Copying Images

[Trevor]

Hi there,

While reading The Art Of SEO, a question occured to me:

Does copying images matter from an SEO point of view?

I've heard and read multiple times that search engines have some kind of a software that recognizes pixels in images, though this technology is still in cradle.

What's your opinion? Could I get penalized for copying images over from other websites?

[LukeK]

Nope, I copy pictures all the time never have gotten penalized for it. Maybe in the future this will have an impact on your site, but right now there isn't a single case of this.

[zannix]

I don't think so. This would be stupid, especially when there are sites like us.fotolia.com that actually sell their images to anyone who wants to buy them.

There's no reason why you and your competitors wouldn't buy the same image, especially when you're in the same niche.

You could get penalized though (not SEO wise) for copying and using images that aren't really yours (you haven't bought them, you copied them). Therefore I recommend you either sign up for sites that offer you to buy images from them, or simply use sites that provide free images. This way you'll avoid any potential lawsuits.

[Trevor]

Thanks guys for your opinions. The more I think about it the less sense it makes to me to get penalized for copying images.

For example, let's talk celebrities. There must be tens of thousands of sites that include the exact same images of pop singers, rappers, and so on.

[trustumar]

I have copied a lot of wallpaper images but has not been penalized yet. If google figures out image is duplicate, it will not rank.