duplicate content on blog

by 19 replies
22
Hi,

I used a fiverr service to create articles, the articles which I used on the blog turned out to be duplicate content. But not in the traditional sense, the seller copied articles then put it through some software which gives some of the characters random values thus making it unrecognisable to google and spell checker. It's a bit confusing and I'm not entirely sure how it works, I have attached the document she sent.

Attachment 20272

After manually writing out a few paragraphs I discovered it was duplicate content.

So beware if you outsource articles and they come back with red squiggly lines under!

Either way, I had added this content to my new blog. I had also created a few high PR backlinks. And it was ranking for some keywords, after I discovered it was duplicate content I removed it and left the website with a few videos and pictures. Since removing the content it's rankings have decreased a little.

I have written some unique content myself, my question is should I start again with a new domain or should I still use this domain name?

Thanks,

Will
#main internet marketing discussion forum #blog #content #duplicate
  • Not sure why the link isn't working but I have attached a screenshot:
    • [1] reply
    • Banned
      This looks like its been done using a HTML character spinner. You can use the content - yes that's not a typo - you can use the content and Google won't penalize you. The only issue is it won't help at all in ranking.

      This could have ranked too if the content was spun just around stopwords and not the entire text. So, don't throw away your domain - Google won't penalize you.
  • Why would you need to start over with a new domain?

    Also, I'd stay clear of Fiverr for important things like article writing. But I think you found that out the hard way
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • I learned my lesson

      Because I'm worried Google may think my site is bad now as it had duplicate content on, which was then removed, then I changed privacy settings so google can't see it.
  • Get rid of the questionable material from your "friend" at FIVERR and put your own custom and unique content on your site. For all you know, this unscrupulous seller at FIVERR scraped your content and illegally copied it directly from a copyrighted site. I wouldn't take a chance on it.

    The shortcut to unique content is to write it yourself or hire it out to an honest credible person. Spinning articles, using software to disguise duplicate content and all the other tricks of the lazy are not what your customers want to see on your site.

    Steve
    • [1] reply
    • Thanks Steve,

      Don't worry I'm not using it, I just want to know if Google will penalize me? Is it worth just spending £2.99 on a new domain name?
      • [1] reply
  • No, Google will not penalize you.

    Duplicate content across different domains may be viewed as 'low quality' but it isn't the kind of duplicate content that would cause a penalty on the sites that publish it.

    And even if that article url was 'punished' that wouldn't affect the whole domain unless the entire site was spammy.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • This article actually spun by the article spinner software.
  • Thanks guys, I will keep the domain name.
  • Make sure you leave a negative rating at the Fiverr gig so all other people are warned!
    • [1] reply
    • As the other guys have been saying, Google wouldn't penalise you for the duplicate content, after all, sometime you might with permission think it appropriate to republish am article that you found interesting on the web because you think it may interest your readers. If you are doing this responsibly then you would, as I say, ask for permission, and offer due accreditation.
  • It's odd how Fiverr is allowing crooks to sell services on their site. In this situation, the seller was so clearly scamming as they used copied content that was spun or disguised in such a way as it would not be detectable as copied. So, you paid for an original article and got a copy of something from another person's site. Possibly, file a complaint with Fiverr and maybe the seller will get banned.

    As for starting over, just stay with your current site and domain and add more quality content of your own and you should be just fine.
  • Thanks,

    I have filed a complaint, I even went as far as messaging other people which also ordered the gig, found the original source of their article and got them to complain!
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • How do I 'thank' people on here?
    • [1] reply
    • Duplicate content issues aside, removing that particular bit of content probably helped your site anyway. Even if it was readable, rather than keyword gibberish, having those ascii codes to disguise the content is probably a bigger red flag than having the text appear on another website.

      Whether it was stolen and spun, original or merely unique, it was still a crappy article that a human reader would judge very harshly.

      Don't bother with a new domain. That "content", like its physical doppelganger, will soon be flushed from the system.
  • Thanks guys, I'm back on the first page of Google!
  • My advice is to keep using the domain as long as you will develop original content yourself and keep in mind that when you develop the content yourself then you gain a great reputation in your niche and that is why it has been said "Content is King"
  • Hi - that's nasty. I typically try not to outsource to Fiverr. Stick with quality writers - that's the way to do it.
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    duplicate content on blog

    Hi, I used a fiverr service to create articles, the articles which I used on the blog turned out to be duplicate content. But not in the traditional sense, the seller copied articles then put it through some software which gives some of the characters random values thus making it unrecognisable to google and spell checker. It's a bit confusing and I'm not entirely sure how it works, I have attached the document she sent.