Google is going after Content farms, is your blog one of them!??

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Hey everyone,

I just read this post on Techcrunch (awesome blog) and they reported a few words on what Matt Cutts had to say about web spam and content farms.

Those of you who run auto blogs might want to rethink your strategy.

Google: Spam Really Has Increased Lately. We’re Fixing That, And Content Farms Are Next

& here

Official Google Blog: Google search and search engine spam

What do you think?

Jerry
#blog #content #farms #google
  • Profile picture of the author Tyrus Antas
    And we’re evaluating multiple changes that should help drive spam levels even lower, including one change that primarily affects sites that copy others’ content and sites with low levels of original content
    LOL. When will people learn their lesson?
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    • Profile picture of the author Black Hat Cat
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Tyrus Antas View Post

      LOL. When will people learn their lesson?
      What lesson would that be, don't make easy money while the opportunity is there?
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    • Profile picture of the author JT
      Originally Posted by Tyrus Antas View Post

      And we’re evaluating multiple changes that should help drive spam levels even lower, including one change that primarily affects sites that copy others’ content and sites with low levels of original content LOL. When will people learn their lesson?
      Okay, I'm relatively new at blogging. I don't know if this is going to affect me or not. I started a political review / debate / discussion blog about six months ago. Most of the post content is directly 'cut and paste' from other blogs and articles on the web. The intent is for readers to review, comment, and debate on the subject matter of the article posted [relying upon the "fair use" provisions of US copyright laws]. I do write some posts myself, and have other authors on the blog as well. So far though, most of the posts are not "original content" per se.

      I'm hoping that eventually the comment threads will dominate the site. In fact, that's the main idea. It's a blog that works like a forum. Ultimately -in concept- the bulk of "original content" will be contained in the comment threads.

      So, how does this scenario fit within the overall millieu? Am I going to be "Google slapped" because they don't make distinctions between "autoblogs" and review and debate sites like mine?

      Some guidance from you experienced warriors out there would be greatly appreciated!

      Thank you,
      John Turner,
      Shippensburg, PA
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      • Profile picture of the author sam12six
        Originally Posted by JT View Post

        Okay, I'm relatively new at blogging. I don't know if this is going to affect me or not. I started a political review / debate / discussion blog about six months ago. Most of the post content is directly 'cut and paste' from other blogs and articles on the web. The intent is for readers to review, comment, and debate on the subject matter of the article posted [relying upon the "fair use" provisions of US copyright laws]. I do write some posts myself, and have other authors on the blog as well. So far though, most of the posts are not "original content" per se.

        I'm hoping that eventually the comment threads will dominate the site. In fact, that's the main idea. It's a blog that works like a forum. Ultimately -in concept- the bulk of "original content" will be contained in the comment threads.

        So, how does this scenario fit within the overall millieu? Am I going to be "Google slapped" because they don't make distinctions between "autoblogs" and review and debate sites like mine?

        Some guidance from you experienced warriors out there would be greatly appreciated!

        Thank you,
        John Turner,
        Shippensburg, PA
        The truth is nobody can predict whether your site will be slapped.

        The thing that amuses me whenever these "only use quality original content" threads pop up is that almost everyone forgets that what constitutes quality content is a purely subjective thing.

        Back when I used to write articles for other people, there were a couple of occasions where I (by mistake) sent out a rough draft (meaning no research and just a concept-on-paper really) full of typos, duplicate duplicate words, etc. Y'know what the response was? "Awesome!! Thank you so much! You're a wonderful writer!"

        Now on one occasion, I sent a bundle of articles to a customer after spending time and sweat going over them with a fine tooth comb to make sure there were no mechanical mistakes. Y'know what the response was in that instance? " OMG that's disgusting!! Who would read this drivel!?! I'm not paying for such low quality work!!" It is possible (I suppose) that I misunderstood this guy's request for well-researched articles and what he actually wanted were very technical, specific explorations on how to get Colin Powell clean (I don't think so though as Elance paid me upon seeing the request and the resulting articles).

        The point of all this is that it's human nature to think we're doing things the right way and "Those other guys" are doing things in a sleazy, unethical manner. I'd bet right now, somewhere in the world, 2 pedophiles are sitting side-by-side on barstools bemoaning the fact that all the perverts out there are ruining things for those who have wholesome sexual relationships with 5 year olds.

        The fact of the matter is anyone who has ever built a backlink (this means bookmarked something, submitted an article with a link, added a link to their forum signature, whatever) to improve page rank is gaming Google's system. Google's job is to assure advertisers that they are continually striving to keep their ads to relevant, quality sites. Their second priority is to hang onto and improve their share of search engine users. They don't give a damn about quality unless it affects those 2 things. If a page is full of Shakespeare and lots of their advertisers complain about it, they'll slap that page. If a page is full of klingon and advertisers and searchers are happy with it, the powers-that-be at google would be fine with that.

        Until a search engine comes along that can interface directly with the human mind and send someone to exactly the content they were seeking, there will be software algorithms that decide what people see when they search. As long as this is the case, those of us who want people to find our web sites listed on search engines will game the system to some extent. As long as we are gaming the system, there are going to be those at the cutting edge who have figured something out (resulting in inexplicably highly ranked sites). None of this is (or should be) news. It's just the way the online world works.
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        • Profile picture of the author JT
          Originally Posted by sam12six View Post

          The truth is nobody can predict whether your site will be slapped.

          The thing that amuses me whenever these "only use quality original content" threads pop up is that almost everyone forgets that what constitutes quality content is a purely subjective thing.

          Back when I used to write articles for other people, there were a couple of occasions where I (by mistake) sent out a rough draft (meaning no research and just a concept-on-paper really) full of typos, duplicate duplicate words, etc. Y'know what the response was? "Awesome!! Thank you so much! You're a wonderful writer!"

          Now on one occasion, I sent a bundle of articles to a customer after spending time and sweat going over them with a fine tooth comb to make sure there were no mechanical mistakes. Y'know what the response was in that instance? " OMG that's disgusting!! Who would read this drivel!?! I'm not paying for such low quality work!!" It is possible (I suppose) that I misunderstood this guy's request for well-researched articles and what he actually wanted were very technical, specific explorations on how to get Colin Powell clean (I don't think so though as Elance paid me upon seeing the request and the resulting articles).

          The point of all this is that it's human nature to think we're doing things the right way and "Those other guys" are doing things in a sleazy, unethical manner. I'd bet right now, somewhere in the world, 2 pedophiles are sitting side-by-side on barstools bemoaning the fact that all the perverts out there are ruining things for those who have wholesome sexual relationships with 5 year olds.

          The fact of the matter is anyone who has ever built a backlink (this means bookmarked something, submitted an article with a link, added a link to their forum signature, whatever) to improve page rank is gaming Google's system. Google's job is to assure advertisers that they are continually striving to keep their ads to relevant, quality sites. Their second priority is to hang onto and improve their share of search engine users. They don't give a damn about quality unless it affects those 2 things. If a page is full of Shakespeare and lots of their advertisers complain about it, they'll slap that page. If a page is full of klingon and advertisers and searchers are happy with it, the powers-that-be at google would be fine with that.

