duplicate content got me sand boxed?

98 replies
I have 3 sites that I set-up just before the new year. I have let them get indexed by themselves and then waited a few weeks before i decided to build some links using 8 article sites. I have submitted my 1st article to ezine and when it got accepted I submitted the same one to 7 other sites and since then im de-indexed??? Is duplicate content the problem?
#boxed #content #duplicate #sand
  • Profile picture of the author Sleeq
    This is the kind of problem one can face, if they do not alter their
    PLR content when purchased.
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  • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
    There is no duplicate content penalty ... Please search the forum ... I tire of posting the proof over and over..

    James
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  • Profile picture of the author noodle2005
    I knew i could rely on James to respond to this one

    James knows what hes talking about so i advise you listen when he talks about the duplicate content myth
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  • Profile picture of the author monitorit
    The original article was my own work however i guess i messed up submitting the same one over.
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    • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
      Originally Posted by monitorit View Post

      The original article was my own work however i guess i messed up submitting the same one over.
      You can submit your same article to 1,000 article directories / places.. It will not hurt you one bit.. This is called syndication.

      Ever hear of syndicated news, syndicated movies and shows .. It's the same exact thing and it is perfectly normal..

      James
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  • Profile picture of the author Afaneh
    as far as I know duplicate content within the same site is the only form of duplicate content that can cause problems
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  • Profile picture of the author monitorit
    what could have caused this then?
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    • Profile picture of the author affilcrazy
      Originally Posted by monitorit View Post

      what could have caused this then?
      As James has mentioned there are numerous threads here that discuss and provide insight into this. This is just my understanding of it:-

      This has been aptly named the "google dance" and can be experienced on any search engine. Just because you have seen your site or article ranking in a certain position (especially when it's fairly new), that doesn't mean it will stay there.

      As you build backlinks and your competitors build backlinks to their sites, you will jostle for position until eventually settling where google, or whatever search engine you are viewing, decides where you should rank. This could take days, weeks or even months. In the meantime continue building backlinks, adding new content, etc.

      As your site gets older and you build more backlinks your ranking should stabilize more and you shouldn't see it disappearing completely off the radar! In my observations, if you manage to get your site into the top 3 spots for a certain keyword phrase, you can expect it to stay there for some time. But always remember your compeitiors will be constantly be building backlinks too!

      Cheers
      Partha
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      "There is no fixed teaching. All I can provide is an appropriate medicine for a particular ailment" - Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do (on Zen)
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  • Profile picture of the author cashcow
    Are you sure it is de-indexed or did it just drop in the SERPS?

    When you go to google and type in site:www.yoursite.com does it show anything?

    What are the sites like? loaded with affiliate links and little content or loaded with content and just a few affiliate links?

    I myself have found that a site can be on page 1 doing fine and then a few months go by and it drops like a stone. I've learned to stop looking until it's been about 6 months!

    The problem wouldn't be caused by submitting the articles, otherwise we could all get our competitors deindexed by simply submitting an article to the directories with links to their sites!
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  • Profile picture of the author monitorit
    they still show in that sense but when using firefox ranking it does not show a rank however it was 30th last week
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  • Profile picture of the author cashcow
    So then they are not de-indexed - luckily for you.

    I've had that happen a few times. I think it is just your site sinking to where it should be - or maybe there is something there that gets caught in some sort of filter.

    I have one that was ranking between #1 and #3 for the first 2 months (made good money) and then all of a sudden it dropped to I don't even know where.

    Then every month or so it would shoot back up to between #1 and #3 for a couple of days and drop back off.

    I guess this is why it's good sometimes to have a ton of sites instead of just 1 or 2.

    Lee
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    • Profile picture of the author affilcrazy
      Originally Posted by cashcow View Post

      I guess this is why it's good sometimes to have a ton of sites instead of just 1 or 2.
      Exactly!

      Lee, i also note that you don't really bother checking ranking for a site until 6 months or thereafter. I guess usually by this time you would HOPE that a site would have achieved some form of stability! However, even achieving the odd day or 2 in top 3 spots for a "dancing" brand spanking new site is always good for business!

      Cheers
      Partha
      Signature
      "There is no fixed teaching. All I can provide is an appropriate medicine for a particular ailment" - Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do (on Zen)
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
    Syndication and duplicate content are NOT the same thing.

    A lot of misinformed people here state that there is no duplicate content penalty and yet when one goes to the horses mouth (in this case Google), we find.

    Duplicate content - Webmaster Tools Help

    Duplicate content generally refers to substantive blocks of content within or across domains that either completely match other content or are appreciably similar. Mostly, this is not deceptive in origin.
    So we now know that Google does use a term "duplicate content" and it is quite different from "syndication". They, Google, understand there is a difference between "duplicate content" and "syndication" but is there a penalty for this?

    Let's read the Google descriptive page itself to see if the answer is there.

    Ah yes, a little further down we find this:

    In the rare cases in which Google perceives that duplicate content may be shown with intent to manipulate our rankings and deceive our users, we'll also make appropriate adjustments in the indexing and ranking of the sites involved. As a result, the ranking of the site may suffer, or the site might be removed entirely from the Google index, in which case it will no longer appear in search results.
    Now we can see that Google has never really used the word "penalty" so I suppose technically that there is in fact no "duplicate content penalty" but is it now safe to say that there could be negative consequences in some cases for using "duplicate content"?

    Of course.

    So to appease those hardened semantically challenged, we should remind folks any time we see someone state that there is no "duplicate content penalty" that while that is true, there is a "duplicate content negative handling of your website" that could occur.
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    • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
      Frankly Matt I could care less what google says... They are not the be all and end all.. They are not going to post the secrets on how to get great listings, would be stupid if they did.

      There is no duplicate content penalty and you can have content on the same site duplicated without being hurt. I should know, I do it..

      Why people always run to google webmaster tools instead of testing things I will never understand. Who cares what their webmaster place says, I know I sure don't..

      What google does not want is you building doorway pages for the purpose of trying to rank good.

      Submitting your articles to other sites IS synidaction and it IS duplicate content.

      James

      Originally Posted by Matt Maiden View Post

      Syndication and duplicate content are NOT the same thing.

      A lot of misinformed people here state that there is no duplicate content penalty and yet when one goes to the horses mouth (in this case Google), we find.

      Duplicate content - Webmaster Tools Help

      So we now know that Google does use a term "duplicate content" and it is quite different from "syndication". They, Google, understand there is a difference between "duplicate content" and "syndication" but is there a penalty for this?

      Let's read the Google descriptive page itself to see if the answer is there.

      Ah yes, a little further down we find this:

      Now we can see that Google has never really used the word "penalty" so I suppose technically that there is in fact no "duplicate content penalty" but is it now safe to say that there could be negative consequences in some cases for using "duplicate content"?

      Of course.

      So to appease those hardened semantically challenged, we should remind folks any time we see someone state that there is no "duplicate content penalty" that while that is true, there is a "duplicate content negative handling of your website" that could occur.
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      • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
        Originally Posted by TheRichJerksNet View Post

        Frankly Matt I could care less what google says...
        Submitting your articles to other sites IS synidaction and it IS duplicate content.
        So what do you make of that Google Duplicate Content page?

