch them,but how secure is that?
For me I just keep on plugging along, creating content and my own pictures and videos. If someone wants to steal them….Karma will get them eventually.
Am I being too passive? I just don’t want to install that plug in and prevent other readers from getting to my blog.
Guess there are bandits out there all the time aren’t they?
-Donna
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Hi Donna,
Well, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Ya know if you think about it…. I know you know the rest.
This said, however, I’m learning about ways to find out when my content is copied and will write a post about it. There’s also Tynt that lets you know each time your content as been copied. Adrienne had a post about this tool a while back.
I also know that Google knows how to recognize where the original content belongs to, and they tend to punish the one that steals, but there’s steal the occasional exception where the thief may rank before the original. Nothing’s perfect right?
Also, read the post from Kristi that I linked on this post if you haven’t yet. She explains a lot of things to protect yourself from having your content stolen.
I’m glad you found those dishonest people on YouTube. Too bad for them, if they had only asked they would have probably gotten a different reaction. People are quite stupid sometimes. Darn!
As always, thank you so much for coming and for your input.
Hi Sylviane! I saw your comment on a post on My Girly Parts, and the title caught me right away because I’ve been completely unclear on this topic. Finally I know what all the hub bub is regarding the “ok-ness” of duplicate content. My mom sometimes uses my posts on her blog exactly as they are (my name and everything), but I wasn’t sure whether Google would be unhappy.
I’ve skimmed some of your other posts, and they are phenomenal! Extremely informative 🙂 I look forward to more!
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Hi Kalina,
Well, I’m so glad you found me and I hope this could be the beginning of a nice Blogger/Entrepreneur relationship. I’ve built the best online relationships through my blogs.
I’m so glad I could clarify a few things for you on the topic of duplicate content, as it can get so confusing. If your own mother uses your blog posts with all your links and name, that’s fine. So far Google is OK with that, but it doesn’t mean that it will always be the case as we know from experience. But if it happens will know about it too.
Thanks for coming and I’ll see you on your side 🙂
Sylviane, this is why I’m so glad I started blogging. The people I’ve met in this community are so kind and helpful, so I’m grateful to you for that 🙂
Whew, I’m happy that it isn’t a problem for now. Sometimes my mom is busy at work, so I syndicate my content on both blogs.
I’ll be coming back often, so see you soon!
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Sometimes you don’t want to or can’t get rid of a duplicate version of an article, but you do know that it’s the wrong URL. For that specific issue, the search engines have introduce the canonical link element. It’s placed in the section of your site
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Hi Martin,
I’m not quite sure I understood that well, but maybe you can clarify it for us.
“Canonical link element?” what is it and where it’s found?
Hi Sylviane,
1. Yes, today, if you want to post on sites like Ezinearticles you need to have 100 % original content. The state something like: we don’t care how many times you publish your article as long as you publish on our site first. Oh, how I hated that statement.
2. “I am still not quite sure what those bloggers are trying to accomplish by using other people’s blog posts on their own blog”. In my opinion, they are too lazy or they totally lack the training or the skills or the time to create their own content. Maybe they lack all the above. However, they want quality content because it brings traffic and traffic brings money.
3. “could you write at least 450 to 600 words per week? “LOL! I think this must be one of the reasons why so many people say: write short, be concise, be short, sweet and to the point. Don’t exceed 500 words articles. They can’t write long, quality articles and they try to convince everybody to be concise. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Thank you for this post. Duplicate content is one of the topics that interests me very much. I bookmarked the post for further study.
Have a nice day
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Hi Silviu,
Totally agree with you about that stupid statement from EZ. It’s really low. I don’t like it either.
I believe that those who use other people’s posts don’t have the time or skill to write, but most of all they are also showing that they are not successful, enough to hired someone either. That kind of looks bad to me.
Thank you for your feedback and have a great rest of the week.
Hi Sylviane,
I used to submit the same article to all of the directories until they changed the rules. I used to submit to Ezines first then the others but as they changed the rules I reduced the directories I’d submit to.
I never mind my articles being used else where, as that’s a major goal we’re aiming for… As long as we’re credited for it.