          Until a search engine comes along that can interface directly with the human mind and send someone to exactly the content they were seeking, there will be software algorithms that decide what people see when they search. As long as this is the case, those of us who want people to find our web sites listed on search engines will game the system to some extent. As long as we are gaming the system, there are going to be those at the cutting edge who have figured something out (resulting in inexplicably highly ranked sites). None of this is (or should be) news. It's just the way the online world works.
          Thank you for your perspective. It seems I stand as good [or bad] a chance as anyone. Props!
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    • Profile picture of the author jrod014
      Originally Posted by finleyjohn90 View Post

      Google makes every thing prohibited which is automatically working. they want only manual work.
      In this case manual work is better than automated.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mohammad Afaq
    No surprise, it was gonna happen sooner or later.

    I don't have time to read the article right now so i can't tell how hard google is coming down on this but i am pretty sure autoblogs won't be big by the end of 2011.
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    • Profile picture of the author jrod014
      Originally Posted by Mohammad Afaq View Post

      No surprise, it was gonna happen sooner or later.

      I don't have time to read the article right now so i can't tell how hard google is coming down on this but i am pretty sure autoblogs won't be big by then end of 2011.

      I think so too! It will be a death to the auto blog.
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      • Profile picture of the author kasimarie
        I think we'll see quite a few changes this year...
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  • Profile picture of the author Zeus66
    About freaking time. Remember Traffic Equalizer. Autoblogs are Traffic Equalizer 2.0. Same pig, just wearing lipstick and a nice dress.
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    • Profile picture of the author jrod014
      Originally Posted by Zeus66 View Post

      About freaking time. Remember Traffic Equalizer. Autoblogs are Traffic Equalizer 2.0. Same pig, just wearing lipstick and a nice dress.
      Yeah, I'm tired of all the auto blogs that pull content from my personal blogs. I understand we are here to make some $$ but common, seriously, how hard is it to write a blog post?
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      • Profile picture of the author Paleochora
        Originally Posted by jrod014 View Post

        Yeah, I'm tired of all the auto blogs that pull content from my personal blogs. I understand we are here to make some $$ but common, seriously, how hard is it to write a blog post?
        I don't mind my content being syndicated. Hell, I want my content syndicated as much as possible. That's why I post it to article directories. So long as the links are left intact I am delighted that there are more places than just my little blog where people can read my stuff.

        If you do not want your content syndicated, turn RSS off.
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        • Profile picture of the author Carson Hill
          I'm new to auto blogging but part of me likes the concept.

          Would you get in trouble if you had a mix of original content with some auto articles too?

          I've been thinking about experimenting with articlefetch version 2. I wonder if they've updated this to be more efficient.
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          • Profile picture of the author DeePower
            I wonder how Google will handle news stories that are syndicated across hundreds of newspapers and their sites. For example, the Associated Press provides stories to their syndicated newspaper members on a paid basis.
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          • Profile picture of the author Meharis
            I believe in Original Content.
            Your brain and research remains the most powerful tool; period.
            I think this is the best way to forget what Google will be doing.
            You could add an other weapon to your brain by being bilingual.
            If you're, you can see the same situation from different points of view.
            Meharis
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    • Profile picture of the author Michael Shook
      Originally Posted by Zeus66 View Post

      About freaking time. Remember Traffic Equalizer. Autoblogs are Traffic Equalizer 2.0. Same pig, just wearing lipstick and a nice dress.

      TE worked a treat back in the day. Every once in a while I get an email from somebody trying to sell it as an affiliate.

      I went to a seminar once and the lady I sat next to had just lost her entire 20K a month income from DG and TE sites. So she was trying to learn some other business model. This was almost 4 years ago.
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  • Profile picture of the author BloggingPro
    Speaking of large scale changes. I really hope this brings down all of those damn Question/Answer sites. I've noticed that every time I try and search for a question I usually get plenty of these sites on the first result page.

    The problem? Either no answer exists for the question or its so small you can't see it within the massive adsense blocks displayed on the page. I despise these sites with a passion and hope Google cracks down on them hard. Answers.com--I'm looking at You!
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  • Profile picture of the author donhx
    Matt Cutts says,

    "As “pure webspam” has decreased over time, attention has shifted instead to “content farms,” which are sites with shallow or low-quality content. In 2010, we launched two major algorithmic changes focused low quality sites. Nonetheless, we hear the feedback from the web loud and clear: people are asking for even stronger action on content farms and sites that consist primarily of spammy or low-quality content."

    Does that mean Ezine and other such sites? I would think so.

    This is another consequence of people using all those penny-per-word (or less) articles written by offshore people. It seems to some IMers to be such a good way to get content, but the proliferation of low quality stuff is coming back to bite them in the rear.
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    • Profile picture of the author jrod014
      Originally Posted by donhx View Post

      Does that mean Ezine and other such sites? I would think so.

      IMO, I don't think so. I think they will target the auto blogs and sites that scrape content. The stuff on ezine, associate content, etc. is pretty unique at most.
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    • Profile picture of the author KenThompson
      Originally Posted by donhx View Post

      " ...Nonetheless, we hear the feedback from the web loud and clear: people are asking for even stronger action... "

      I had to do a double take. Thought it was the president talking for a moment.


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

      Does that mean Ezine and other such sites? I would think so.
      No, not at all. It means sites that get the majority of their content from sites like EZA, Stack Overflow, Wikipedia and others that allow copying of their content within certain guidelines. It wouldn't apply to the original authority site where the content came from.

      The result is that top level article sites will retain their authority but the benefits that were being received by having content syndicated from them will be greatly reduced or eliminated.
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  • Profile picture of the author Summer1
    My opinion, i don't mind to have my excerpt (content summary) of my blog to be in an autoblog, as long as they link back to my post. Because those autoblogs give me free backlinks and traffics.

    What i mind is autoblogs which does not link back and the worst: people who do exact copy by copy and paste the page source to their blogs.

    I have emailed three websites last months because they did exact copy of my blog posts (including adsense codes).

    These sites are worst than autoblogs.
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    • Profile picture of the author jrod014
      Originally Posted by Summer1 View Post

      My opinion, i don't mind to have my excerpt (content summary) of my blog to be in an autoblog, as long as they link back to my post. Because those autoblogs give me free backlinks and traffics.

      What i mind is autoblogs which does not link back and the worst: people who do exact copy by copy and paste the page source to their blogs.

      I have emailed three websites last months because they did exact copy of my blog posts (including adsense codes).

      These sites are worst than autoblogs.
      But why even have you link on such a LOW quality site??? That would just damage your rep and IMO your rankings.
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      • Profile picture of the author Summer1
        Originally Posted by jrod014 View Post

        But why even have you link on such a LOW quality site??? That would just damage your rep and IMO your rankings.
        Hi jrod014,

        No..it won't damage my rep and my ranking..It would be like this, people who hate us, our our enemies will build "bad" sites and link to our sites in purpose..It can happen right?

        But it does not work like this.
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        • Profile picture of the author jrod014
          Originally Posted by Summer1 View Post

          Hi jrod014,

          No..it won't damage my rep and my ranking..It would be like this, people who hate us, our our enemies will build "bad" sites and link to our sites in purpose..It can happen right?