        Why did they put it there and why did they make those statements on how they would handle your site?

        Just curious as to your thoughts on this.
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        • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
          Originally Posted by Matt Maiden View Post

          So what do you make of that Google Duplicate Content page?

          Why did they put it there and why did they make those statements on how they would handle your site?

          Just curious as to your thoughts on this.
          They put it there so people would follow their crap, me I prefer to test and I also prefer to understand and realize that google is only a small part of the internet. No they are not king of the hill and no they do not push my main traffic. There are far many more search engines besides google and if they went out of business tomorrow my business would continue.

          Way to many people put everything they have into google which is a huge mistake. You should diversify and use many different places to drive that traffic.

          James
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  • Profile picture of the author johnben1444
    You don't get banned for duplicate content, yes you rarely get back link from a duplicate. The search engines aren't foolish, think about it, you competitors can use that against you if you are right.
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    • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
      Originally Posted by johnben1444 View Post

      You don't get banned for duplicate content,
      What do you think this passage means?

      Straight from Google:

      ...or the site might be removed entirely from the Google index, in which case it will no longer appear in search results.
      Sure they didn't use the word "banned", but what is the difference between being banned and "your site no longer appearing in the search results"?
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  • Profile picture of the author cashcow
    Yeah - it's definitely nice to see a new site shoot up there, but I've learned that you can't really count on it staying so I try not to get too invested in my ranking until several months.

    Actually with a lot of sites, I notice that they don't shoot up there until 6 months or so. There's been a few times that I thought a site was a "dud" and then 6 months later all of a sudden it turns into one of my better earners!

    Lee
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
    James,
    are you saying that regardless of what Google is stating in black and white on their site, that we should not follow what Google says about this matter and that we should follow what you are saying instead?
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    • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
      Originally Posted by Matt Maiden View Post

      James,
      are you saying that regardless of what Google is stating in black and white on their site, that we should not follow what Google says about this matter and that we should follow what you are saying instead?
      Nope .. I never tell anyone to follow me .. Go test it for yourself, I have ..

      I have dup content on my site right now and google fully knows about it. I do not have any stupid 10 years ago doorway pages..

      James
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
    James,
    I understand that if something works for you and you have not had any problems with Google doing things your way then you could tell folks that. But in your case you consistently tell people over and over again that there is no such thing as a duplicate content penalty leading people to think that there will never be any negative consequences from duplicate content.

    I realize that you are not asking people to follow you but your statements about duplicate content can appear to others as though you are the authority on the subject.

    As a matter of fact, anytime this subject comes up there are people that make posts like those above where they are waiting for you to show up and clear it up.

    Others make statements that they were "glad James is here to get it straight".

    As you can see, even if you did not set out to be viewed as the expert on this subject, many people believe that you are.

    Maybe this is your opportunity to set the record straight and let them know that you are NOT the expert when it comes to how Google will handle their sites and that you only know how Google has dealt with you.
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    • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
      I would say that I have a vast knowledge on the subject since it also works for thousands of my clients and not just my sites.

      Fact is there is no duplicate content penalty and yes this has been proven over and over... Show me proof that the penalty exist and not some words on a google site.

      I do not think anyone is an "Authority" or "Guru" on anything.. If you followed my post I have made then you would know that.

      People make the statements they do because they go and test for themselves and not just because they follow what I say... Huge difference there..

      James

      Originally Posted by Matt Maiden View Post

      James,
      I understand that if something works for you and you have not had any problems with Google doing things your way then you could tell folks that. But in your case you consistently tell people over and over again that there is no such thing as a duplicate content penalty leading people to think that there will never be any negative consequences from duplicate content.

      I realize that you are not asking people to follow you but your statements about duplicate content can appear to others as though you are the authority on the subject.

      As a matter of fact, anytime this subject comes up there are people that make posts like those above where they are waiting for you to show up and clear it up.

      Others make statements that they were "glad James is here to get it straight".

      As you can see, even if you did not set out to be viewed as the expert on this subject, many people believe that you are.

      Maybe this is your opportunity to set the record straight and let them know that you are NOT the expert when it comes to how Google will handle their sites and that you only know how Google has dealt with you.
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      • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
        Originally Posted by TheRichJerksNet View Post

        Show me proof that the penalty exist and not some words on a google site.
        I think there has been plenty of proof.

        Many times people go out and put PLR articles all over their sites and then when they get into trouble just like this thread, then you tell them that it can't be duplicate content because there is no such thing.

        If you have stated over and over again that there is no such thing as duplicate content including saying here in this thread that "you don't care what Google says" then how can I prove that something exists if it is something you don't believe in?

        If I went out and got someone from Google and did an interview with them on Youtube to state otherwise, why wouldn't you continue to assert your belief that is was just BS?

        I really wouldn't know how to set up a test that could prove it to you if you would constantly make suggestions that it was something other than duplicate content.

        To be fair, why wouldn't you if you really truly didn't believe that it was the truth.

        It's like us discussing why Santa Claus didn't give me a higher ranking this year. I would never be able to prove that Santa had anything to do with my site.

        Apparently, that is where you are with the subject of duplicate content.
        It is Santa to you so any tests or proof would be a waste of time.
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        • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
          There is already 2 videos on youtube right now from google employees that state there is no duplicate content penalty ...

          If what you say is true I guess all us article directory owners should just tell people that we do not allow people to re-plublish articles because dup content is a no.. no ..

          Gee I wonder how many websites out there actually re-publish (which is syndication) content .. Trust me there are millions of sites that do.

          I have already posted proof over and over and so has many others.. It is also common sense, again look at the news and media sites that syndicate content to thousands of places..

          This is why I am so tired of this subject, people misread what google says and mislead others... The fact is and it is a proven fact and not my opinion that duplicate content penalty does not exist..

          I am out of this thread because this is just seriously unreal and I really tire of this ..

          James

          Originally Posted by Matt Maiden View Post

          I think there has been plenty of proof.

          Many times people go out and put PLR articles all over their sites and then when they get into trouble just like this thread, then you tell them that it can't be duplicate content because ther is no such thing.

          If you have stated over and over again that there is no such thing as duplicate content including saying here in this thread that "you don't care what Google says" then how can I prove the exsistance of something you don't believe in?

          If I went out and got someone from Google and did an interview with them on Youtube to state otherwise, why wouldn't you continue to assert your belief that is was just BS?

          I really wouldn't know how to set up a test that could prove it to you if you would constantly make suggestions that it was something other than duplicate content.

          To be fair, why wouldn't you if you really truly didn't believe that it was the truth.

          It's like us discussing why Santa Claus didn't give me a higher ranking this year. I would never be able to prove that Santa had anything to do with my site.

          Apparently, that is where you are with the subject of duplicate content.
          It is Santa to you so any tests or proof would be a waste of time.
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      • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
        Originally Posted by TheRichJerksNet View Post

        I would say that I have a vast knowledge on the subject
        I too have a vast knowledge on this subject because I have been doing this for over 16 years. Before Google.

        I have spent years building high ranking authority sites (6, 7, 8), portal sites that have absolutely dominated several search engines, developed big sites that everyone here would know their names, and this is why I know for a fact that Google will drop you.

