Newbie Question Please - Do you guys believe in "Sandboxing"?

[Achilles1963]

I read the post yesterday on duplicate content and started to think (because i'm kind of a slow writer) that if i leavened 2 parts original content to 1 part duplicate content (or even 50/50) on a webpage or squidoo lens that i could greatley increase my production, but i've been told scary stories about what might happen if i indulge in duplicate content, so can i get you guys and gals 2 cents worth on this. P.S. - Yes i know i have to write my own stuff, but a little help never hurt.

[Darrel Hawes]

Duplicate content alone will not cause your site/domain to be sandboxed.

Have you read what Google says about duplicate content?

[SullyUI]

The duplicate content penalty is pretty much a myth, unless you are submitting to several hundred sites. Google lets you have duplicate content, you just need a link to the main source of that content. It will filter the best site it thinks it should rank automatically.

[Achilles1963]

Originally Posted by Darrel Hawes

Duplicate content alone will not cause your site/domain to be sandboxed.

Have you read what Google says about duplicate content?

No, lol , I researched it, but i couldn't find anyplace where Google definatively chimed in on this topic. I saw where a lot of fake links could get you in trouble...

[Quentin]

Here you go straight from th ehorses mouth.

Duplicate content - Webmasters/Site owners Help

Quentin

[bgmacaw]

Originally Posted by Sully Chaudry

It will filter the best site it thinks it should rank automatically.

I think that soon you'll discover that carrot juice has a number of health benefits.

EDIT...

I meant to address the 'sandboxing' thing too.

Google 'Sandbox' is a term that's used in SEO circles to indicate Google's behavior toward sites it's algorithm doesn't trust for a particular set of keywords. There is no 'sandbox' off/on switch though. It's the combined effect of several different search ranking algorithms working together that give this impression.

First, there is 'Query Deserves Freshness'. If your content is new and reasonably unique you'll get a boost. Soon afterward, your site will drop back down to its natural level. Some people call this the 'sandbox' but it isn't really. 100% duplicate content rarely gets this boost but sometimes it can if Google trusts the domain.

After that, Google determines how much it trusts your domain based on several hundred factors ranging from domain age, the keywords used and their relevance to the user's query, the competitiveness of the keywords, evidence of commercial intent (ie placing ads), number and quality of incoming links and so forth and so on. Duplicate content, or, more properly, syndicated content, is just one switch on a long huge bank of 'trust' switches. The more Google trusts your site, the more likely you are to rank for a particular set of keywords and vice versa.

[SullyUI]

Originally Posted by bgmacaw

I think that soon you'll discover that carrot juice has a number of health benefits.

I meant filter the content rankings, not actually filter out the duplicate sites. Meaning, the highest ranked site will be the one Google decides should be there for whatever reason, but obviously it won't remove all the other sites from it's index.

[Achilles1963]

Cmon bgmacaw we don't all need carrot juice to cure confusion, I just wanted to know if i cut and paste some articles from ezinearticles (with bio box and links in place) just to fluff out my content, whether it would hurt me or not in my rankings and traffic. P.S. - I prefer orange juice...(or beer).

[Darth Executor]

Originally Posted by bgmacaw

I think that soon you'll discover that carrot juice has a number of health benefits.

Worthless test.

[Darth Executor]

Originally Posted by Achilles1963

Cmon bgmacaw we don't all need carrot juice to cure confusion, I just wanted to know if i cut and paste some articles from ezinearticles (with bio box and links in place) just to fluff out my content, whether it would hurt me or not in my rankings and traffic. P.S. - I prefer orange juice...(or beer).

Won't hurt if you're just "padding" your web site. Just don't expect to get anything else out of it.

[bgmacaw]

Originally Posted by Darth Executor

Worthless test.

How so?

People around here keep blabbing about how Google will only show one result for a query when duplicate content is used across domains. This test and hundreds of others I can show you will empirically indicate that this is a false assumption.

[bgmacaw]

Originally Posted by Achilles1963

I just wanted to know if i cut and paste some articles from ezinearticles (with bio box and links in place) just to fluff out my content, whether it would hurt me or not in my rankings and traffic.

It won't hurt you. See what I added to my post for more info.

[SullyUI]

Originally Posted by bgmacaw

How so?

People around here keep blabbing about how Google will only show one result for a query when duplicate content is used across domains. This test and hundreds of others I can show you will empirically indicate that this is a false assumption.

Who uses a query like that? The reason why 1,110 results come up is because no one will ever type that.

If you type in "carrot juice" Google will not show more than one site with the same content.

If the keyword is worth anything Google will filter out duplicate websites most of the time.

[bgmacaw]

Originally Posted by Sully Chaudry

If the keyword is worth anything Google will filter out duplicate websites most of the time.

I used to think that what you were saying was correct until I observed with my own sites that it wasn't. But you're free to believe what you want to believe, even if it's wrong. You'll figure it out for yourself when you have enough sites in play.

bgmacaw - Is correct on all responses ...

To the OP - It does not hurt to edit your content somewhat, it's good to save time but editing it some also does not hurt... (I am assuming this is your content)

James

Originally Posted by Sully Chaudry

Who uses a query like that? The reason why 1,110 results come up is because no one will ever type that.

If you type in "carrot juice" Google will not show more than one site with the same content.

If the keyword is worth anything Google will filter out duplicate websites most of the time.

You should check your server stats, you would be surprised at what people search for ... Just a small list from one of my sites

items new parents need before the baby arrives
different types of investors
articles article directory
grocery rebate programs
hairstyles beach wedding
signs girl attracted
signs women are attracted to you
reference articles directory
what food should i make for a barbeque party
gulags death count
how to create an article directory
barbecue party games
signs girl is attracted to you

James

[lb1234]

I am newbie myself and I try to just sit down with my ideas of my topic and start writing what I have learned about the product and submit. That way I get totally away from duplication. So far it has worked fine for me.

