Duplicate Content – Is There Really a Penalty?

If you were to look at all the blogs, websites and forums that have a section on search engines, you would probably find a discussion on duplicate content in nearly all of them. Duplicate content is a hotly debated topic and as is the case with any controversial subject – there is plenty of paranoia and a lot of mistruth.

Search Engines Do Not Penalize Duplicate Content

People scream and wail about how they have suffered at the hands of a duplicate content. Many claim to have been penalized and have had their websites de-indexed or placed in the mythical Google “sandbox” due to a duplicate content infringement.

This is simply rubbish. If their website has been de-indexed or ignored, it will be down to malpractice or some other infringement of search engine policy – or maybe it was just a terrible website.

Google, Yahoo and Bing do not penalize for duplicate content. It is true that content may not be displayed, due to the fact that there is an identical version available, but this is not a penalty. You will not receive a fine and there is no search engine prison or SERP Secret Police waiting to silence anyone daring to submit duplicate content.

Identical content that does not appear anywhere in the top pages, or that finds itself hidden away in supplemental hell, does not constitute being labeled as a penalty. This is simply a search engine performing its primary duty and only displaying content that is in the best interest of its customers, namely the people searching for relevant information.

Not All Content is Considered Equal in the Eyes of a Search Engine

Every piece of content is given a fair crack by a search engine. Stating that your content was not indexed because “someone else got there first”will not wash. There is no, “first come, first served” policy in place. If you “accidentally” produce content identical to a pre-existing indexed piece, then as long as your content has better links to and from it, and is on a site that offers greater value to anybody searching for related content, the chances are very good that your content will also find its way on to the search engine listings.

The common misconception that the oldest version of any particular content will always take precedence is ill-informed. This is simply coincidence in many cases. The older version will probably have more backlinks in place due to being around longer and any new identical content will not have the “link juice” needed to knock it off top spot.

That does not necessarily mean that those backlinks are from quality sources and it cannot be beaten. The search engines look for good backlinks from authoritative sites – they also take a good look at the importance, and quality, of the actual website the content resides on. If your content satisfies those criteria, and is deemed more important than the existing version, your content may be favored over the original.

The Only Penalty is Not Offering Value for Searchers

Search engine algorithms do not simply discard duplicate content because there is already an identical, earlier version in existence. They will look at both copies and assess which one offers the best possible information for anyone searching for that particular subject. This version will then be given greater importance and a better placement in the search engine rankings.

If the search engines did not follow this procedure, organic search listings would be a sea of identical content that would be bordering on useless for searchers. Who wants to enter a search query and be confronted by 10 entries all displaying the same piece of information?

There is no such thing as a duplicate content penalty. Try not to envision this as a punishment, more a reward for content offering value and greater relevance.