        But for the folks that don't believe in duplicate content consequences they always think it has to do with something else.
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
    I'm not talking about how you get your traffic or if you think using them for any type of marketing is a good thing or a bad thing.

    My concern is that you continue to tell people here that they should not worry about duplicate content and that there will be no negative consequences from Google when in fact, Google states that they will adjust your rankings and may even restrict you from being listed in their search engine if they deem your content to duplicated in a way as to manipulate them.

    I think it is harmful to newbies and others who are terribly misinformed about this subject to continue spending hours of time and in some cases hard earned money trying to figure out a problem which may have occurred because they have followed your bad advice.
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    • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
      The keyword you are misreading "manipulate" .. That's correct .. building doorway pages is a way to manipulate the search engines.

      Syndicating content is not ... Proof again has been posted over and over. A press release goes to thousands of sites - syndicated news goes to thousands of sites - new release goes to thousands of sites.. Articles being posted on a thousand sites is the same exact thing.

      If it was true what you say about dup content then many sites would suffer big time and that includes places like prweb.com

      It would also be very simple to get rid of competition just by slapping up a 1,000 blogs and start posting their articles left and right.

      Like any you have misread what google says ... Nobody is manipulating anything by syndicating articles to 1,000 places.

      James

      Originally Posted by Matt Maiden View Post

      I'm not talking about how you get your traffic or if you think using them for any type of marketing is a good thing or a bad thing.

      My concern is that you continue to tell people here that they should not worry about duplicate content and that there will be no negative consequences from Google when in fact, Google states that they will adjust your rankings and may even restrict you from being listed in their search engine if they deem your content to duplicated in a way as to manipulate them.

      I think it is harmful to newbies and others who are terribly misinformed about this subject to continue spending hours of time and in some cases hard earned money trying to figure out a problem which may have occurred because they have followed your bad advice.
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      • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
        Originally Posted by TheRichJerksNet View Post

        It would also be very simple to get rid of competition just by slapping up a 1,000 blogs and start posting their articles left and right.
        Google:

        If you find that another site is duplicating your content by scraping (misappropriating and republishing) it, it's unlikely that this will negatively impact your site's ranking in Google search results pages. If you do spot a case that's particularly frustrating, you are welcome to file a DMCA request to claim ownership of the content and request removal of the other site from Google's index.
        They address it above.
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    • Profile picture of the author Heuristic
      Originally Posted by Matt Maiden View Post

      I'm not talking about how you get your traffic or if you think using them for any type of marketing is a good thing or a bad thing.

      My concern is that you continue to tell people here that they should not worry about duplicate content and that there will be no negative consequences from Google when in fact, Google states that they will adjust your rankings and may even restrict you from being listed in their search engine if they deem your content to duplicated in a way as to manipulate them.

      I think it is harmful to newbies and others who are terribly misinformed about this subject to continue spending hours of time and in some cases hard earned money trying to figure out a problem which may have occurred because they have followed your bad advice.
      Totally agree with this. Newbies have to do their own due diligence. You can't take someone's word as gospel just because they say that's the way it is. Seriously, get out there and get more information from other authoritative sources before you decide on what is right and wrong. The results may surprise you.

      And as far as ignoring Google's Webmaster Guidelines - ok, best of luck with that. :rolleyes:
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
    Here is what Google says about syndication:

    Syndicate carefully: If you syndicate your content on other sites, Google will always show the version we think is most appropriate for users in each given search, which may or may not be the version you'd prefer.
    Then this

    However, in some cases, content is deliberately duplicated across domains in an attempt to manipulate search engine rankings or win more traffic. Deceptive practices like this can result in a poor user experience, when a visitor sees substantially the same content repeated within a set of search results.
    Or win more traffic. If you are syndicating in the sense that a newspaper columnist does this then it is spreading quality content over the web.

    If you are doing this in an attempt to win more more traffic then Google could have a problem with it.

    If Google has a problem with it, then they have stated that
    we'll also make appropriate adjustments in the indexing and ranking of the sites involved
    My point is that this is a slippery slope to tread if your site's listing is important to you.
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
    Syndication and Duplicate Content are not the same thing.

    Article directories that have articles are a place to syndicate content.

    You creating a fake article directory in an attempt to get higher rankings or manipulate Google

    ...with intent to manipulate our rankings and deceive our users, we'll also make appropriate adjustments in the indexing and ranking of the sites involved. As a result, the ranking of the site may suffer, or the site might be removed entirely from the Google index, in which case it will no longer appear in search results.
    On Youtube and other places where Google talks about "no duplicate content penalty" they are referring to this:

    Duplicate content generally refers to substantive blocks of content within or across domains that either completely match other content or are appreciably similar. Mostly, this is not deceptive in origin.
    This

    Examples of non-malicious duplicate content could include:
    • Discussion forums that can generate both regular and stripped-down pages targeted at mobile devices
    • Store items shown or linked via multiple distinct URLs
    • Printer-only versions of web pages
    If your site contains multiple pages with largely identical content, there are a number of ways you can indicate your preferred URL to Google. (This is called "canonicalization".) More information about canonicalization.
    They are addressing the folks who were afraid they would be penalized for the examples listed above.
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    • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
      Originally Posted by Matt Maiden View Post

      You creating a fake article directory in an attempt to get higher rankings or manipulate Google
      I do NOT have a fake article directory, I have a custom built article directory that has many authors ... That is a uncalled for insult..

      Bottom line, you can misread what google says all you want and do not testing. I myself will continue to do testing on anything and everything I can and not follow what someone else says.

      Peace - Out!

      James
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      • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
        Originally Posted by TheRichJerksNet View Post

        I do NOT have a fake article directory, I have a custom built article directory that has many authors ... That is a uncalled for insult..

        I should have said if one were to create a fake article site...

        Was not calling your article site fake. I didn't even know you had one.
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  • They don't punish dup content. There is a google document going around that says they do measure at which rate you do build backlinks from a newly formed site.

    They look at the age of a site, in correlation with the amount of backlinks you build.

    I also know how to force links from top blog owners using trackbacks, which carry more juice than a comment

    Though it can get some angry webmasters e-mailing you lol

    Jay.
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  • Profile picture of the author cashcow
    I would hope that submitting the same article to multiple article directories (as the OP describes) would not be seen as deceptive by google because if it is then, again, it would be pretty easy to get your competitors banned.

    If having the same article out in multiple places is a problem then everyone better stop submitting to Ezinearticles because one of the functions of this directory is so that people who have websites can go and get content to syndicate to their sites.

    On the other hand, if you are creating a billion blogs with the same articles on it and linking back to your main site, then you should probably be keeping your fingers crossed. Maybe this is more along the lines of what google means in the statements above?
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  • Profile picture of the author Marhelper
    James, do you believe that you can make Amazon review sites by adding a few lines to customer reviews and product description from the Amazon sites? Would this qualify as "syndication" or is it "manipulation?"
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  • Profile picture of the author Taylor French
    "In the rare cases in which Google perceives that duplicate content may be shown with intent to manipulate our rankings and deceive our users, we'll also make appropriate adjustments in the indexing and ranking of the sites involved."