          But it does not work like this.
          I'm sure the quality of the link plays some sort of factor. Check this out.

          Search Engine Ranking Factors | SEOmoz
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      • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
        We'll continue to explore ways to reduce spam, including new ways for users to give more explicit feedback about spammy and low-quality sites.
        WooHoo!!! Time to start reporting competitors! thefind.com, you're first!!!!

        Basically, it's more of the same old, same old smoke and mirrors. They'll do a lot more manual and semi-manual work to eliminate things that are causing them the most negative publicity (such as that glasses guy who was using negative reviews to rank) and some of the more blatant spamming methods. They'll also go after low lying fruit which are scripts and obvious techniques that get publicized here. However, thin spammy content sites like thefind.com and such will continue to rank and thrive.
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        • Profile picture of the author BloggingPro
          Originally Posted by bgmacaw View Post

          WooHoo!!! Time to start reporting competitors! thefind.com, you're first!!!!

          Basically, it's more of the same old, same old smoke and mirrors. They'll do a lot more manual and semi-manual work to eliminate things that are causing them the most negative publicity (such as that glasses guy who was using negative reviews to rank) and some of the more blatant spamming methods. They'll also go after low lying fruit which are scripts and obvious techniques that get publicized here. However, thin spammy content sites like thefind.com and such will continue to rank and thrive.
          Wasn't TheFind.com founded by some guy who was friends with the Google boys? For some reason I don't think that site is going anywhere. Could just be baseless rumors though.
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  • Profile picture of the author Oxbloom
    Ample and higher-paying opportunity looms large on the horizon for capable freelance content providers. Warm up your keyboards.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lauryn
    Good... flush the garbage out.

    A strong website is one that provides mostly unique and interesting content. Use PLR to help fill the gaps between content and guest posts, or as a base for rewriting and inspiring your own original work. Engage consumers. Don't bore them and hope they "already saw what's there" and hope they click a link off your page and that that's just what it is.
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    I Go Hard = "Slanguage" for putting forth a lot of effort.

    Don't be an arse and try to flip something you clearly have no knowledge of against me.

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  • Profile picture of the author Tim Franklin
    Personally as of December of last year I started removing all Auto blogs, including all my WP robot websites, which had been getting slammed by google anyway, just the way it is, can changes be made to improve the method using these plugins, sure, and likely they will have to, but sticking your head in the sand and saying hey it aint my problem cause I dont see it as a problem will not cut the mustard,

    A good mix of content is the only way to survive the coming apocalypse,

    one day your website will be getting traffic and the next you will be in purgatory.
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    • Profile picture of the author QuickSurf
      Originally Posted by Tim Franklin View Post

      Personally as of December of last year I started removing all Auto blogs, including all my WP robot websites, which had been getting slammed by google anyway, just the way it is, can changes be made to improve the method using these plugins, sure, and likely they will have to, but sticking your head in the sand and saying hey it aint my problem cause I dont see it as a problem will not cut the mustard,

      A good mix of content is the only way to survive the coming apocalypse,

      one day your website will be getting traffic and the next you will be in purgatory.
      I think whats funny is all the people that were so adamant that auto blogging is here to stay and never will go... lol.
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      • Profile picture of the author Rsberg
        Originally Posted by QuickSurf View Post

        I think whats funny is all the people that were so adamant that auto blogging is here to stay and never will go... lol.

        And I think whats funny is all the auto blog haters that jump on any chance they get to further discredit it. Just like your post and this thread in general...

        Yes the link in the OP has some valid points but what most every poster here (the OP included) fails to see is that Google is targeting (or saying they are targeting) low quality sites with scraped content that doesnt offer value to the reader. Yes they also mention sites that get all of their content by scraping other sites...but...

        That doesnt include ALL autoblogs. Sorry to break the news to you but those of us that do approach autoblogging a bit differently will most likely survive this, just as we have all of the previous "changes" that were sure to kill autoblogging. And belive me...there have been more than just a couple in the past few years.

        I've heard this type of thing several times over the past 2+ years and I have yet to lose a single one of my blogs and I know others who haven't lost any yet either...in fact mine have steadily increased in size, traffic and rank over that same time.

        It's been said here before (in this thread and others)...

        Build quality sites that offer value to the reader and you will be fine.

        Now, having said all of that...

        I personally agree with Google doing away with the crappy / spammy autoblogs and "content farms"...less competition for those of us who do approach it the right way and offer value. I also don't like those sites as they only continue to contribute to the bad name that autoblogging gets not only from the general publics viewpoint but from those in IM as well.
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    Yeah ... they'll go after "content farms" but will they be selective and keep crap content "content farms" like about.com, demand media, Answers.com, Associated Content, etc. high in the serps or will they all be treated equally?

    Demand Media, Inc. is a privately held online media company that operates online brands such as eHow, LIVESTRONG.COM and Cracked, and is known for creating online content based on a combination of measured consumer demand and predicted ROI. The company also provides social media platforms to existing large company websites and distributes content bundled with social media tools to outlets around the web.[3][4] The company also owns eNom, the world's second-largest domain registrar.[5]

    Demand Media was created in 2006 by a former private equity investor, Shawn Colo, and the former chairman of MySpace.com, Richard Rosenblatt.

    The company employs an algorithm that identifies topics with high advertising potential, based on search engine query data and bids on advertising auctions. These topics are typically in the advice and how-to field. It then commissions freelancers to produce corresponding text or video content. The content is posted on a variety of sites, including YouTube (where Demand Media is one of the largest suppliers of videos) and the company's own sites such as eHow, LIVESTRONG.COM, Trails.com, GolfLink.com, Mania.com, and Cracked.com.
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    • Profile picture of the author paulgl
      Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

      Yeah ... they'll go after "content farms" but will they be selective and keep crap content "content farms" like about.com, demand media, Answers.com, Associated Content, etc. high in the serps or will they all be treated equally?
      (Suzanne, can't get enough of that avatar)
      Answers.com is belly up for the most part. I was going to mention wikipedia,
      but bgmacaw answered that:

      Originally Posted by bgmacaw

      No, not at all. It means sites that get the majority of their content from sites like EZA, Stack Overflow, Wikipedia and others that allow copying of their content within certain guidelines. It wouldn't apply to the original authority site where the content came from.
      There are those who keep coming up with end arounds, all the while complaining google
      is just mean. They always have the loudest voices, tout other sites as proof they can
      do things.

      If you choose to make google your source of revenue, follow them. Adapt.

      I see very little, if any, changes to google webmaster guidelines. If you choose
      not to follow, and google cracks down, don't complain.

      Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonmorgan
    I found this little bit interesting...

    It’s not clear if this would impact ‘professional’ content farms (like Associated Content and Demand Media) or if it’s going for smaller-time outlets, but it could be a big deal.
    How would such a change effect article directories? Could have a big impact on people who rely on them.
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  • Profile picture of the author coreytucker
    so what if you quote part of a review? Like if you quote a review or something you found on another site and it's say 150 words long? Does that mean your site will rank worse since this makes your content not as unique?

    Say I write a 700 word article and only 550 words are unique? I wonder if this would effect my rankings now.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Sounds like deja' vu all over again...