Copying complete posts and posting to their own blogs is totally wrong in my opinion. even if they do link back to you and mention the post is yours, it’s just not right.
As you say, writing their own post is what they should be aiming for and if they want to refer to your post then ok. Like Adrienne does: I read a post by ….. (linked) and what I found was……. A complete post follows that Adrienne has written herself.
As Brad said in his comment: It’s far better to write an original post, even if they can only post once or twice a month. They’ll be looked on far better than swiping someone else’s post and pasting that in.
I don’t think any of my posts have been used in this way but I know some of my videos have, but that’s ok by me…
I hope you’ve been in touch with them and given them some education 😉
All the best Sylviane,
Barry
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Hi Barry,
I’m glad you are giving me your input on what you think about people posting your post on their blog even with links and name intact.
When I was investigating this issue, even though some people were telling me it was OK, I read several articles, some by reputable bloggers that were saying that this wasn’t OK to them either, and some were saying that this might eventually be stopped by Google in the future.
Well, that’s a good thing that you haven’t caught anyone yet, I sure did many, many times. I’ve caught another one after I wrote this post just yesterday. No, I haven’t contacted those people yet, because I’m always so busy, but I’m sure I will, eventually.
Thank you for coming by Barry 🙂
Hi Sylviane,
I can’t understand the mentality of people who want to steal other people’s content – I just think it’s mean, lazy and unethical. I was very interested to read your post and also the comments here. I’m resigned to the fact that people might nick some of my content – the only thing that really worries me is if I end up getting penalised for it.
I’d also heard about that plugin that stops people copying and pasting but decided against it for the very reason you mention.
I’m a bit confused about the issue of reposting on Triberr – I confess I don’t understand what that means. I use Triberr, but only on a very basic level – does this mean any articles that appear in Triberr are, effectively, “re-posted”?
Thanks for raising and clarifying an important issue that affects us all, one way or another.
Sue
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Hi Sue,
Yes, no doubt the mentality of people stealing content must be very low. Hopefully those who are “legally” copying content won’t affect us in a bad way since it wouldn’t be fair at all.
I am a very seldom user on Triberr because I could never brought myself to like this thing, and frankly I don’t know much about their “reposting” thing, but I know that Barbara Charles and Adrienne Smith know about way more about this subject.
I do not use any kind of reposting, because worst case scenario I’ll miss the post all together or link to a list of posts from other bloggers which people would benefit from.
Sorry I couldn’t answer your question about Triberr, Sue.
Thanks for your input.
Hi Sylviane,
I hope the those involved in these schemes actually takes time to read this…I especially love your final thoughts under Write Your Own Content…that was direct so your message will be received. 🙂
It’s obvious they’re in the wrong business and only out to make a quick buck and it’s sad that bloggers who work hard at writing great content pays the price. Thanks for clarifying the two, very informative post my friend!
Have a great week Sylviane! 🙂
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Hi Corina and nice to see you here again 🙂
What would be funny is that they don’t read a word of what I’m talking about here and just go ahead and post this on their site.
As a matter of fact, this makes me think that I should purposefully look for that and give them the shame of their life if they do.
You’re right, in the list of wrong messages that this type of action gives is the fact that they are showing that they’re trying to make a quick buck with least effort. Thanks for mentioning that.
Those people have no intention of building either relationships as they have never notified me in any way.
Thanks for your input, Corina.
Hey Sylviane,
There are so many rules when it comes to writing content, and it has changed. Although it may be legal for it to be ok to write duplicate content, I don’t find it ok myself.
I do have to admit, I did by PLRs at one time, and it didn’t feel right to me at the time, even though I changed up a lot of the wording to bring my own voice in. But I do have to agree that it’s best to write your own content and it’s morally right.
You may have the same ideas from other bloggers, but bloggers can at least put their own voice and opinion within their posts. This is the way to make you come unique to your readers. But overall writing your own post with your own words is the right thing to do!
Thanks Sylviane!
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Hi Sherman,
For sure duplicate content that is meant to deceive both the readers and search engines is now a no-no to be sure.
What confuses me still is duplicate content that is “OK” such as the type that I mentioned here. It might be officially OK, but it’s not right in my book though, and I’d discourage anyone from doing this. What good is there? I wonder!