    Notice "rare cases". Notice "intent to manipulate our rankings and deceive our users". How exactly is syndicating an article an attempt to deceive users or manipulate rankings? LOL!

    There is definitely no penalty for duplicate content. Just because only one or two versions rank on the first page doesn't mean the other sites are penalized for having the article on their site! It's the same as non-duplicate content. The most relevant version from the site with the most authority would generally get the top results. It has nothing to do with whether an article is unique or not.

    I have personally seen two and even three versions of the exact same article on page one. How could that happen if there was a penalty?
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    • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
      Originally Posted by Taylor French View Post

      How exactly is syndicating an article an attempt to deceive users or manipulate rankings? LOL!
      This is my point. There is a difference between syndication and duplicate content.

      Writing articles and submitting them is called "syndication". No penalty for that.

      Writing articles and rewriting articles for your site in an attempt to manipulate the search engines is "duplicate content".

      What's the difference? An article is an article right?

      The difference is if Google thinks you are trying to manipulate them with your articles then they are going to adjust their rankings for your site.

      That's what they said. They also said that if they think you are trying to manipulate them that they might remove your site and not be listed at all.

      You quoted them that they said "rare" but didn't they say they would do something negative to your site in that "rare" case?

      Yes they did. So, is there a "rare" chance that you could suffer negative consequences from "duplicate content".

      Yes.

      So now that we have established that there is in fact something called "duplicate content" and it is established fact that even though "rare" there are negative consequences from "duplicate content" is it now safe to say that when someone states that there is no such thing as a "duplicate content" negative consequence that they are wrong?
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      • Profile picture of the author Taylor French
        Originally Posted by Matt Maiden View Post

        This is my point. There is a difference between syndication and duplicate content.

        Writing articles and submitting them is called "syndication". No penalty for that.

        Writing articles and rewriting articles for your site in an attempt to manipulate the search engines is "duplicate content".

        What's the difference? An article is an article right?

        The difference is if Google thinks you are trying to manipulate them with your articles then they are going to adjust their rankings for your site.

        That's what they said. They also said that if they think you are trying to manipulate them that they might remove your site altogether and not be listed at all.

        You quoted them that they said "rare" but didn't they say they would do something negative to your site in that "rare" case?

        Yes they did. So, is there a "rare" chance that you could suffer negative consequences from "duplicate content".

        Yes.

        So now that we have established that there is in fact something called "duplicate content" and it is established fact that even though "rare" there are negative consequences from "duplicate content" is it now safe to say that when someone states that there is no such thing as a "duplicate content" negative consequence that they are wrong?
        Oh my god, are you serious? :confused:

        Rewriting an article for your site is manipulating search engines? Really?

        Oh my god. LOL!!!
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        • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
          Originally Posted by Taylor French View Post

          Oh my god, are you serious? :confused:

          Rewriting an article for your site is manipulating search engines? Really?

          Oh my god. LOL!!!
          Is that what I said? Hmmm...thought I said "in an attempt to manipulate.."

          Do you not see a difference between someone saying "rewriting an article for your site" and "rewriting an article in attempt to manipulate.."?

          It's up to Google to decide if they thought you were attempting to manipulate or not.

          It's like me having a shop and a sign that reads "reserve the right to refuse service".

          It's their search engine and if they think that you are manipulating them then they can refuse service.
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          • Profile picture of the author Taylor French
            Originally Posted by Matt Maiden View Post

            Is that what I said? Hmmm...thought I said "in an attempt to manipulate.."

            Do you not see a difference between someone saying "rewriting an article for your site" and "rewriting an article in attempt to manipulate.."?

            It's up to Google to decide if they thought you were attempting to manipulate or not.

            It's like me having a shop and a sign that reads "reserve the right to refuse service".

            It's their search engine and if they think that you are manipulating them then they can refuse service.
            Right, it is up to Google. And they have already said (via Matt Cutts) that there is no penalty. So why you keep arguing the point is way beyond my limited brain capacity, apparently.

            Google couldn't possibly tell whether someone had an intent to manipulate simply because they rewrote an article for their site. If it was rewritten properly they would never even find the two different versions. There would be no way for them to!

            Also, from this page:

            Duplicate content - Webmaster Tools Help

            "Duplicate content on a site is not grounds for action on that site unless it appears that the intent of the duplicate content is to be deceptive and manipulate search engine results.
            If your site suffers from duplicate content issues, and you don't follow the advice listed above, we do a good job of choosing a version of the content to show in our search results."

            Also, it even gives examples of things that are non-malicious, including showing different versions for mobile devices, printer friendly pages, storing items to be shown or linked via multiple distinct URLs.

            Also from that page:

            "However, in some cases, content is deliberately duplicated across domains in an attempt to manipulate search engine rankings or win more traffic."

            I may not be the brightest bulb in the bunch, but it sounds to me like they're talking about people who create multiple sites of their own across many domains in order to try to get more traffic for themselves using the same article.
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          • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
            Here is the truth of the matter!

            You decide...


            Just sayin...

            Or maybe just showin...would be better!:p

            MissTerraK
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            • Profile picture of the author Karen Blundell
              Originally Posted by MissTerraK View Post

              Here is the truth of the matter!

              You decide...

              YouTube- Broadcast Yourself.

              Just sayin...

              Or maybe just showin...would be better!:p

              MissTerraK
              yay! MissTerraK, you read my mind, I was just about to post this very video
              thank you!
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              • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
                Originally Posted by Karen Blundell View Post

                yay! MissTerraK, you read my mind, I was just about to post this very video
                thank you!
                Well, you know what they say Karen...

                Great minds think alike!

                We've found that out quite often lately, haven't we?

                Kewl!

                Terra
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                • Profile picture of the author Karen Blundell
                  Originally Posted by MissTerraK View Post

                  Well, you know what they say Karen...

                  Great minds think alike!

                  We've found that out quite often lately, haven't we?

                  Kewl!

                  Terra
                  yes, we have, indeed, Terra!

                  to the OP, I wouldn't put all your eggs in one basket when it comes to ranking. As much as Google is great and my search engine of choice, focus on getting ranked in all the search engines. Getting ranked in Yahoo or MSN is quite powerful too.

                  I would also find other ways to drive traffic to your site such as via social sites, Youtube, etc...I think you'll find that you'll slowly come back up in the rankings soon enough.
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  • Profile picture of the author Taylor French
    See my response here:

    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...know-sure.html

    Matt Cutts himself has stated there is no duplicate content penalty on multiple occasions, but that the appropriate version would be shown based on PageRank. This is the same thing that happens with any web page, duplicate or not.
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    • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
      Originally Posted by Taylor French View Post

      Matt Cutts himself has stated there is no duplicate content penalty
      So what do you think the Google Duplicate Content page is about?

      Not trying to be funny. I would seriously like to know what you think about the conflicting messages from them.

      On one hand you have Google telling webmasters this "Duplicate Content" information on their site and on the other hand you have a Google representative saying what he did on a Youtube video.

      If you see this as a contradiction then are you going with the Matt Cutts video over the Google Webmaster page?

      What should a newbie make of that? In your opinion?
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      • Profile picture of the author Taylor French
        Originally Posted by Matt Maiden View Post

        So what do you think the Google Duplicate Content page is about?

