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Is Copyscape the final authority on ensuring original content?

by soma56
16 replies
I'm just curious if anyone knows for certain that copyscape is 100% in the respect that you can ensure any articles you receive are not duplicates on the web? Are there other sources or are they the final authority?
#authority #content #copyscape #ensuring #final #original
  • Profile picture of the author Nicola Lane
    Think about this for a moment - how could it possibly be 100%.

    How does it check content that you have to pay to view or become a member to view??

    How does it check content that was put up on the web 5 minutes ago?

    How does it check content that hasn't been indexed yet?

    That is just a few quick examples off the top of my head! No service will be able to guarantee 100%

    Hope that helps
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    I like to keep an open mind, but not so open that my brains fall out

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    • Profile picture of the author soma56
      Perhaps 100% was the wrong word. I guess what I'm asking is if copyscape returns a green light will Big G consider it as original content? And are the authority for comparing/discovering duplicate content on the web?
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  • Profile picture of the author Nicola Lane
    You are making the assumption that "Big G" cares about original content, and that if it does any other company would have access to the "Big G" database in order to verify this or not.

    But in essence - the only authority on anything to do with "Big G" is "Big G".

    If you are attempting to make sure that you don't suffer the "duplicate content penalty" then I suggest a little research on this enduring myth

    You can start here:

    Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Duplicate content and multiple site issues

    and a simple search will reveal lots of similar stuff.

    Hope that helps
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    I like to keep an open mind, but not so open that my brains fall out

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    • Profile picture of the author pacesetter007
      That link will be very helpful. There are too many 'opinions' here on this forum that you have to be careful about before you take them. Read through that article and see what google herself is saying.

      Originally Posted by Nicola Lane View Post

      You are making the assumption that "Big G" cares about original content, and that if it does any other company would have access to the "Big G" database in order to verify this or not.

      But in essence - the only authority on anything to do with "Big G" is "Big G".

      If you are attempting to make sure that you don't suffer the "duplicate content penalty" then I suggest a little research on this enduring myth

      You can start here:

      Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Duplicate content and multiple site issues

      and a simple search will reveal lots of similar stuff.

      Hope that helps
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      • Profile picture of the author Ken
        In my opinion. CopyScape is not a very reliable method to
        find duplicate copy. I used it for a couple of years before
        realizing Google is a far superior method of finding plagiarized work.

        Just put a portion of your work in Google between "quotes"
        and click search. It blows CopyScape out of the water.
        The same method should work in Yahoo or Bing.

        I still have $20 in searches paid for in CopyScape that will
        likely go unused.

        Ken
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        • Profile picture of the author soma56
          Originally Posted by Ken View Post

          In my opinion. CopyScape is not a very reliable method to
          find duplicate copy. I used it for a couple of years before
          realizing Google is a far superior method of finding plagiarized work.

          Just put a portion of your work in Google between "quotes"
          and click search. It blows CopyScape out of the water.
          The same method should work in Yahoo or Bing.

          I still have $20 in searches paid for in CopyScape that will
          likely go unused.

          Ken
          You know, I don't know why I didn't think of that before. I could create a tool that would randomly grab multiple instances of an article - perhaps 6 to 10 words (in order) - wrap them in quotes - and then scrub them against Google. If an exact match is returned then echo the results. Doing this anywhere from 12 to 20 times (depending on the article size) would be a great way to see if duplicate content is returned.

          Or, better yet, return any results that come back and check them personally to see if the content is original.

          I could code something out in php in a few hours that would do this.
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          • Profile picture of the author smartlazy
            Banned
            I use both Copyscape and the free ArticleChecker. The latter compares text with either Google or Yahoo.
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            • Profile picture of the author soma56
              Originally Posted by smartlazy View Post

              I use both Copyscape and the free ArticleChecker. The latter compares text with either Google or Yahoo.
              Right. Since my last post I've been checking some of my own original articles against Google. I can't believe how many f@#$kers have been using my articles!

              What happens in this case? I mean, articles I posted in ezine.com in 2009 are showing up in various blogs a month ago. How does Google treat these pages and what does this mean for my article page?
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              • Profile picture of the author deenydasso
                Google probably retain historical data Copyscape not, then Google to give priority to this site containing the text that was first considered.
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              • Profile picture of the author good2go4
                Originally Posted by soma56 View Post

                Right. Since my last post I've been checking some of my own original articles against Google. I can't believe how many f@# have been using my articles!

                What happens in this case? I mean, articles I posted in ezine.com in 2009 are showing up in various blogs a month ago. How does Google treat these pages and what does this mean for my article page?

                People are supposed to use your articles on EZA - its called syndication and as long as your link is on those sites too then that is fine. Duplicate content (in Google) refers to pages on your own site, not syndicated articles so your EZA articles will actually be getting more views from the fact that they are being picked up by other people - shows you must be a good writer

                Lisa
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  • Profile picture of the author Bruce Wedding
    Originally Posted by Matt Jutras View Post

    I don't know...but I don't see how this is related to copywriting.

    You may get a better answer in the general section.
    Jeez Matt. It has the word copy in the domain name. Get with the program.

    If people would quit spinning garbage, we wouldn't even need places like copyscape. Is the concept of adding value to the world so foreign?
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  • Profile picture of the author soma56
    Well said. I'm exploring content delivery/writing services. I don't think there's anyway to ensure that they are completely original (regardless of the provider) However, based on the link you sent, I think copyscape is a pretty good place to check them against. I thought perhaps, there was another place, place 'x' - which might offer up a second opinion.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nicola Lane
    If your concern is plagarism - then a good place to start is here:

    Plagiarism detection - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    or simply type "Plagiarism detection" into google - and look through some of the 356,000 results
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    I like to keep an open mind, but not so open that my brains fall out

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  • Profile picture of the author webapex
    soma56 didn't ask about duplicate content penalties, might be more concerned about plagiarism, instead of worry about penalties, some prefer to see the issue as unique content rewards.

    Google presumably keeps chronological data that copyscape doesn't have, allowing google to give preference to that site containing the text that was first crawled.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      some prefer to see the issue as unique content rewards.
      I see it as same old issue - different day.

      As for the OP's question. Anyone working online for a year should realize there are very few final authority answers when it comes to google.
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  • Profile picture of the author kindsvater
    Big G is the final authority on what Big G considers original content. If they wanted to use CopyScape they would buy it.
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