[dndoseller]

Google "knows" which page on the Web is the first to post the original.

If it runs into a copy it puts it lower in the SERPs. In the case of hundreds of the same articles, it puts 80% of them in the "results omitted" link.

These are the "penalties"

[Darth Executor]

Originally Posted by bgmacaw

How so?

People around here keep blabbing about how Google will only show one result for a query when duplicate content is used across domains.

Which is not literally true, but still the case often enough that it might as well be.

This test and hundreds of others I can show you will empirically indicate that this is a false assumption.

I don't doubt you can fabricate hundreds of tests just like this one, but they don't prove anything. I already know that quoting a significant portion of an article (how significant depends on the article itself and the keywords used) will get you duplicate content simply because google has nothing else really relevant to show you, which is what you're doing here.

In reality:

a) people don't use quotes very much. When they do it's because they're looking for something specific (like a song's lyrics).
b) even with quotes, you usually need a significant number of keywords. Do this with "weight loss" and I'll be impressed.

The overwhelming majority of the times, when duplicate content is involved, google will show one and send the rest crashing down. Why would it do otherwise?

[Dally137]

As a newbie I so far I do not go for duplication. And it's doing well to me.

[tommygadget]

Originally Posted by Achilles1963

I read the post yesterday on duplicate content and started to think (because i'm kind of a slow writer) that if i leavened 2 parts original content to 1 part duplicate content (or even 50/50) on a webpage or squidoo lens that i could greatley increase my production, but i've been told scary stories about what might happen if i indulge in duplicate content, so can i get you guys and gals 2 cents worth on this. P.S. - Yes i know i have to write my own stuff, but a little help never hurt.

Here you go: Duplicate Content Penalty Debunked | 5000 Dollars In 45 Days - My IM Voyage

TomG.

[tpettit]

For the most part it is a myth, as long as you do your research you well be fine.

[bgmacaw]

Originally Posted by Darth Executor

The overwhelming majority of the times, when duplicate content is involved, google will show one and send the rest crashing down. Why would it do otherwise?

You'll figure it out one day if you take the time to properly research it.

[Diane S]

What Google says and what Google does are two entirely different things. Sandboxing is real but it does not last forever. Just keep building anchored backlinks to all your pages. With enough age and anchored backlinks, your site will pop back from the non-existent sandbox, as if by magic.

[Achilles1963]

Thanks everybody, boy it really seems like a lot of people are divided into two camps on this issue, it seems to me the preponderance of evidence is against the idea that duplicate content is bad, so i'm going to use some duplicate articles and see what happens, good blog TomG i bookmarked it. P.S. - I never said i wasn't gonna write my own stuff, just not all my stuff.

[Strangler]

Originally Posted by Diane S

What Google says and what Google does are two entirely different things.

Ridiculous. Google is by far the most transparent of any of the major search engines. They publish their guidelines, you can view the patents for their search technology online and they have employees who blog and post in forums about SEO related topics.

[tommygadget]

Originally Posted by Achilles1963

... good blog TomG i bookmarked it. P.S. - I never said i wasn't gonna write my own stuff, just not all my stuff.

Hey thanks! BTW, if you don't want to write all your own stuff, look in my sig *cough* *cough*

TomG.

[Darth Executor]

Originally Posted by bgmacaw

You'll figure it out one day if you take the time to properly research it.

Not likely. You're playing MTG with a hand full of basic land cards. If you had some genuine test to show (rather than the one you did which I debunked in detail) you'd have done so by now. Meanwhile, I'm gonna take google's word on it as own as my own search experience. Not because I like or trust google (I don't) but because they literally have nothing to gain by doing otherwise.

[bgmacaw]

Originally Posted by Darth Executor

If you had some genuine test to show (rather than the one you did which I debunked in detail) you'd have done so by now.

Believe what you want, but you're wrong and I know it for certain.

I'm done talking to you because not only don't you know what you're talking about, you're seriously misleading other people. To extend the conversation with you is pointless.

[Darth Executor]

Originally Posted by bgmacaw

Believe what you want, but you're wrong and I know it for certain.

I'm done talking to you because not only don't you know what you're talking about, you're seriously misleading other people. To extend the conversation with you is pointless.

Then prove it wise guy. I don't think you can. I think you're full of crap. If you weren't, you'd have produced some actual evidence by now. It should be brain numbingly easy for you to do so, you claimed to have "hundreds of tests" earlier. Show me some natural searches in google on keywords remotely worth a damn that actually gets you duplicate results and doesn't fit into one of the few types I talked about earlier (IE: song lyrics). You will not because you cannot. If you were genuinely worried about me "seriously misleading other people" you'd try to shut my mouth with logic or evidence, not insist that you have some esoteric knowledge but can't be bothered to show it.

[Scripteen]

Duplicate content is having the same exact content several times under the same domain trying to fool google and make them think that you have thousands of pages.

Having the same article across several domains is not duplicate content. however you need more efforts in link building to rank a page that has clones all over the internet.

To make sure of what I have just said, copy a line from any article at ezinearticles.com and put it between double quotes in google and see how many results do you get ?

Maybe +100 results from pages having the same exact article published. all of them are indexed but only one of them will rank (the one which has good link building job done)

[Finch]

There's more to the "I published it first" argument than meets the eye when you talk about which article will rank higher.

If a low ranking .info site posts an article, and then the BBC goes and rips it word-for-word - who do you think is going to rank over the other?

It all comes down to authority.

Duplicate content is a problem if you're actually concerned about ranking for that particular content. But it's also pretty damn easy to overcome with some nice black hat keyword spinning and madlib technology.