        Not trying to be funny. I would seriously like to know what you think about the conflicting messages from them.

        On one hand you have Google telling webmasters this "Duplicate Content" information on their site and on the other hand you have a Google representative saying what he did on a Youtube video.

        If you see this as a contradiction then are you going with the Matt Cutts video over the Google Webmaster page?

        What should a newbie make of that? In your opinion?
        Read that page carefully. They state very specifically that:

        "Duplicate content on a site is not grounds for action on that site unless it appears that the intent of the duplicate content is to be deceptive and manipulate search engine results. If your site suffers from duplicate content issues, and you don't follow the advice listed above, we do a good job of choosing a version of the content to show in our search results."

        Notice they say "if your site suffers from duplicate content issues" (issues, not a penalty) and you don't follow their advice (which wouldn't apply to syndicated content), they do a good job of choosing the appropriate version.

        A duplicate content "penalty" would imply your entire site would be penalized for having some duplicate content on it. In this case, the issues they are referring to obviously refer to not ranking for that particular article, but that could happen whether the article was duplicate content or not!
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
    Duplicate content on a site is not grounds for action on that site unless it appears that the intent of the duplicate content is to be deceptive and manipulate search engine results.
    This is the only point I have been trying to make all day.

    "unless" Unless usually implies that there is an alternative to. In this case the alternative to "not grounds for action". So what is the alternative to that?

    When someone tells you that there is no problem with duplicate content they are wrong to say that.

    I don't care if you think it is rare, or that you can't tell the difference between syndication and duplicate content. The point is that they Google right there above tell you that if the duplicate content appears to be used to manipulate then your site can be yanked.

    I didn't want to have a long discussion on this but every time I tried to get that point above across people kept arguing by giving examples of this and that.

    I don't care if your site has been fine or not.

    My point all along is that there is in fact a penalty one will pay if they use duplicate content in an attempt to manipulate.

    You don't want to use the word "penalty" fine don't use it. Matt Cutts does not want to use the word "penalty" ok.

    But do you think if you use duplicate content in a way to manipulate Google they are going to do something with your site that you will probably not like?

    If you can't see that by now then you guys can do it all day long and keep wasting time wondering why you are having problems.

    Screw it. I'm done.
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    • Profile picture of the author Taylor French
      Originally Posted by Matt Maiden View Post

      If you can't see that by now then you guys can do it all day long and keep wasting time wondering why you are having problems.

      Screw it. I'm done.
      I haven't had any problems with duplicate content, and I have literally dozens of sites. Most of my sites have at least a few articles on them that are duplicate content. Sometimes that content ranks, sometimes it doesn't. But I've never had a problem with the rest of my content ranking simply because I had a few duplicate articles on other pages!

      I'm not arguing based on hearsay or even based solely on Matt Cutts' information. I have experience with it, as do others who have posted in this thread.
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  • who says google has to be completely truthful? Might be an attempt to scare people. I doubt computers have the necessary human common sense to recognize who is manipulating the rankings and who isn't.

    And if it's true that doing it on several different blogs with the same content is worthy of penalization, then you have to feel for someone who writes a decent post, markets it through social media and then tons of hundreds and thousands of bloggers storm to post the exact same thing on their own blogs.

    You don't think google takes that into account? I think google knows more than anyone that content, be it the same can spread around quickly and that it isn't always able to be kept under control. If dup content was real, all these top bloggers sites would slowly go down in ranking no? Because I see tons of rookie bloggers copy their page word for word.

    Jay.
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    • Profile picture of the author gmiller
      I don't think it's duplicate content issue. It can be any other lesion for being banned bu Google. Google just gives penalty for duplicate content it can be in form of bad ranking or anything else.
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
    The video above was talking about the URL issue

    If your site contains multiple pages with largely identical content, there are a number of ways you can indicate your preferred URL to Google. (This is called "canonicalization")
    Jason, if you say that Google lies then why believe Matt Cutts?

    Taylor, so from your positive experience in using duplicate content are you willing to state right here for any newbies reading this that they should blow off that Google Duplicate Content page and not worry about it at all?

    Again for those people into the videos, how would you explain the seemingly contradiction between the two? What you view as a contradiction between the Google Webmaster page and the videos?

    Would be interested to see why you think one is right and the other is wrong.
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    • Profile picture of the author Taylor French
      Originally Posted by Matt Maiden View Post

      The video above was talking about the URL issue

      Jason, if you say that Google lies then why believe Matt Cutts?

      Taylor, so from your positive experience in using duplicate content are you willing to state right here for any newbies reading this that they should blow off that Google Duplicate Content page and not worry about it at all?

      Again for those people into the videos, how would you explain the seemingly contradiction between the two? What you view as a contradiction between the Google Webmaster page and the videos?

      Would be interested to see why you think one is right and the other is wrong.
      I thought you were done? :p

      But yes, I will absolutely state my own reputation on the fact that I 100% believe that there is no duplicate content penalty. My own extensive testing has given me a lot of confidence about it.

      An entire domain will not be penalized simply for having some duplicate content on it.

      Am I saying you can easily rank pages on a site that is 100% duplicate content? Absolutely not. As Matt Cutts says, the appropriate version would be chosen based on factors like PageRank.

      What I'm saying is that if you have a site with 10 duplicate content pages and 10 unique pages, those 10 unique pages would have just as much chance to rank as they would if the duplicate content did not exist on your server. Whether the 10 duplicate content pages ranked or not would depend on PageRank and such, just like any other page. Only with the unique content you have a better chance to rank because yours is the only version being looked at for that particular article.

      Obviously unique content is better, but having some duplicate content is not going to hurt your entire site unless you go doing stupid stuff like creating dozens of domains with the exact same content using the same affiliate links or AdSense code making it really easy to track it. But whitehat stuff is not an issue.
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      • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
        Originally Posted by Taylor French View Post

        Obviously unique content is better,
        Why would unique content be better? If I have a site about horse racing and I write ten unique articles and then decide that I want more pages on my site why can't I just take my ten original unique articles and duplicate them on my own site and now have 20 articles.

        Let's call it syndication. I have just syndicated my original articles on to my site.

        What do you think would happen in that case?
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        • Profile picture of the author Taylor French
          Originally Posted by Matt Maiden View Post

          Why would unique content be better? If I have a site about horse racing and I write ten unique articles and then decide that I want more pages on my site why can't I just take my ten original unique articles and duplicate them on my own site and now have 20 articles.

          Let's call it syndication. I have just syndicated my original articles on to my site.

          What do you think would happen in that case?
          I already said in the post you just quoted why unique content would be better.

          Read it again, please. :rolleyes:

          And we've already established that Google says having multiple versions of articles on your own site won't get you penalized. They just suggest you use certain tactics to help ensure the version you prefer to be listed is the one that is listed.
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
    How many people here that have read the Google Webmaster page that I linked to are ready to go on record and tell newbies that it is a bunch of BS?

    How many here after reading that page think that the videos and talks that Matt Cutts and other Google employees give are not exactly contradicting the Webmaster page?
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    • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
      Originally Posted by Matt Maiden View Post

      How many people here that have read the Google Webmaster page that I linked to are ready to go on record and tell newbies that it is a bunch of BS?