      > Stuffing keywords in the meta tags? Dead.
      > Invisible text on the page, stuffed with keywords? Dead.
      > MFA sites clogging the SERPs with auto-generated content? Dead.
      > MFA 2.0 blogs clogging the SERPs with similar content? Terminal, it sounds like.
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    • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
      Originally Posted by coreytucker View Post

      Say I write a 700 word article and only 550 words are unique?
      One would hope none of your words are unique, or nobody will know what they mean in the first place.

      Menifta mok druga vonster, yik?
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    • Profile picture of the author CyberSorcerer
      Originally Posted by coreytucker View Post

      so what if you quote part of a review? Like if you quote a review or something you found on another site and it's say 150 words long? Does that mean your site will rank worse since this makes your content not as unique?

      Say I write a 700 word article and only 550 words are unique? I wonder if this would effect my rankings now.
      Your quote is 80% of your post? So I guess it would depend on how the new algorithm determines what's duplicate content.

      I've already got test sites up for my own research. I would suggest others do the same to keep up on what Google is doing.
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  • Profile picture of the author LarryC
    I'm not defending autoblogs or "content farms," but I wonder how effectively Google can really do this. In the article, it talks about sites that use certain terms for ranking purposes, so keyword stuffing is something they can look for. But even the most original content has to use keywords to describe a topic, and I'm not sure how an automated process can tell the difference, except in extreme cases.
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  • Profile picture of the author bouncingboy
    I think places like Demand Media are safe at the moment (I agree they shouldn't be). How are they going to algorithmically determine that the medical advice in livestrong.com is dangerous to the patient or wrong? This is similar to watching a bad singer survive for another week on American Idol.

    For now, I'm pretty sure content farms mean autoblogs, PLR, scraped content and spammy writing loaded with keywords.

    What does that mean for answers.com, which uses a lot of wikipedia content and low quality Q&A? I hope it means that answers.com go away because Yahoo Answers is 10x better even though they're not that good either.
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    • Profile picture of the author DogScout
      Originally Posted by bouncingboy View Post

      I think places like Demand Media are safe at the moment (I agree they shouldn't be). How are they going to algorithmically determine that the medical advice in livestrong.com is dangerous to the patient or wrong?
      Plus I read an article on that site ( livestrong.com ) by a (supposed) doctor, that was word for word the same as another article by a different doctor on another site published 2 years earlier. Even the 'so called' 'responsible' content creators seem to have a tendency to just snag others work.
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  • Profile picture of the author Eko Ventures
    I'm curious to see what happens with this, I've got a fairly large auto-blog (14k+ posts), however the content is, for the most part, unique.

    It will be interesting to see how Google decides to gauge the quality/quantity of content, especially when it comes to some of the bigger more popular sites out there that fall under the potential category of a "content farm".
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Originally Posted by Yasha View Post

      It will be interesting to see how Google decides to gauge the quality/quantity of content, especially when it comes to some of the bigger more popular sites out there that fall under the potential category of a "content farm".
      From the way I read the articles, being "unique" may not be enough to save you from being labeled a content farm.

      Take you basic crappy spun article. It might come up 100% "unique" using some mechanical comparison tool like Copyscape. It could also fit the description of 'shallow, low value content'.

      Think about it - Google has access to terabytes of high-quality, professionally produced text. Plenty to set a pattern of what qualifies as "quality" text.

      From the sound of it, they also have access to terabytes of the kind of crappy content they want to get rid of. Plenty to identify patterns, now that they're putting more emphasis on it.

      It looks like the bottom line is the same as it's always been...

      Provide a quality user experience (as defined by Google and its paying advertisers) and you're fine.
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      • Profile picture of the author bay37
        Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

        Think about it - Google has access to terabytes of high-quality, professionally produced text. Plenty to set a pattern of what qualifies as "quality" text.
        Much, much, much harder to do than you think.
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        • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
          Originally Posted by bay37 View Post

          Much, much, much harder to do than you think.
          Probably every bit as hard to do as I think, in truth. But if the impetus and the resources are there, I'm betting it can be done.

          It wasn't all that long ago that people thought it was impossible to map out the human genome, too.

          All the data and computing power won't unearth the answer, I'm betting. But put enough brainpower in front of enough questions, and give them the toys to keep playing 'what-if', and the answer will appear.
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          • Profile picture of the author bay37
            John,

            It wasn't all that long ago that people thought it was impossible to map out the human genome, too.
            That's a completely different problem, but I get what you're saying.

            All the data and computing power won't unearth the answer, I'm betting. But put enough brainpower in front of enough questions, and give them the toys to keep playing 'what-if', and the answer will appear.
            That's a very high level view of the problem and scientific problems in general.

            In reality, no matter how much data they have, I don't think they're anywhere close to being able to differentiate between "quality" content and "garbage" content (not talking about spun content here).

            First they would have to train on the data and process it, then build it into their current page ranking algorithms and filters (probably as a side filter/document) and then make sure that it doesn't completely mess up the search results... Not going to happen. Not in this case anyways.

            Think about it - they do the exact same (or similar) thing with most updates - devaluing autoblogs, certain types of backlinks, duplicate content (in many different contexts), etc. And they still fail (well, I say fail, they're doing an amazing job - given the complexity of those tasks). Most of those "problems" still exist - it (their system) is far from perfect.

            I wish they were somehow able to do this stuff, but it won't happen. I'm sure that we will be seeing more and more positive changes in how website rankings and quality content are determined... but it will be because of something else - a different "twist" on the rankings concept as a whole, perhaps.

            ...wait, what am I on about... Seriously need some sleep.


            P.S. awesome sig. haha
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            • Profile picture of the author TZ
              Originally Posted by bay37 View Post

              John,



              That's a completely different problem, but I get what you're saying.



              That's a very high level view of the problem and scientific problems in general.

              In reality, no matter how much data they have, I don't think they're anywhere close to being able to differentiate between "quality" content and "garbage" content (not talking about spun content here).

              First they would have to train on the data and process it, then build it into their current page ranking algorithms and filters (probably as a side filter/document) and then make sure that it doesn't completely mess up the search results... Not going to happen. Not in this case anyways.

              Think about it - they do the exact same (or similar) thing with most updates - devaluing autoblogs, certain types of backlinks, duplicate content (in many different contexts), etc. And they still fail (well, I say fail, they're doing an amazing job - given the complexity of those tasks). Most of those "problems" still exist - it (their system) is far from perfect.

              I wish they were somehow able to do this stuff, but it won't happen. I'm sure that we will be seeing more and more positive changes in how website rankings and quality content are determined... but it will be because of something else - a different "twist" on the rankings concept as a whole, perhaps.

              ...wait, what am I on about... Seriously need some sleep.


              P.S. awesome sig. haha
              Very good points here.

              As long as you model your auto-blog after the Associated Content model, you're Golden.

              Google can only fly so close to the sun, or they melt. In other words they start killing major aggregation sites.