Thanks for coming by, and for leaving your thoughts with us.
Hi Sylviane
I have never really understood this topic so thanks for writing this post. I also cannot understand someone taking someone else’s content. Although I could not care less if someone uses mine as long as my links are there and I am given credit.
Here is a question for you. If you have two blogs with the same content is that duplicate. I guess it is. But when Empower Network started I knew a lot of people who had their own blogs were just doing the same on the EN one and linking them to each other. Some of these people are experienced marketers.
What is your opinion on that? A great article on an important topic.Sue
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Hi Sue
Great question that I will gladly answer.
Having two blogs with the same content can’t be good. All it does is cheapen the more important blog if you take that content and post it on another blog.
This is the very reason why EzineArticles or Hubpages for example won’t accept your article if you try to post one of your blog posts on their site. If it’s not good for them, it’s not good for us either.
Those are things that were OK to do back in the days, but it’s not anymore. I can see Google rewarding this type of duplication behavior, so I don’t get why someone would do it. I would love them tell me what they get out of this!
Thanks for coming, Sue.
Thanks for that clarification Sylviane.
Have a great weekend.
Sue 🙂
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You’re welcome Sue 🙂
Interestingly enough this article fell into my inbox just as I was setting up the “Content” page on my website.
I have written many articles myself and whilst I will do so again for the moment I need a quick fix for my website. With this in mind I have decided to visit one of the article sites to which I have submitted and been approved my own articles. But of course I have been considering whether or not I would get myself into trouble with the search engines regarding duplicate content.
After reading your article regarding “Duplicate Content” I will now quite happily go to my article and do a quick copy and paste….So all in all I wish to wish you Sylvia a big Thank You and a cyber space hug () 🙂
Hi Jason,
I’m not 100% sure I understand your comment, but for clarification in case you did get the wrong message from this post, duplicate content is NOT OK, not for the directories and certainly not for Google or any other search engines, as a matter of fact.
I hope this clarifies things out just in case there was a misunderstanding.
Thanks for coming.
Hi Sylviane,
Double thanks to you Sylviane
For clearly pointing out to me that Duplicate Content is not OK in any way.
Have a good day Sylviane and after checking my blood I can confirm that having a hypo ( Type 1 Diabetic) and trying to decipher words is not the easiest.
Kind regards Jason
Sylviane,
I found your post about duplicating content direct and to the point and the whole idea of copying someone else’s content and using as if it was theirs totally turns me off. I do not care what Google says about an acceptable method or not acceptable method. Because to me; “copying” is “copying” and “copying” without permission is what I call “Plagiarism!” Leaving links in, taking links out it does not matter – It’s still stealing someone else’s work for whatever reason. I was a professional Portrait Photographer for over 45 years and the merits, awards and recognition I received for my creative work were mine as was the work and that should be the same for accomplished writers and bloggers; the recognition and merits that they receive over the years and the refining and polishing of their style of writing is theirs and no-one else’s – simply for the taking. To me, and I’m new at this blogging thing – copying or stealing someone else’s material is one notch under a “hacker”. To even hear of this stuff…boils my blood! Sorry…I could not resist to get my 2 cents worth in. You’re a good writer as your article’s base idea totally angered me!
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Hi Les,
Well, I’m glad you came here and shared your thoughts on that. The difference when your name and links are intact is huge though. In the cases I mentioned here, if my name and links to my blog weren’t there I would have reported those people big time.
However, a little courtesy and asking the blogger wouldn’t hurt. My guess is that they are afraid to hear no, so they just go ahead and do it.
Now, stealing content and using it as yours is 100% wrong. No excuse.
Thanks for your input, and have a great weekend.
Duplicate content has not sat well with me. I don’t like the idea of my thoughts and ideas rewritten by others and then posted as their own. Enjoyed reading your post, hope others learn from what you have said and follow suit.
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Hi Lynne,
I hope so too. Stealing content is certainly not right and not honest either.
Thanks for coming.
Just a quick question please Sylviane. Does this mean therefore each time you submit an article to an \’Article Directory\’, besides your original article you posted to your site, does that article once again have to be re-written every time you submit it to each new Article Directory?