      How many here after reading that page think that the videos and talks that Matt Cutts and other Google employees give are not exactly contradicting the Webmaster page?
      How many here have actually read the replies and even read the OP .. The OP is talking about "SYNDICATING" his own articles on other sites. Which is what people like you call duplicate content.

      I see nothing in the OP about PLR or Amazon..

      You come storming in here trying to force your opinion off as facts because you have done this for 16 years. You claimed that OP and others such as myself was doing something to Manipulate the search engines.

      16 years I would think you would realize that syndicating content does not hurt you in any way.

      Posting to article sites, re-writing your content (or spinning if you prefer), posting summaries to you blog pointing to you main articles, and etc .. Is in no way being manipulative.

      Even when you are proven wrong you still continue but yet I still wait for PROOF from your 16 years that duplicate content penalty exist ...

      James
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      • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
        Originally Posted by TheRichJerksNet View Post

        You claimed that OP and others such as myself was doing something to Manipulate the search engines.
        Never did any such thing.

        I never claimed that anyone here manipulated anything.

        I made references to the Google Webmaster page that talked about duplicate content.

        You are the one that keeps calling duplicate content syndication.

        I talk about duplicate content and you use examples of article syndication as proof that there is no such thing as duplicate content.

        I direct your attention to a Google page where Google talks about duplicate content and your response is that you "could care less" about what Google says.
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      • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
        Originally Posted by TheRichJerksNet View Post

        yet I still wait for PROOF from your 16 years that duplicate content penalty exist ...

        James
        I just gave you proof from the horse's mouth. Google. Google states that if you use duplicate content in a manner in which they deem to be a form of manipulation they will make adjustments to the rank and could drop you off of their listings.

        Your response to that is that you don't care what they say, they are wrong and you have proof that they are wrong in how they deal within their own company based on your personal experiences.

        I have never been thrown out of a theater but that does not prove that it will never happen to anyone.

        I brought up my 16 years in response to your many years remark. You constantly talk about how long you have been doing this as though that gives authority. If that's what you view as authority then I have 16 years.
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      • Profile picture of the author Marhelper
        Originally Posted by TheRichJerksNet View Post

        How many here have actually read the replies and even read the OP .. The OP is talking about "SYNDICATING" his own articles on other sites. Which is what people like you call duplicate content.

        I see nothing in the OP about PLR or Amazon..

        You come storming in here trying to force your opinion off as ...
        James, I asked the Amazon question. I simply was asking you a question ... no "storming" going on. I was just wanting to see what you thought about this ... will not bother you again.
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  • Profile picture of the author Erica Leggette
    Ok. I have read the info on dup content over at Google and this is what I understand. And it goes hand and hand with what others have been saying.

    Google says:

    Once I submit content to my site, I should not submit that same content all over that domain or create a bunch of domains just to paste that same content on just to gain top rankings. Instead of doing that, I should syndicate my original content by posting it on other quality sites besides mine.

    They also made sure to give me the heads up that while syndicating, I need to be sure to link my syndicated content back to my original because the site they may feel will give a better user experience may not be the one I would prefer so I need to make sure to link back to my original content.

    That's it.
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  • Profile picture of the author cashcow
    Matt - So are you saying that the OP should not submit the same article to multiple article directories or that his drop in rankings is because he (or she) submitted the same article to multiple dirs?

    Lee
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    • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
      Originally Posted by cashcow View Post

      Matt - So are you saying that the OP should not submit the same article to multiple article directories or that his drop in rankings is because he (or she) submitted the same article to multiple dirs?

      Lee
      No. Not saying that at all.

      I was responding to James when he came in here and stated with complete confidence that duplicate content had nothing to do with it when in fact he does not know that.

      He also tries to convince people that there is no such thing as duplicate content. As you see.

      I was trying to let the OP know not to take what James says about duplicate content to heart.

      The OP could have had this as a result of duplicate content or not but I don't know. Nor does James.

      I do know that it is irresponsible to continue to tell people that something does not exist when it does.

      It is irresponsible to tell someone that duplicate content won't have any negative consequences when Google tells you otherwise.
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  • Profile picture of the author cashcow
    So, you and James actually agree then.

    And the strange thing is that what you are saying could almost be taken by a newbie to mean that you should never duplicate any content ever. That you should not submit the same articles to different directories or have them on your site etc...

    I don't think that's not what you are meaning to say, but it could be read that way by some.

    By the same token, I don't think that James has ever advocated making the kind of duplicate content that might be seen as manipulative by Google and therefore get you de-indexed. He's just simply saying that if you submit the same article to a bunch of directories then you won't get a penalty.

    I think you guys are just coming from different ends of the question.

    Lee
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    • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
      Originally Posted by cashcow View Post

      I think you guys are just coming from different ends of the question.

      Lee
      I never said that article syndication will get you in any trouble at all.

      The problem in this discussion is that too many people confuse article syndication with duplicate content.

      Article syndication is fine.

      Duplicate content is generally fine as Google stated, But Google also stated that some duplicate content could result in having a site removed from their rankings.

      So, if there is a slight chance that duplicate content can result in having a site removed by Google, then is it wrong to tell people that they should not worry about duplicate content?

      It does not matter if we all have different ideas about exactly what it would take for that to happen. The point is, it could happen.

      If it can happen, why tell people it won't?

      Do you personally think that we should not worry about duplicate content?
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  • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
    16 years and the only thing ever mentioned is google .. Amazing...

    Gee I wonder why bing, msn, aol, ask, yahoo, excite, hotbot, altavista, and the other thousands of search engines are even in business...

    James

    P.S. Seriously I am out of this thread, the lame advice and misreading of information is way too much for me...

    A final warning as I always tell people - TEST THINGS FOR YOURSELF!!
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    • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
      Originally Posted by TheRichJerksNet View Post

      16 years and the only thing ever mentioned is google .. Amazing...
      The reason we are talking about Google is because they have an entire page devoted to the subject of duplicate content.

      If Bing and Webcrawler and every other search engine out there had a page about how they deal with duplicate content then I would cite those pages too.

      Why do you insist on personal attacks like that above?

      I could make the same remark about you too.

      "All those years on the web and all the guy talks about is how duplicate content is a myth...what a joke".

      "He talks about it so much he is becoming known around the forum as the Anti-Duplicate content dude".

      I could have said those things about you but I didn't.
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  • Profile picture of the author petelta
    I love how when I see a thread topic with the words "duplicate content" in it, I always see TheRichJerksNet with the last post.

    James, it's looking like no matter how much effort you put into teaching duplicate content is a myth, it's going to be brought up each day lol.
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  • Profile picture of the author cashcow
    Do you personally think that we should not worry about duplicate content?
    Other than the case of making massive link farms with the same articles, no I do not think it is anything to worry about.

    Most newbies are not to the massive link farm level, most of the people who ask about dupe content here are simply afraid that putting the same article on their website and then submitting it to a dozen article directories is going to make them suffer the wrath of google.

    So, bearing that in mind, is it better to answer that the dupe content won't hurt you or to say that it "might" hurt you?