              It's like the Catch-22 in the Satellite TV signal hacking game. The day that Direct TV completely stops all hackers from viewing their programming is the SAME day that their paying customers stop viewing their programming.
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      • Profile picture of the author Ben Armstrong
        Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

        Provide a quality user experience (as defined by Google and its paying advertisers) and you're fine.
        I'm kind of glad that I'm just getting in to IM at this time. I don't think I could be bothered trying to stay a step ahead of google's algorithms, or stake my entire business on it.

        I think I'll just stick with helpful and unique content.
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  • Profile picture of the author RaptorGabe
    no Autoblogs will survive, they will just get craftier. Auto Generated content will survive, remember it keeps getting better and better. However, with that said NOTHING beats a well crafted thought out quality article to drive content
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  • Profile picture of the author seobro
    The worst part is sites for reviews. Like you type in XYZ123 camera. OK, then you click on the site that is number one. It says - There are no reviews for XYZ123 camera. Would you like to create one?

    Good thing is that most of the MFA scraper sites are gone. Perhaps, Google is finally going to crush all these review sites with no reviews.
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  • Profile picture of the author WilliamLark
    original unique content is king if you stick to that your blog will gain popularity and visitors.
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  • Profile picture of the author A P Geofrey
    I believe in original content and have always worked towards having the most original contents on all my blogs. In fact to prevent some writers who at times just go around and copy other people's articles and sells to you i have decided to never outsource my articles. I write them myself no matter the time it takes.
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonmorgan
    And three months from now there will be a collective cry of Much Ado About Nothing.
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  • Profile picture of the author johnwho
    Lets see how this so called "SEO CHANGE" will take place.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jacqueline Smith
    Those that have already been using quality content know the benefits. Those that haven't will soon come to realize it's well worth the extra time and money.

    As an IMer and a consumer, I'll be happy to see less spam!
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    • Profile picture of the author smartdoctor
      Does this mean more work for article writers? :confused:
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    • Profile picture of the author goindeep
      Finally!

      Ive debated and argued with people, even fellow warriors for sometime now about auto blogs.

      They copy and replicate content and should therefor be banned.

      Good on you Google. Bout time!

      Auto-bloggers and content rippers

      TOLD YOU SO!

      Now all you need to do is come up with a real business model.
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      • Profile picture of the author Paul Gram
        Originally Posted by Andrei Rotariu View Post

        Finally!

        Ive debated and argued with people, even fellow warriors for sometime now about auto blogs.

        They copy and replicate content and should therefor be banned.

        Good on you Google. Bout time!

        Auto-bloggers and content rippers

        TOLD YOU SO!

        Now all you need to do is come up with a real business model.
        Replicated content isn't all bad, if it were bad, there would be nothing new ever. Most business ideas, marketing, and everything else is a form of something else from many years ago.

        I have seen some auto blogs that were done very well. They syndicated some content from a major provider and the layout and fact that it was just content from that specific niche on their site is good for the internet and a good thing. Auto blogs aren't all bad.
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        • Profile picture of the author Andre Slater
          Originally Posted by Paul Gram View Post

          Replicated content isn't all bad, if it were bad, there would be nothing new ever. Most business ideas, marketing, and everything else is a form of something else from many years ago.

          I have seen some auto blogs that were done very well. They syndicated some content from a major provider and the layout and fact that it was just content from that specific niche on their site is good for the internet and a good thing. Auto blogs aren't all bad.
          Exactly what I am saying. What is really 100% original. Anything created is from something from the past. Everybody copies... May not be exact copying but, a variation of it.

          You can just look at the structure of blogs and tell that they are from other blogs. So if I can use a program that makes it easier and faster for me to create blogs, then I will use it PERIOD.

          You show me one product or program that is 100% original.
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonmorgan
    I write my articles in Klingon. I occasionally spin them and rewrite them in Mandalorian.
    You can't mix Star Trek with Star Wars.... what are you thinking?
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  • Profile picture of the author Andre Slater
    Funny how everyone is on this thread acting like everything they do is 100% unique... Guy's and Gal's we are Internet Marketers... Nothing is completely original.

    I would stand to believe that everybody on this site has some form of autoblog. All the tools now are designed to make building your site automatic... Really, Autoblogs are just another form of outsourcing, but with software.

    Please people stop acting like we are above autoblogging. I have many sites and a lot are auto ran... So this is not the best news for me. If you were to make a completely 100% hand built site it would take you forever. You would be like 93 when you get it right... I personally use to build websites from scratch... Using frontpage and other programs where you had to create each page and connect them...

    Then came WORDPRESS which automated the process. So let's not look at autoblogging as a bad thing but, rather a tool to automate our lives...

    GO AUTOBLOGGING!!!
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    • Profile picture of the author goindeep
      Originally Posted by Andre Slater View Post

      Funny how everyone is on this thread acting like everything they do is 100% unique...

      I would stand to believe that everybody on this site has some form of autoblog.
      GO AUTOBLOGGING!!!

      Everything i do is unique. I have never stolen, duplicated, replicated or automated any content i didnt already own or come up with myself. Im sure there are things ive heard before and they have come up in some of my wording or phrasing of things, but thats normal human behaviour. I dont think you know what you are talking about.

      Your second comment is just silly. Really silly.

      I dont even have a blog. lol.
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    • Profile picture of the author Sheryl Polomka
      Originally Posted by Andre Slater View Post

      Funny how everyone is on this thread acting like everything they do is 100% unique... Guy's and Gal's we are Internet Marketers... Nothing is completely original.

      I would stand to believe that everybody on this site has some form of autoblog. All the tools now are designed to make building your site automatic... Really, Autoblogs are just another form of outsourcing, but with software.

      Please people stop acting like we are above autoblogging. I have many sites and a lot are auto ran... So this is not the best news for me. If you were to make a completely 100% hand built site it would take you forever. You would be like 93 when you get it right... I personally use to build websites from scratch... Using frontpage and other programs where you had to create each page and connect them...

      Then came WORDPRESS which automated the process. So let's not look at autoblogging as a bad thing but, rather a tool to automate our lives...

      GO AUTOBLOGGING!!!
      Andre You are so incredibly wrong and there are many of us that DO create UNIQUE blogs or websites. Just because you use autoblogging doesn't mean that everyone does - I'd like to know where you get your information that suggests that EVERYONE uses autoblogging to some degree!

      Yes I look at autoblogging as a bad thing - no offense to those who do it and people like Danny Cutts are an exception because he does it the correct and ethical way and keeps resource boxes and links intact. But there are so many others that just STEAL content - that's right - many autobloggers are nothing but thieves in my opinion. Since I set up a Google Alert for my name I have been really disappointed to find the number of autoblogs that steal my content without leaving any links intact.

      If this move by Google gets rid of all those thieves then I'm all for it!
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      • Profile picture of the author sam12six
        Originally Posted by Sheryl Polomka View Post

        Andre You are so incredibly wrong and there are many of us that DO create UNIQUE blogs or websites. Just because you use autoblogging doesn't mean that everyone does - I'd like to know where you get your information that suggests that EVERYONE uses autoblogging to some degree!

        Yes I look at autoblogging as a bad thing - no offense to those who do it and people like Danny Cutts are an exception because he does it the correct and ethical way and keeps resource boxes and links intact. But there are so many others that just STEAL content - that's right - many autobloggers are nothing but thieves in my opinion. Since I set up a Google Alert for my name I have been really disappointed to find the number of autoblogs that steal my content without leaving any links intact.

