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You are here: Blog » 23082010 - Plagiarism
Plagiarism - Flattery or Just Plain Theft?
4 good reasons why copying someone else's web content is a bad idea!
Why reinvent the wheel? The internet's packed to the rafters with exciting, well written content, so why can't you just copy it? It's tempting. But nicking other people's stuff is a very bad idea. Here's why.
- Search engines object to it. Google and co have very strong views on plagiarism. They believe the internet should focus first and foremost on quality. In other words, what's good for visitors is good for search engines. Plagiarism is the opposite of quality. It adds nothing to the visitor experience and clogs the internet with duplicated information.
- Search engines can take down duplicate sites so they're completely invisible. If you're caught with duplicate copy Google and co can also levy a penalty, pushing your site back down in the search results as a punishment. It depends how bad you've been!
- Wise site owners check if anyone's copied their content. Just paste a chunk of your site content into the Google search box and see if it comes up anywhere else. If you steal someone else's content they originator is perfectly entitled to dob you in... and Google will act fast to penalise your site.
- Recovering your site isn't always easy - you'll need to appeal to Google and ask for re-instatement, having first replaced the copy you've plagiarised. Obviously it's commercially dangerous to lose your site visibility for any length of time. And your reputation can suffer too.
Basically, it's lazy and dishonest!