    Lee
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    • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
      Originally Posted by cashcow View Post

      So, bearing that in mind, is it better to answer that the dupe content won't hurt you or to say that it "might" hurt you?

      Lee
      So how would you answer that then?

      A newbie says "I am worried about duplicate content". What do you tell them?

      Do you ask them if they are talking about submitting articles to several directories?

      And then explain the difference between article syndication and duplicate content?

      Or just say "don't worry about it". "There is no such thing as duplicate content". "Duplicate content is a myth".
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  • Matt, I said they don't have to be truthful, didn't say that they'd definitely did tell lies.

    If google wants to keep itself from being figured out, they can't lay it all out there.. And who's ever going to know apart from the people at google themselves if what is being told is slightly misguiding or only 1% of the puzzle.

    Here's my own experience, when I started, I heard that backlink building was the be-all and end-all of strategies to rank your site. I also heard the best way was through articles. What did I do? Created an Article and bought an automated software submitting to hundreds of Site, I then added it to blogspot, wordpress, vox, zango, livejourny and 15 other blogging platforms. I then bookmarked it, using the exact same name across each bookmarking service and never got de-indexed, infact I achieved 3rd page for that keyword, even though at the time I didn't know that the keyword was infact stupidly hard to rank for anyway.

    What I did spot? Out of the few bookmark services I submitted to, and article directories, only 1-4 of each actually listed in google. Which one listed above all? My site, because all links went straight to that site.

    What I could of been spotted for? Unnatural and inconsistent link building.

    Jay.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jeremy Kelsall
      I don't think that you guys are all talking about the same kind of duplicate content - nor are you talking about the same kind of penalties...

      In some sense there IS A PENALTY for duplicate content.

      Say you syndicate your article to 200 different sites, right? Some of them are going to be in the main index - usually a couple instances - Some are going to be in supplemental listings, and many of them will get indexed and then will disappear, never to be reindexed.

      Isn't that a penalty?

      Google algorithm determines which instances of the content will remain indexed and which ones won't - In most cases, the decision is based on the domains that the content is distributed to.

      I think that is the penalty that Matt is talking about and what the quotes that he was referencing were talking about.
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      • Profile picture of the author greff
        Originally Posted by Jeremy Kelsall View Post

        I don't think that you guys are all talking about the same kind of duplicate content - nor are you talking about the same kind of penalties...

        In some sense there IS A PENALTY for duplicate content.

        Say you syndicate your article to 200 different sites, right? Some of them are going to be in the main index - usually a couple instances - Some are going to be in supplemental listings, and many of them will get indexed and then will disappear, never to be reindexed.

        Isn't that a penalty?

        Google algorithm determines which instances of the content will remain indexed and which ones won't - In most cases, the decision is based on the domains that the content is distributed to.

        I think that is the penalty that Matt is talking about and what the quotes that he was referencing were talking about.
        Folks, learn to trust Jeremy. I know he has a ton of experience with this stuff. I do too, just not as visible and maybe not as knowledgable either. But in this foggy world it is sometimes hard to pick out the people with real in the trenches experience vs the people who are "book learned" as it were. You know what I mean.
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  • But you do have control over which sites do ultimately get indexed as explained in the video : ) Which is the aim anyway, and the links to that 'page' you want to get indexed help in doing that.

    I wouldn't call it being penalized, but rather common sense. Who wants to search terms and find the same thing over and over, if google didn't do something I'm sure people would get fed up. It's just not good service.

    Jay.
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  • Profile picture of the author cashcow
    So how would you answer that then?

    A newbie says "I am worried about duplicate content". What do you tell them?

    Do you ask them if they are talking about submitting articles to several directories?

    And then explain the difference between article syndication and duplicate content?

    Or just say "don't worry about it". "There is no such thing as duplicate content". "Duplicate content is a myth".
    I would answer it in the context that the OP was made.

    So if the OP said "Hey, if I make 200 blogs and put the same exact articles on them and link them all back to my site, will there be any issues".

    Then, I'd probably say that he might run into trouble.

    But if the OP said "I submitted the same article to 20 different directories - is that why I got de-indexed"

    Then I would probably say "don't worry about dupe content there, it's not why you got deindexed"

    That's just what I would do - I'm not saying that it's the right thing or the wrong thing to do.

    Lee
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
    cashcow, yes of course but to the question of duplicate content being a myth how would you respond?

    A newbie comes in here and is asking you personally (or anyone else here that wants to answer this)

    "Hey, should I worry about duplicate content"?

    Basically I'm asking if you would try to find out if they were talking about Article Syndication.

    Or would you just immediately state that "duplicate content is a myth" and not even worry about it?
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  • Profile picture of the author cashcow
    Well, usually they don't just come in and post a one liner question like that but quite honestly, I would probably say that they should not worry about duplicate content.

    That's because after seeing about a bazillion newbie questions on dupe content, they are always asking it because they are worried about putting the same article on their site that they submit to article directories.

    I actually never really thought to try to get them to understand the difference between article syndication and duplicate content. But most of the questions have a specific scenario (like this one) so it seems reasonable to answer that way.

    Lee
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
    I would like to ask you guys about this again.

    In the rare cases in which Google perceives that duplicate content may be shown with intent to manipulate our rankings and deceive our users, we'll also make appropriate adjustments in the indexing and ranking of the sites involved. As a result, the ranking of the site may suffer, or the site might be removed entirely from the Google index, in which case it will no longer appear in search results.
    So what would be an example of duplicate content being used to manipulate the rankings?

    Think about it. If it's not articles then what is it?

    Here they define it

    Duplicate content generally refers to substantive blocks of content within or across domains that either completely match other content or are appreciably similar.
    What would that be? What are "substantive blocks of content".

    This content does not only have to "completey match" but it can be "appreciably similar".

    What could I do that is "appreciably similar" and that can be used "across domains" that can get my site removed and is not an article?

    p.s. I'm only trying hard on this subject because I wanted to go out with a feeling that I helped teach something to someone here. Not anyone here in particular but rather any newbie reading this thread.

    I'm retiring after this thread. Riding off into the sunset. Probably my last posts here in the forum
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    • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
      Originally Posted by Matt Maiden View Post

      So what would be an example of duplicate content being used to manipulate the rankings?
      On the same domain reusing the same article with different keywords in the subdomain or folder, title and/or header tags and maybe the lead in sentence. There were some popular site generation scripts a while ago that did this where you could create a 100,000 page site in minutes. There still are but they do spinning and scraping to lengthen the time it takes for Google to slap site and maybe even the script across the board.
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
    Actually I want to go catch some of the Superbowl.

    So adios all and enjoy this place.

    Will see ya out in the "real world".

    Matt
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  • Profile picture of the author cashcow
    So what would be an example of duplicate content being used to manipulate the rankings?

    Think about it. If it's not articles then what is it?
    Pages of scraped search engine results.

    You remember all those programs about 4 or 5 years ago that build huge sites using this method? You would enter a bunch of keywords and the program would scrape the SE's and then build a page for each keword. They did quite well for a while .... until Google caught on.