        If this move by Google gets rid of all those thieves then I'm all for it!
        But see, you're not really disagreeing with him. You're saying that because some people are misusing the tool, you hope Google hurts anyone who uses the tool (whether they abuse the tool or not).

        That's pretty much the same argument as "Sometimes crazy people shoot people so nobody should have the right to own a firearm."

        I can pretty much assure you if Google makes a major change that blasts all the sites abusing automation tools, the change will also blast people who use the tools in the manner most of us feel is ethical (and also blast a lot of people who aren't using the tools at all, just doing their thing in a way that the changed algorithm interprets as resembling the product of those tools).

        After the dust clears, the "innocents" that were crushed by the new Google slap are left picking up the pieces and starting from scratch with more hard work and dedication while the thieves are merrily running along rebuilding sites with the next gaming strategy. The same thing happens EVERY time there is a major change.

        I'm not saying it's pointless for Google to continue to change and improve their page rating system. I'm just saying it's pointless to hope they can swing a big axe and put the spammers out of business because again, all of us (or rather 98% of us) are gaming the system to some degree. Again, any linking or promotion of a site beyond on-site SEO is technically gaming the system.

        To paraphrase the old argument:

        Autoblogs don't steal content. People steal content.
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        • Profile picture of the author Sheryl Polomka
          Originally Posted by sam12six View Post


          Autoblogs don't steal content. People steal content.
          Ok I see you're point, I guess for me it's just really frustrating when I see these autoblogs that steal my content.

          I also agree with IM Joker on the point that these sites are all created by IMers for the purpose of making money - and yes I do create sites to make money too - but where does it all stop. How do they stop just crappy sites being created all over the place just for the purpose of making money and then the people searching for information find nothing but crap! This frustrates me also when I search something online myself and come across all the MFA sites and autoblogs that don't really give me any decent information that I'm looking for!
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          • Profile picture of the author sam12six
            Originally Posted by Sheryl Polomka View Post

            Ok I see you're point, I guess for me it's just really frustrating when I see these autoblogs that steal my content.

            I also agree with IM Joker on the point that these sites are all created by IMers for the purpose of making money - and yes I do create sites to make money too - but where does it all stop. How do they stop just crappy sites being created all over the place just for the purpose of making money and then the people searching for information find nothing but crap! This frustrates me also when I search something online myself and come across all the MFA sites and autoblogs that don't really give me any decent information that I'm looking for!
            Oh, don't get me wrong. I feel your pain.

            Since Google rolled out the predictive search thing, my search experience has tanked. It seems like now, a search on any phrase gives results where the first 2 pages are torrent sites with a "placeholder" page for that keyword.

            As far as eliminating crap sites and leaving the good ones, I think the answer is that it is impossible. It's like asking how to completely eliminate crime from a civilization. The best Google or any search engine can do is what they've always done - change their algorithms periodically so that the huge advantage the abusers have garnered is eliminated for a short period (until the next advantageous abuse makes itself known).
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      • Profile picture of the author Michael Oksa
        Originally Posted by Sheryl Polomka View Post

        Andre You are so incredibly wrong and there are many of us that DO create UNIQUE blogs or websites. Just because you use autoblogging doesn't mean that everyone does - I'd like to know where you get your information that suggests that EVERYONE uses autoblogging to some degree!

        Yes I look at autoblogging as a bad thing - no offense to those who do it and people like Danny Cutts are an exception because he does it the correct and ethical way and keeps resource boxes and links intact. But there are so many others that just STEAL content - that's right - many autobloggers are nothing but thieves in my opinion. Since I set up a Google Alert for my name I have been really disappointed to find the number of autoblogs that steal my content without leaving any links intact.

        If this move by Google gets rid of all those thieves then I'm all for it!
        Hi Sheryl,

        I think Andre's point is that if you use WordPress, you are not being 100% original, because other people use it. If you use a plug-in to help your SEO, then you're not 100% original.

        His premise is faulty. It's what's commonly referred to as "justification". It's a way to ease his conscience.

        To be blunt, I have always thought these types of arguments were stupid and weak. "I do something questionable, so I will find a way to make everybody else guilty of the same thing."

        To be clear, I agree with your points, but just wanted to clarify where I think Andre is coming from.

        All the best,
        Michael
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        • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
          Originally Posted by yourreviewer View Post

          Here is a question I have.

          If I use 10 articles from EZA, 10 articles provided by merchants to promote their products, 10 articles from PLR and have 10 of my own articles (original in content), would my site be considered a content farm? I am still struggling to understand what kind of sites would be classified as content farms.
          I'm afraid you'll have to gain some comfort level with your struggles, because there is no magic formula. No one knows at this point.

          There are markers to indicate where the trail might be, though.

          When you choose those ten articles from each source, why do you choose them? To provide information that helps your visitor want to do what you want them to do? Or to game the search results?

          If you insist on making Google the center of your commercial universe, here's the One Commandment:

          "Thou shalt provide a quality user experience (as defined by the deity Google and the advertiser High Priests)."
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          • Profile picture of the author yourreviewer
            Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

            I'm afraid you'll have to gain some comfort level with your struggles, because there is no magic formula. No one knows at this point.

            There are markers to indicate where the trail might be, though.

            When you choose those ten articles from each source, why do you choose them? To provide information that helps your visitor want to do what you want them to do? Or to game the search results?

            If you insist on making Google the center of your commercial universe, here's the One Commandment:

            "Thou shalt provide a quality user experience (as defined by the deity Google and the advertiser High Priests)."
            Not to game results but to provide as much relevant content possible to users. I am just about to start working on building a content site where for a large part, the content is published elsewhere but in my site I will be ONLY publishing the best content from EZA, merchants and PLR.
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      • Profile picture of the author Andre Slater
        Originally Posted by Sheryl Polomka View Post

        Andre You are so incredibly wrong and there are many of us that DO create UNIQUE blogs or websites. Just because you use autoblogging doesn't mean that everyone does - I'd like to know where you get your information that suggests that EVERYONE uses autoblogging to some degree!

        Yes I look at autoblogging as a bad thing - no offense to those who do it and people like Danny Cutts are an exception because he does it the correct and ethical way and keeps resource boxes and links intact. But there are so many others that just STEAL content - that's right - many autobloggers are nothing but thieves in my opinion. Since I set up a Google Alert for my name I have been really disappointed to find the number of autoblogs that steal my content without leaving any links intact.

        If this move by Google gets rid of all those thieves then I'm all for it!
        There is a difference between stealing and autoblogs. Everybody who creates automated blogs are not thieves. I personally have an original site that uses some autoblog tactics to keep fresh material on my site. Then I have other sites that pull off of youtube.

        What I am saying is that as IM we are trained to use automated systems. We are not taught to pick one niche and build just on that niche. We are taught to pick any niche, even if you don't know anything about it, slap up a video and squeeze page and market to your list.

        We are taught that building sites takes to long, use this software or plugin to build your site even quicker. We are taught that this program or software will help you get content to your site.

