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Stolen content is outranking me, maybe it's okay?

by bleu
17 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I created some free downloadable content. My terms say that if you want to share it, link to it. Do not take it and host it on your own site and let people download it from you instead of from me.

Anyway, people are taking it and letting people download it from them anyway and several of them are outranking me in Google for the keywords that describe the content.

The thing is that the content is obviously from me, it has my name and url all over it.

So, do I let them keep the content because it's good advertising for me if people are downloading from them, or do I have it taken down so that I can hopefully show up in search?

(I made several of these, so some from my site show up and some from other sites also show up.)
#content #outranking #stolen
  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    Originally Posted by bleu View Post

    I created some free downloadable content. My terms say that if you want to share it, link to it. Do not take it and host it on your own site and let people download it from you instead of from me.

    Anyway, people are taking it and letting people download it from them anyway and several of them are outranking me in Google for the keywords that describe the content.

    The thing is that the content is obviously from me, it has my name and url all over it.

    So, do I let them keep the content because it's good advertising for me if people are downloading from them, or do I have it taken down so that I can hopefully show up in search?

    (I made several of these, so some from my site show up and some from other sites also show up.)



    This same thing happened to me a few years ago, I created downloadable content (zip files) and some yahoo started hot linking to my files on his own site.

    I went back and added internet shortcut links inside all my files, I still had control over the content/files the other guy was stealing. I was advertising my own site inside the files that he was promoting.

    If the other sites are giving you free advertising I'd leave it alone, easy traffic.
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    • Profile picture of the author Gambino
      Originally Posted by yukon View Post

      This same thing happened to me a few years ago, I created downloadable content (zip files) and some yahoo started hot linking to my files on his own site.

      I went back and added internet shortcut links inside all my files, I still had control over the content/files the other guy was stealing. I was advertising my own site inside the files that he was promoting.

      If the other sites are giving you free advertising I'd leave it alone, easy traffic.
      Agreed with Yukon. If the material was meant to bring in traffic and generate leads, and you're accomplishing that, I'd let other people promote the heck out of it.
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    • Profile picture of the author Gallag97
      Originally Posted by yukon View Post

      This same thing happened to me a few years ago, I created downloadable content (zip files) and some yahoo started hot linking to my files on his own site.

      I went back and added internet shortcut links inside all my files, I still had control over the content/files the other guy was stealing. I was advertising my own site inside the files that he was promoting.

      If the other sites are giving you free advertising I'd leave it alone, easy traffic.
      smart, very good business strategy
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  • Profile picture of the author dp40oz
    If the files are still promoting you than i'd say thats great free advertising!
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  • Profile picture of the author bleu
    lol thanks guys, my first instinct was to start sending dmcas but I guess sometimes it's good to be stolen, maybe I will make more of these...
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  • Profile picture of the author gingerninjas
    This sucks, but at the same time imitation is a sign of flattery... I posted a thread about a similar thing and I have come to the conclusion that the WWW is too huge for me and I will just roll with it.
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  • Profile picture of the author jaintechnosoft
    You can try securing your website and create copyrights for the file.
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    SEO Agency in Bangalore | SEO Experts in Hyderabad | Digital Marketing Consultant
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  • Profile picture of the author moss
    What's the purpose of the article? Sounds like you're getting free marketing done for you, if that is the case kick back and relax! Do you think you'd get more value by being the sole provider of that content? Or do you think you're getting more value by having a it work as a traffic router for you? If it's the former probably want to start looking at this Creating a Takedown case using DMCA.com - DMCA.com
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  • Profile picture of the author paulgl
    The majority of the world could care less about your DMCA. It does not apply to them.

    Good luck with it in the US.

    Google loves stolen stuff. Can you say, "wikileaks"?

    Makes no difference if they download it from your site or theirs.
    Why clog your resources?

    Stolen is probably not the correct word anyway. Unauthorized reuse would be more like it. Google is full of unauthorized reuse. It's what makes the internet beautiful.

    Paul
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    If you were disappointed in your results today, lower your standards tomorrow.

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  • Profile picture of the author Arjen231
    I would agree with the folks here. Sounds like you've got a nice promotion at no extra cost.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jay02
    If it does not affect your website's performance, then it's fine. But with Google's strict algorithm, you can no longer tell if this will be beneficial for you in the long run. Anyway, you can easily report plagiarized content to DMCA for take down. Good luck.
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    • Profile picture of the author Hunter MI
      I would monitor the traffic on you website closely to see if the next step you would like them to take after downloading this content is seeing a spike in traffic.

      If so, then they are helping you.
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  • Profile picture of the author kazimuhith
    If it is working, keep it on...
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  • Profile picture of the author Marcus W K Wong
    trick question: Was is stolen or were they merely "enhancing their services through syndication" ?

    Overall, it's great that your content is shared and at the least - you've done due diligence of back-linking in your content to ensure this is the case. Just be weary and keep an eye on them. The last thing you want is for this to go into negative light due to a 3rd party
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  • Profile picture of the author Ivanmediagroup
    Well, you are not profiting that much, but it is okay, like any other file, music, pistures etc that are being stolen and posted. So don't worry, as long as you are earning, relax!
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  • Profile picture of the author netbull
    You should absolutely stay away from copy paste or duplicate content it is one of the strong blackhat technique according search engines. If done and detected you will not only outranked by competitors but you may also be total de-indexed or removed from search engine results
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  • Profile picture of the author KylieSweet
    Let the stolen content move around the web and also let them link to you because its for your own benefit especially for the users and not for the stealer.
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