    Every time I see those quotes from google like "that duplicate content may be shown with intent to manipulate our rankings and deceive our users" and "Duplicate content generally refers to substantive blocks of content within or across domains that either completely match other content or are appreciably similar. " I always think that it is those types of scrape sites is what caused google to say this.
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  • alltop.com shares everyone elses content, and its in the top 2,500 sites in alexa
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    • Profile picture of the author Jeremy Kelsall
      Originally Posted by Jason Perez O'Connor View Post

      alltop.com shares everyone elses content, and its in the top 2,500 sites in alexa
      Auto-blogs share everyone elses content and they regularly get de-indexed

      So, why does a site like alltop stay indexed and an auto-blog get deindexed?

      ^^^serious question
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      • Profile picture of the author Taylor French
        Originally Posted by Jeremy Kelsall View Post

        Auto-blogs share everyone elses content and they regularly get de-indexed

        So, why does a site like alltop stay indexed and an auto-blog get deindexed?

        ^^^serious question
        Because auto-blogs don't usually get a lot of very high-quality backlinks, and they don't usually have a lot of authority. Google isn't going to deindex a site that is obviously popular (as proven theoretically by the number of sites linking to it).

        If an auto-blog ends up with more links that are high-quality than a site like alltop, it will not be deindexed and it will probably rank just fine.
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        • Profile picture of the author Jeremy Kelsall
          Originally Posted by Taylor French View Post

          Because auto-blogs don't usually get a lot of very high-quality backlinks, and they don't usually have a lot of authority. Google isn't going to deindex a site that is obviously popular (as proven theoretically by the number of sites linking to it).
          Fair enough - BUT there are plenty of auto-blogs that actually do a solid job of promotion - high quality backlinks etc that still get deindixed...

          Originally Posted by Taylor French View Post

          If an auto-blog ends up with more links that are high-quality than a site like alltop, it will not be deindexed and it will probably rank just fine.
          It doesn't have anything to do with backlinks. Can I prove that? No, but from what I've seen and experienced, it has nothing at all to do with backlinks.

          Originally Posted by Jason Perez O'Connor

          I don't know much about auto blogs, but if its what I think it is then, too right they should be de-indexed.
          Why? Most of them keep the authors links intact etc...All they are doing is publishing dupe content in the hopes that their site will rank.

          Originally Posted by Jason Perez O'Connor

          Alltop centralizes all these posts and so it's easier to find in one place... far more useful and that's why people link to it. Do not compare alltop to a sh*tty auto blog made by a low-tier marketer.
          So now you are saying that anyone that has a plugin like WP-Omatic is a low-tier marketer?

          To me the quotes that Matt was posting are relevant to the question I was asking...

          From what I could see, alltop just links to stories on other sites - the actual stories are not on alltop...I didn't dig around long, so I could be wrong. So in reality, they really are not publishing dupe content...

          But, there are plenty of sites that do and enjoy good rankings and a ton of traffic. The reason they are allowed to stay indexed though is because Google has determined that the sites are there to be somehow beneficial to people that might stumble upon it.

          GOOGLE MADE THE DETERMINATION

          If they thought it wasn't beneficial or that surfers would have a bad experience, they run the risk of being deindexed...just as many of the autoblogs are.

          So, depending on how Google views your content and your intentions...technically, there is a chance of a penalty.
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          • Profile picture of the author Taylor French
            Originally Posted by Jeremy Kelsall View Post

            Fair enough - BUT there are plenty of auto-blogs that actually do a solid job of promotion - high quality backlinks etc that still get deindixed...
            Maybe so, but is it enough to compete with sites like alltop? Maybe, maybe not. Not usually!

            Sites that have tremendous authority probably get a lot of links from news sites, extremely high-profile blogs, etc. They probably don't get the majority of their links from blog commenting, Squidoo, article marketing, and other common tactics auto-bloggers might use, but from natural sources that auto-blogs generally couldn't even dream of getting links from.

            Plus, some auto-blogs may be deindexed manually after being flagged for whatever reason. Who knows, Google might have some sort of mechanism that detects auto-blogs and flags them for human review. May they don't all get detected, and maybe Google doesn't get around to checking all of those that are flagged. It's all speculation, of course. But there could be any number of reasons why auto-blogs would get deindexed, and it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with some automatic penalty the algorithm dishes out simply for having duplicate content.
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      • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
        Originally Posted by Jeremy Kelsall View Post

        So, why does a site like alltop stay indexed and an auto-blog get deindexed?
        AllTop is owned, at least in part, by Guy Kawasaki.

        Basically, Google says that if you're a major player on the Internet and/or have significant Silicon Valley venture capital backing you then you can have a scrapper site or a thin affiliate site, no problem. Why? Because if you have that kind of influence and you're deindexed you'll have your favorite Congressperson on the phone and Google will have the Department of Justice giving them yet another anal exam.

        But, if you're Joe Nobody from Bumbletush, IN and try to run an autoblog or a thin affiliate site using a well known autogen site script, well, you're out of luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author jennypitts
    Originally Posted by monitorit View Post

    I have 3 sites that I set-up just before the new year. I have let them get indexed by themselves and then waited a few weeks before i decided to build some links using 8 article sites. I have submitted my 1st article to ezine and when it got accepted I submitted the same one to 7 other sites and since then im de-indexed??? Is duplicate content the problem?
    The problem is not really that you will be sandbox. It's that you are not doing much by submitting the same articles. What helps with your SERPs is submitting different quality content to different good PR sites and directories with your backlinks. By are wasting time by just submitting the same articles over and over again.
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  • I don't know much about auto blogs, but if its what I think it is then, too right they should be de-indexed.

    Auto blogs are just blogs that rip off other peoples contents which you then try to monetize right?

    Alltop centralizes all these posts and so it's easier to find in one place... far more useful and that's why people link to it. Do not compare alltop to a sh*tty auto blog made by a low-tier marketer. \

    Jay.
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  • Profile picture of the author greff
    I think James is correct. No duplicate content PENALTY.

    As I understand it after listening to Matt Cutts and other research, Google just will not give you CREDIT for it. In other words, that page will be buried on page 986 or so or maybe not indexed at all. I guess you could call that a "penalty" but so what? Drip some more good stuff into your website. Nothing good happens fast.

    Have patience!
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  • Profile picture of the author rayx
    why worry about the little things, duplicate content is only a concern when you build trashy sites with the exact same content on more than 1 page under the same domain... yet they just don't count the page
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  • Profile picture of the author Mohammad Afaq
    Duplicate content penalty is a myth. Here is a link to an official video by Google I posted on my blog that explains how duplicate content penalty doesn't exist.

    Here you go: Afaq's Traffic Blog: There is no such thing as Duplicate Content Penalty
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  • Profile picture of the author monitorit
    I thought i was confused when i asked this question!!!!!
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  • Profile picture of the author cashcow
    I thought i was confused when i asked this question!!!!!
    LOL!!!

    But I think from the answers most everyone agrees that you didn't cause the problem by submitting (syndicating) the article to a bunch of article directories.
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  • Profile picture of the author monitorit
    I did get to that conclusion lol. Do you have any other backlinks ideas?
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  • Profile picture of the author cashcow
    I'm pretty big on article marketing but you can also put your articles on things like squidoo lenses, hubpages, webbly, wetpaint etc....

    Also, you might want to try making some videos and submitting them to youtube.
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