        This is totally different from stealing... We are even taught you don't have to steal material, just use a article spinner... So basically just take someones content and put in spinner and BAM! you have new material that google won't find as duplicate material.

        So the only thing I am saying is we all to some degree use automated sources to help our IM ventures... We don't all steal though.

        Yes! I would like Google to take the garbage off of the internet...
        Yes! I would like IM to stop selling $37 dollar crap to people...
        Yes! I would like to have only 1 site on what I know that makes me $$$

        But, these things are not happening in the IM world.

        You will always have garbage...
        You will always have crap being sold...
        You will always have people with a ton of websites that they don't know about...

        That's what Internet Marketing is about... Until we make a change it won't change for the better.

        I am personally a proud Warrior that's why we all are here to find good and honest information.
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  • Profile picture of the author TZ
    Autoblogs will never die if every third or fourth word, or phrase is rewritten. Never.

    Google's machines (servers) would melt down into a pot of goo, if they tried to run an algo that could figure out synonym phrases compared to the original post, when an autoblog is set up that way for R&R.

    Don't believe that? Take a look at the core of a basic Apache server, and there is nothing Google is running that is rocket science beyond that. When you cut a piece of silence you get silence (coder reference aside)

    If what Matt says is true, or what someone has "assumed what Matt said" is true, an autoblog set up properly will do even better then. All the weak autoblogs will be toast.
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  • Profile picture of the author TZ
    Oh, and one more thing on this subject...

    The algo change that you are talking about that punts pages from their index for allot of DUP content already started in late November. Ask anyone who had sites like that.
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  • Profile picture of the author Danny Cutts
    Well, I have been building autoblogs for a while now and I have to say that I normally out rank the original article in the search engines....

    However, I leave all links in tact and in place and I have had emails from authors thanking me for the extra traffic I have sent them... Yes google can go banning autoblog sites thats fine no probs to me but google itself actually re publishes content as well.

    Am I worried? Nope... by the time thats done things would have evolved and moved on, as long as you are providing your searchers and readers with what they want then there is no reason that it should be a problem....

    Danny
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    • Profile picture of the author goindeep
      Originally Posted by Danny Cutts View Post

      Well, I have been building autoblogs for a while now and I have to say that I normally out rank the original article in the search engines....

      However, I leave all links in tact and in place and I have had emails from authors thanking me for the extra traffic I have sent them... Yes google can go banning autoblog sites thats fine no probs to me but google itself actually re publishes content as well.

      Am I worried? Nope... by the time thats done things would have evolved and moved on, as long as you are providing your searchers and readers with what they want then there is no reason that it should be a problem....

      Danny
      I think from memory if you link back to the original content you dont get punished. Dont quote me on it though.
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  • Profile picture of the author deannatroupe
    LOL @CDarlock. Was that Klingon?
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  • Profile picture of the author tencentpiece
    Yes, google is definitely going to cut off content farms like Mahalo, especially when they bring in google millions if not billions of revenue every year from running adsense.
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  • Profile picture of the author mattlaclear
    Personally I quit paying attention to anything Google has to say on the subject of seo. Aren't these the same people who advocate link bait as the number one way to increase your serps?
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  • Profile picture of the author Deepak Media
    That means better traffic for people who run blogs with quality original content.
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    @ Bangalore, India.
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  • Profile picture of the author Danny Cutts
    I rank my sites better than people with unique content... you would never know that my sites are autoblogs you would not even consider it!!

    Unique content is king yes but its not the be all and end all.

    Google is probably going to crack down on the thin scraped sites that pull anything from anywhere and post it. But in the past there were the BANS sites that everybody was building and google slapped everybody with them yet I was still making a lot of coin from them.

    Its very much a case of how you use the tool and what you do with it. Pretty much like guns, in the wrong hands they are deadly but in the right hands they save lives...

    Make your own mind up and as along as you are providing what your reader is looking for and you are not hurting the original creator of the content then who is going to complain?

    Danny
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  • Profile picture of the author The Truth About Blogging
    Banned
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    • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
      Google can't write an algo that determines quality content. Only humans can presently determine a good article. They however can easily detect duplicate content in articles and comments. They presently filter out a bunch already and they only have to tighten that up for alot of sites to no longer appear.

      Frankly I think its pretty obvious where this is going. They want sites reported but they don't want to be flooded and they recently announced they are going to start to track social network reputation of people. They will eventually blend the two together and make it much simpler for users to report sites. Regardless of how many positives you have once your user generated complaints from trusted reps reach a certain level you get a manual review.

      Then they'll blend your social rep together with present SEO facotrs and if you want you can try and game both but always risk getting a manual report anyway once your lack of quality ticks off enough people.

      Change is inevitable and some of it will probably materialize this yea because there really has been a lot of articles about Google spam recently. Google can't afford not to address it. Life goes on.
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  • Profile picture of the author jonnoryan
    I don't know how they are going to police this. Surely they cannot have human editors going through all the sites . We are talking about billions of websites. Maybe there will be more emphasis put in the bounce rate on your site
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  • Profile picture of the author metabinltd
    I think this is what they are targetting:

    "In the context of the World Wide Web, content farms are companies (or their divisions) that employ large numbers of (often freelance) writers to generate large amounts of textual content"

    From: Content farm - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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  • Profile picture of the author LauraJames
    I am glad I have stayed away from auto blogs. I have advised others to do the same. Thank you for providing this information.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ian Varnava
    I read all the above posts and obviously we have as many perspectives/opinions as there are the number of people posting, and rightfully so I gather.

    What's been pissing me of lately is that even when doing research for personal purposes, you have to dig and dig and try different keywords and what not to find what you're looking for... 85% of the time, when doing any search on Google, you'll get slammed with "content-farm" or MFA, affiliate etc sites. Now, that's not to say that they don't have good information, but we all know that many of them are made by "our" type of people (IM'ers?), and that you can't necessarily be sure of how accurate this information is that you just came across.

    Combine it with sensitive issues such as health/medical/personal/family related issues one may be trying to find some solid information on, and all you get is a bunch of MFA & sites loaded with "I used such and such ebook to stop my heart attack, you should get it too". Meanwhile, the person having the heart attack should've gone to the emergency room, but they're sitting there reading an ebook instead.

    The above may be an exagerration of sorts but it's really not, I'm sure many of you get the point.

    Google has no choice but to take an aggressive stance on cleaning up it's index, before some new kid on the block comes up with a way to deliver actually reputable and relevant results to searchers, and now the big G is done for. Again, an exagerration at this point in time, but you can be sure this is precisely what Google will fight to prevent from happening.
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  • Profile picture of the author GuruGazette
    It never ceases to amuse me how much history repeats itself online. Many years ago auto blogs (as most people here think of them) were all the rage but they were generally called scraper sites. Google can and did wipe them out in one fell swoop that created a world of havoc. Why? Because innocent, quality sites got caught in the cross fire. And all of these sites-good and bad-weren't just slapped. They were completely dropped from the index. If I remember right it took a solid 6 months before things started remotely getting back to normal, and Google's search results were next to useless the entire time.

    So can they do it? Sure

    Will they? Sure

    Will they risk screwing up their own service? Probably, but we can hope they learned a few lessons last time.

