How Do You Monitor & Deal With Plagiarism Of Your Content?
-
Hi everyone - hope you can help.
I have an e commerce store with lots of products. I write unique, original content for all of the products we sell. I must be doing a good job because I repeatedly find my content being used in blogs, word press sites, and pay per posts which then link back to competitors. I have the standard free copyscape logo pasted a the bottom of each page - hasn't deterred anyone.
I'm now thinking about using some sort of a cookie based software and installing the code on each page so that when they lift my content and use it, it will send a link back to that page on my site. I have called numerous plagiarizers in the past and threatened to sue using the "Digital Millennium Copyright Act" phrase in the course of my conversation. It's tiresome. It's work. I am thinking after many years of frustration, that if I can't beat them I might as well try using this type of cookie based script/software approach to at least garner a link out it. And if the abuser catches it then maybe he'll stop mid stream and think twice about using...I mean copying my content.
Is using this type of cookie/link back to us script a good or a bad idea? How do you all prevent your unique, original content from being used? And finally, if I'm looking at this from a positive link building standpoint (meaning, maybe I'm looking at it from the wrong angle), what is the best practice for garnering a link from this type of ongoing occurrence?
-
Check out Tynt, use an auto-linking plugin, or periodically drop manual links within your content. That won't stop people from copying, but it will at least you links from lazy copiers.
-
Report it to Google using your Google Webmasters: http://www.google.com/support/bin/static.py?page=ts.cs&ts=1114905&hl=en
<a>What Google product does your request relate to? > Websearch</a>
Please specify the nature of your request > I have an issue not mentioned above that is legal in nature
Choose from the following options > I have found content that may violate my copyright
Are you the copyright owner or authorized to act on his/her behalf? > Yes, I am the copyright owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed
Okay, mark this question as answered and give me a thumbs up. Also, since I helped you out, return the favor by answering a question for someone else. Happy times!
-
Why not just add anchor text to your works so that you are farming links without work?
-
Hiding links in content using CSS used to be a good way to do just what you want - gain a free in bound link from a scraper. Nowadays, most scrapers will also strip out links so the value is not there (it can still happen).
There are services such as CopyScape that will automate the work of catching plagiarizers. From what you describe, that seems like the best solution. Without an automatic solution you will need to send off the DMCA requests by hand.
Another option would be to block the scrapers at the IP level. This takes some time and skill, but there are turn-key solutions available.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
We had a blog that has been inactive since 2011\. Now since the website is redesigned and we are working on link building, is it advisable to use the old blog content in the new blog?
The content of the old blog belongs to the company, hence no issues of copied content. The options I have are: 1. Use old content as is 2. Re-use old content in more interesting format i.e use info-graphics and the likes 3. Do not use any of the old content. Create new content
Link Building | | Tusk2Tail0 -
What else still works (other than awesome content)
Hey guys, I'm sorta at my wits end here. I know that some link building methods (such as private blog networks) used to work before the latest Google update (Penguin 2.1), but I have evidence that it's not working any more. At least not with the private blog networks that I used. So, my question is if there's a sure fire way to quickly and efficiently build back links nowadays? Do private blog networks still work for you? If so, which ones? If not, what do you use instead?
Link Building | | VinceWicks0 -
Is it whitehat to offer products for a review & link?
It seems to me that if you can offer content for a link back, you should be able to offer a product for a review and a link. Any thoughts?
Link Building | | inhouseseo0 -
Backlink's using duplicate content in article directories
I've had a link build report of all the links an SEO company have got us but a simple search for some of the content in Google with phrase match brings up about 3 pages of the same content posted to different article sites. I think it is doing something but will it just be penalised over time?
Link Building | | acs1110 -
Same Content on Different Blogs
We host our blog on WordPress as part of our site. The blog "address" is www.website.com/blog/post. If I were to take the same content that's on this blog and post it on a Blogger account we have, would Google consider that duplicate content? If not, would there be any benefit to doing this?
Link Building | | rdreich490 -
What is the general consensus on using Text Broker for content?
I have seen generally good reviews for http://www.textbroker.com. Does anyone here have personal experience with it? We are considering using it for content creation for guest blogging for clients. As far as we have found, this is all within Google's acceptable webmaster guidelines. In general, how much editing is required from an article provided by Text Broker? Thanks!
Link Building | | outofboundsdigital0 -
A good link builder / link building agency for Spanish content
Hi, I am looking for a good link building agency or freelance to execute a link building strategy for the next months. The content is in Spanish. Could anyone recommend me a good agency or a good link builder for Spanish content? Thank you very much! Jorge
Link Building | | jorgediaz0 -
Sponsored Directories & Blog Posts
In your opinion, is it worth paying for sponsored links in directories like http://www.dmegs.com, rather than the standard free links? I'm also curious about sponsored posts on Blogs (such as http://www.lovemydress.net/blog/sponsors/) where links are dofollowed, but clearly marked as sponsored. Will Google penalise me for purchasing these links? Are the links de-valued in any way?
Link Building | | cmaddison1