Hi Adrian,
Yes, every article you are posting anywhere needs to be original. Any article that is already online somewhere and posted again is duplicate content.
A really great post and a very informative one. You have written a very comprehensive and an informative piece about duplicate content and really helped clear up many of my misconceptions and doubts.
Hi Helen,
I’m glad if I could help to clarify anything about duplicate content. Thank you for your feedback.
Sylviane, plagiarism and duplicate content are usually bad things, but you are right a link back to to the original content is a good solution.
However, the worst thing is to not know people are duplicating your content. I guess you could do research.
Again that creates more work for you. Most people usually do not have a problem with their content being used as long as you follow the ethical rules like giving the author credit.
It is important to know the difference. thanks
Hi Micheal,
I don’t really have a problem with people copying my content the ethical way, but it’s still something to watch closely.
As Mayura mentioned below, if that site happens to be considered spam Google will penalize them and you both. So, something to watch for 🙂
Thanks for you input.
Hi Sylviane,
Ugh… This is something that will never gonna stop. Isn’t it? 🙂
Ha ha… When you talk about copying content as is, I can recall one such a blogger who copied my content didn’t forget to copy my about page too. When I check out the About page, I read all about myself again 😀 I wonder WHY too. But most of the sites I’ve reported on copying my content had ads placed in their blogs and I think it’s about money after all.
Interestingly, I found some sites that used my post title but instead of posting whole content, they added excerpt of it and linked to my original post attributing my blog. I didn’t mind ’em ;cause it’s about extending the readership.
Usually I’m always on the look out for content scrappers. Sometimes we feel it’s alright to copy our content as long as somehow it links back to our blog. But the problem is, then backlinks will originated from their site to ours. If Google listed that site as a spammy site, Google gonna slap us too. It’s kinda weird as anyone can copy and paste our content without our knowledge. But still Google slaps us and given us a way to disavow such links too. But yet I feel it’s kinda weird.
When I follow my higher studies, the plagiarism rules were very strict. Sometimes my classmates copy content from Internet assuming the lecturer may not spot ’em at all. But surprisingly, lecturers could tell whether a student write it by himself / herself, or got it from somewhere else. Even by indicating the source 😉 I wish if Google is smart enough like that so content scrappers would be careful enough. But it won’t stop copying though. Isn’t it Sylviane? 🙂
You have a lovely weekend dear 🙂
Cheers…
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Hi Mayura,
Well, you’ve got a point about the backlinks, and that’s something I didn’t even think about. That’s why those guys need to be watched carefully, and while people say it exposes our content some more, there is also always a risk.
Thanks you for coming, Mayura, always nice to see you’ve not forgotten my blog 🙂
Sorry for the late reply and have a great week!
lol 😀 No way Sylviane! It was more of a week offline and had to take on catching up in the weekend dear 😉
Cheers…
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Sylviane,
I am with you I think people who publish other peoples content are lazy. If they can’t write their own content then this may be the wrong business for them.
I don’t know if you know but the entire content of my blog was stolen and put on the other persons blog as their own content. It was copied and pasted exactly as I posted it on my blog including comments. While they did leave all references to me and all my links in the posts it definitely was duplicate content. I had their blog shut down.
Great post on duplicate content.
Dee Ann
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I love the way you put it: “So, in September 2009 Google slapped the world of affiliates and their duplicate content along with all those article directories and web 2.0 sites that were supporting this behavior.”
Keep posting values Sylviane.
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I almost never write remarks, however i did some searching and wound up here Clarification
About Duplicate Content. And I actually do have 2 questions for you if it’s allright.
Is it simply me or does it appear like a few of these remarks appear
like written by brain dead people? 😛 And, if you are writing at additional social sites, I would
like to keep up with everything fresh you have to post.
Would you list of every one of all your community pages
like your twitter feed, Facebook page or linkedin profile?
Hi Lourdes,
Well, you are calling people brain dead, yet, your questions not being written in good English, I can’t understand what you’re asking me. If they are real questions and if you’d like to rephrase them, I’d love to answer them.
there is a great site to check if some site has duplicated your content , it is
http://copyscape.com/