Editor’s note: This article was first published in August 2011, when the Panda update was rolling out to Spanish-language results. Panda was later folded into Google’s core ranking algorithm in 2016, and the Spanish winners and losers statistics and Blogger and AdSense enforcement details reflect 2011.
Google’s new algorithm changes the rules of the game in search rankings. I won’t go into the technical details of how the changes will show, since there’s a thorough article by ZoiSEO for that. In short, though, websites or blogs that earned a prominent spot in the past thanks to SEO techniques or by relying on content from other sites are now in danger of dropping far below the top positions in search results.
Google aims to reward quality content, and above all original content, penalizing any site that uses third-party content or repetitive topics.
Now more than ever, Google is getting “serious” about copying content on the web, especially copy-paste. Google wants the license chosen by a website’s author to be respected. Some sites are under copyright (using part or all of the content is prohibited), while others use some kind of Creative Commons license (you can use the content, but you must credit the original source with a link to the website).
Even so, some websites resort to “right-click, copy, paste” and pass off the content as their own without identifying its real owner. Besides being unethical and penalized by Google Panda (with or without a link to the source), this practice can now bring you other problems as well. Google has been very clear:
“Any material you create is immediately protected by copyright law. In the specific case of Blogger, we follow the US DMCA.”
For anyone who falls victim to content copying and doesn’t know what to do, Google offers this complaint form. Within a few days, a decision is made on removing the duplicate content, provided you can show that you are the original author, whether of a photo, a video or an article. If the infringements are frequent, Google could end up removing the products associated with the offending site’s account, including its Google AdSense account and the Blogger service itself. You’ll find an article on what to do if someone used your content without permission on Ciudad Blogger.
Today, we could say that sites that feed on content through RSS feeds or copy-paste will get as far as their “victims” let them.
“As in any business, you need certain virtues or qualities, starting with being an honest person and acting ethically. If, as a professional, you don’t feel able to produce your own original content, at least acknowledge the work of the person who did it for you.”
The first statistics are already in for Spain, showing which websites came out ahead with the change and which lost the most. You can see them at Pizcos.net: list of winners and losers with Google Panda.
Featured image: Szilveszter Farkas, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr.
