Duplicate Content Penalty: A small case study

[k3rtiichow]

So warriors, I have been hearing a lot about duplicate content penalty.

Well even I believed that duplicate content penalty exists and if I am going to post the same stuff..only some of it is going to be indexed by google.

But one month back I have started an experiment for one of my client's sites which is targeting one of those most difficult keywords in his niche.

I have taken an article from ezine articles, spun it using best spinner, posted it on his site.

Blasted the same article without even a small change(Yep not even a small change) in it across some 50 of wiki blogs with links pointing to his blog....I have submitted all my 50 backlinks to bulkping and then I got busy with some other work and left it as such..today I have opened his site and some 35 of those articles are already indexed by google....and google is placing him in #3 position ....Yep even I couldn't believe it...so people..is duplicate content penalty a myth??

I really wish I could post a link to this site here..but this guy feels it is better if I dont post the same..

Also people I have got one other site in which I will basically be submitting same article on my site to some 50 web 2.0 sites whenever I posted something and even it is also ranking good...so atleast in my case the over hyped duplicate content penalty is a myth...

If someone has got some other examples where it proves otherwise can you post some examples??

This would certainly be a learning experience for all of us..

Thanks,
k3rtiichow

[sirtiman]

As long as duplicate contents are useful, Google forgive them. That's what I think.

[Richard Van]

Originally Posted by k3rtiichow

I have taken an article from ezine articles, spun it using best spinner, posted it on his site.

Ok, first things first.

I'm going to assume it was your article you took from EZA and spun?

If it wasn't yours thats called derivative works, better known as stealing. Those are not my words but Brian Kindsvater, the boards online Lawyer.

I really wish I could post a link to this site here..but this guy feels it is better if I dont post the same..

Good thinking by that person because as mentioned, if it wasn't an article he owned that has been spun, he's got a bunch of derivative works on his site and all over the web linking to his site.

Finally, what you have there is syndicated content and it's something some of us have doing for some time, though not using directories to get our work published but relevant, niche specific audiences that want to read our stuff seeing as most people looking for information on a niche tend to look for relevant sites rather than trawling article directories.

The duplicate content myth is just that but, read the TOS of any site you submit to first, especially web 2.0 ones.

Nice study but write your own articles in future, assuming the one you spun wasn't in fact something you owned the rights to. If it was, my apologies.

[Kay King]

I have taken an article from ezine articles, spun it using best spinner, posted it on his site.

You lost me right there. You appear to be saying you took an article written (and copyrighted) by someone else, spun it and used it. Or do you mean an EZA article that you had written and submitted?

The facts about the wrong assumptions so common about "duplicate" have been posted here many times.

[davejug1]

During the manual review process, flags are used for duplicate content which might or might not be ignored. I get the impression from Google that the duplicate content we do flag is taken into account though.

We are told to actively seek out duplication and the work is reviewed if it disputes with other reviewers.

[Rus Sells]

From everything I've read and also experienced the duplicate content penalty is ABOUT on site duplicate content and URLS.

[cashcow]

Yes, it is a myth. Some of us have been saying that for years, but people still seem to spend an ungodly amount of time talking about it.

[Alexa Smith]

Originally Posted by k3rtiichow

I have taken an article from ezine articles, spun it using best spinner, posted it on his site.

One of his own EZA articles, you mean - not one that you've stolen, surely?!

Originally Posted by k3rtiichow

even I couldn't believe it...so people..is duplicate content penalty a myth??

Yes, of course it is.

Let's leave aside that what you're describing isn't duplicate content, anyway: it's syndicated content ...

It's particularly well explained here, but to be fair it's also explained in about 300 threads in this forum, too.

Originally Posted by k3rtiichow

This would certainly be a learning experience for all of us.

With respect, I think you'll find that many here are already fully aware of it. What you're describing is simply a sort of very poor and non-worthwhile attempt at the "syndication model" of article marketing. Syndicated articles (which you seem to be thinking of as "duplicate articles") are indexed just like any others, and always have been. Why wouldn't they be?

Sorry if I sound a little dismissive, but no "case studies" are needed for this one.

[k3rtiichow]

@all: Yep it is an article submitted by him long back for one of his another sites in the same niche and it is targetting some other keyword, but as this article even this new keyword which he is targeting we thought of using the same article...

BTW people thanks for making me learn the difference between syndicated articles and duplicate content...

[Richard Van]

Originally Posted by k3rtiichow

@all: Yep it is an article submitted by him long back for one of his another sites in the same niche and it is targetting some other keyword, but as this article even this new keyword which he is targeting we thought of using the same article...

BTW people thanks for making me learn the difference between syndicated articles and duplicate content...

My apologies for my assumption it wasn't your article, the way it was worded made me think it wasn't yours.

My fault, my apologies.

[sonic74]

Nice case study....a question though

I have a couple of original articles and I never used them as a content on my site...so it's never indexed by search engines....

can I submit the same articles unspuned on the article directories ?

thanks

[k3rtiichow]

no probs buddy...

[k3rtiichow]

@sonic74: Yep you can submit your articles without any problem to the article directories...

[Alexa Smith]

Originally Posted by sonic74

can I submit the same articles unspuned on the article directories ?

You can, but for all the reasons explained here in great detail and at such length by so many professional article marketers, it's very much better to publish them on your own site first, have them indexed there, and then submit them (without spinning) to article directories.

The 6 or 7 other threads linked to in this post will help you, too.

[Fazal Mayar]

So by reading this thread i can conclude that there is no penalty at all for duplicate content?

[Brandon Tanner]

Originally Posted by Alexa Smith

It's particularly well explained here, but to be fair it's also explained in about 300 threads in this forum, too.

I think you forgot to add a couple zeros to the end of that number, lol.

[dsouravs]

myth...I don't believe.

[tpw]

Originally Posted by k3rtiichow

is duplicate content penalty a myth??

It has always been a myth...

Welcome to the real world, where myths can be dismissed for what they really are.

[Istvan Horvath]

Originally Posted by Fazal Mayar

So by reading this thread i can conclude that there is no penalty at all for duplicate content?

Of course there is. The big G. will kick your a$$...

However, read the thread again because there was NO duplicate content involved in the whole story.

Duplicate content is - as it was already clarified in this thread, if you REALLY have read it! - when you put the same material more than once on the same site of yours. OK, once again, in case you missed - identical content on the same domain = duplicate content.

The OP story is about syndication. (He just didn't know better when wrote the thread title... )