Duplicate content on partner site

[ShearingsGroup]

I have a trade partner who will be using some of our content on their site. What's the best way to prevent any duplicate content issues?

Their plan is to attribute the content to us using rel=author tagging. Would this be sufficient or should I request that they do something else too?

Thanks

[Dr-Pete]

Cross-domain canonical is the most viable option here. As Mike and Chris said, it is possible for Google to ignore the tag in some cases, but it's a fairly strong suggestion. There are two main reasons I'd recommend it:

(1) Syndicated content is the entire reason Google allowed the use of rel=canonical across domains. SEOs I know at large publishers have used it very effectively. While your situation may not be entirely the same, it sounds similar to a syndicated content scenario.

(2) It's really your only viable option. While a 301-redirect is almost always honored by Google, as Chris suggested, it's also very different. A 301 will take the visitors on the partner site page directly to your page, and that's not your intent. Rel=canonical will leave visitors on the partner page, but tell search engines to credit that page to the source. Google experimented with a content syndication tag, but that tag's been deprecated, so in most cases rel=canonical is the best choice we have left.

[GPainter]

As far as I'm aware and webmaster guide lines are the following is true :

"Can rel="canonical" be used to suggest a canonical URL on a completely different domain?

There are situations where it's not easily possible to set up redirects. This could be the case when you need to migrate to a new domain name using a web server that cannot create server-side redirects. In this case, you can use the rel="canonical" link element to specify the exact URL of the domain preferred for indexing. While the rel="canonical" link element is seen as a hint and not an absolute directive, we do try to follow it where possible."

canonical is for on page more than off site.

Supporting this Matt Cutts mentions that they prefer 301

So bit of truth in it

[MikeRoberts]

My favorite answer... Canonicals. If your trade partner's site places rel="canonical" tags pointing back to the original source of the content on your site then there shouldn't be any duplicate content issue. Of course Canonicals are suggestions not directives so the search engines reserve the right not to follow the tag if they deem it irrelevant. Using the tag in this way will essentially pass all the equity to your site and rank your page instead of your trade partner. Your trade partner would basically get no benefit of having your content as far as Search is concerned. The better option for everyone would likely be to write unique and relevant content.

[GPainter]

Hi,

You may want to read the following :

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/66359?hl=en

Technically you should be fine though I never recommend duplicate content across sites  It reduced the quality across both sites. As long as there is a link back to original source you should be ok.

[ShearingsGroup]

Hi Chris. I don't care about the trade partner. But are you saying I could receive a penalty if they copy and paste content off my website? Surely that's not fair!

[GPainter]

Easy fix -  don't use duplicate content!

You will still receive a penalty it's better to take the time to rewrite or get fresh content.

They can link to your site if they want to use the content as the user would still see the content but just putting a duplicate of the content on their site will result in a drop for the both of you although it may not happen right away it will over time

Hope this help, and good luck!