    Will honest, quality, "ethical" or even unique content sites get hit too? Probably, since it's about impossible to cast a really wide-amusingly enough, automated-net without dragging innocents along for the ride.

    This is part of the reality of search engine marketing.
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  • Profile picture of the author yourreviewer
    Here is a question I have.

    If I use 10 articles from EZA, 10 articles provided by merchants to promote their products, 10 articles from PLR and have 10 of my own articles (original in content), would my site be considered a content farm? I am still struggling to understand what kind of sites would be classified as content farms.
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    • Profile picture of the author FiveSmoothStones
      Syndicated articles have never been penalized at this point. And why would they. Are we saying there should be one site with a particular article. I dont know how publishers can exist without syndication. Thats the way it always worked in the real world. Cartoons were syndicated across thousands of newspapers. Youtube benefits from syndication when I post a video on facebook or a video is posted on a news blog. Its also called going viral.

      And from my experience, there will always, always be a workaround. How hard would it be to outsource your original content writing? You can do it right now at fiverr.com. Whatever google determines to be important can be manipulated. I am not endorsing this, just stating fact.

      And how many millions will google lose from adsense if it cuts off all duplicate content. Do they really want to profit from the adsense revenue from a few news sites or from thousands?? Sounds like a hard place and a rock to me.
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      • Profile picture of the author TZ
        Originally Posted by FiveSmoothStones View Post

        ......there will always, always be a workaround. And how many millions will google lose from adsense if it cuts off all duplicate content. Do they really want to profit from the adsense revenue from a few news sites or from thousands??
        Good point also.

        You don't need to create "workarounds" when the content you pull from other domains is rewritten PROPERLY.

        I specifically wrote my rewriter plugin (Global Synonym) to rewrite phrasing. When you rewrite entire phrases en masse, you have basically written a post in your own words.

        Meanwhile the news aggregator domains are posting DUP content without a single edit to the copy.

        Oh well.......the more webmasters that take the bait and run for hills, means all the more money for the autobloggers that know what they are doing.

        Besides, if you are afraid of losing your Adsense account, then autoblog with Chitika or some other Ad supplier. Hell....Google even ENCOURAGES you to use some other Ad company like Chitika.....but of course "they Google won't do it". :rolleyes:
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        • Profile picture of the author FiveSmoothStones
          Originally Posted by TZ View Post

          Good point also.

          Besides, if you are afraid of losing your Adsense account, then autoblog with Chitika or some other Ad supplier. Hell....Google even ENCOURAGES you to use some other Ad company like Chitika.....but of course "they Google won't do it". :rolleyes:
          Great points.

          I remember actually getting out of the internet marketing business about 7 years ago because of google changes that I "thought" would end my career online. But what I later found out is that software had been developed so that not only was I able to compete but its now actually easier than every to make money online.

          I also find that what google says it can eliminate and what it can in reality eliminate may be two different things.

          If 5,000 bloggers head a different direction based on a story then they win some of the war without firing a shot.
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  • Profile picture of the author FiveSmoothStones
    One thing we need to remember. The Huffington Post as mentioned in the article is a content farm, as is most sites that use syndicated articles. They are trying to eliminate them so the major news outlets can once again dominate. They are many such blogs that dont come under the "autoblog" category but are still unintentional content farms that they are going after, if they even succeed. They may throw out the baby with the bathwater.


    My guess is that someone will develop new ways to pull content and spin it. They always do.
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  • Profile picture of the author remodeler
    Any thoughts on whether this new action will have any effect on those with Google News sites?
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    Originally Posted by yourreviewer View Post

    Not to game results but to provide as much relevant content possible to users. I am just about to start working on building a content site where for a large part, the content is published elsewhere but in my site I will be ONLY publishing the best content from EZA, merchants and PLR.
    I have to believe that mixing in quality syndicated content won't hurt you. Keep a weather eye on your relevance, post good content (giving credit as required by usage licenses) and you should come out just fine.

    What you describe is a collection. What Google wants to eliminate is a dump.
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  • Profile picture of the author Eric Lorence
    These Matt Cuts "Press Releases" kind of remind me of all the L Ron Hubbard time release "instructions" to all his Scientology followers ... as the "Marketing" community are the only ones who pay any real attention to them.

    Kind of like Allan Greenspan's former (and to some extent current) ability to "move markets" with simple comments.

    In practice however, the reality is usually much different.

    You will experience this for yourself when you see your "original content", ranking higher on - other - better SEO'd sites ... since they still can't seem to tell who original content belongs to.
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    • Profile picture of the author sam12six
      Originally Posted by Eric Lorence View Post

      You will experience this for yourself when you see your "original content", ranking higher on - other - better SEO'd sites ... since they still can't seem to tell who original content belongs to.
      Exactly!

      This is what's frustrating about discussing this subject. People complain about how it pisses them off that the SEO tactics thieves use are so much more effective than the tactics "ethical" marketers use.

      It seems to me that you see what works. Steal their tactics!! Add your own hard work (the only thing an ethical marketer has going over the thieves) and you should be able to plant their sites 6 feet under.

      Instead, everyone just talks about how they hope Google can put these guys out of business.

      It's like a farmer looking at a less scrupulous farmer whose crops outshine all his neighbors' crops because he uses cutting edge agricultural techniques (but also happens to steal cattle). The cattle stealing has nothing to do with the extremely effective techniques the guy is using.

      The same thing applies to stealing content. If someone steals your content and gets better SERP results than you did with it, don't get hung up on what an asshole he is for stealing, figure out what he's doing better than you and out-compete him!!
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      • Profile picture of the author jrod014
        Originally Posted by sam12six View Post

        Exactly!

        This is what's frustrating about discussing this subject. People complain about how it pisses them off that the SEO tactics thieves use are so much more effective than the tactics "ethical" marketers use.

        It seems to me that you see what works. Steal their tactics!! Add your own hard work (the only thing an ethical marketer has going over the thieves) and you should be able to plant their sites 6 feet under.

        Instead, everyone just talks about how they hope Google can put these guys out of business.

        It's like a farmer looking at a less scrupulous farmer whose crops outshine all his neighbors' crops because he uses cutting edge agricultural techniques (but also happens to steal cattle). The cattle stealing has nothing to do with the extremely effective techniques the guy is using.

        The same thing applies to stealing content. If someone steals your content and gets better SERP results than you did with it, don't get hung up on what an asshole he is for stealing, figure out what he's doing better than you and out-compete him!!

        Yeah, and you could always report them via google webmaster tools but who knows if google really checks those reports.
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  • Profile picture of the author nvs74191
    I stopped relying on my autoblogs a while back. At the same time, though the content was duplicate, I found a way to monetize it for a niche audience.

    I simply convert the autoblog content into an ebook, and sell them.

    I am on a roll now.
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    • Profile picture of the author hilaryaustin
      Originally Posted by nvs74191 View Post

      I stopped relying on my autoblogs a while back. At the same time, though the content was duplicate, I found a way to monetize it for a niche audience.

      I simply convert the autoblog content into an ebook, and sell them.

      I am on a roll now.
      nice alternative since ebooks are the once clicking at the moment due to the fast emergence of ipad and apple products.
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