Duplicate content

1. 93

   jansharesposted 11 years ago

   My H.O.W. hub on running a breakfast program is now unpublished for looking too similar to other info on the web. I'm sure it's because I described the Episcopal Diocese Hunger Fund throughout the article, as well as the Kwanzaa Kitchen which is also on the web. I was very deliberate in not writing anything verbatum. What suggestions are there, particularly from hp staff, to edit this hub?

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   1. 88

      IzzyMposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      It is very difficult to write about anything online now, considering that just about everything has already been written about.
      
      You could choose to write about a popular topic, and write it better then everyone else, yet still run into copyright problems because someone else wrote about it first, even if they wrote it badly.
      
      Your best bet is to inject something new, something personal, into the text.
      
      Make sure also that your hub does not follow the same format as others.  Make the article yours, completely.
      
      I now see what is wrong with many of my earlier hubs - they were just re-writes of information freely available on the web.
      
      They may have taken me hours of research, and I may have written a better article, but it was not mine to write.
      
      Unless someone proves me wrong, you need to write about what you know, and show what you know, to be taken seriously.
      
      Of course, this does not apply to eHow or certain other content sites, just to us.

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      1. 93

         jansharesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Thank you, Izzy, very helpful. The irony is that the writing on one of the sites is mine, the Kwanzaa Kitchen. I will have to add more personal anecdotes to make it more mine, I guess. Or maybe less mine :-) Ey-yi-yi. It's also possible that the grant applications for the Hunger Fund I write every year are online and also creating the duplicate content issue. Now I wish I'd never answered that weekly inspiration question, "Do you know any good charities? Write a hub about!"

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         1. 87

            Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            So does that mean you've repeated some of the exact words from your Kwanzaa Kitchen text?   Duplicate content is duplicate content, whether you wrote the original or not, so that would definitely be an issue.

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            1. 93

               jansharesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               Yes, words. For example, the history of the breakfast program, what inspired it, the date first breakfast was served, etc.

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               1. 87

                  Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  If the sequence of the text was the same and you just used synonyms, that's called 'spinning' and is not acceptable.  You'd need to change the text around far more than just changing words.

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                  1. 93

                     jansharesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                     Ok, you've given me a place to start. I wish I had understood all of this when I decided to answer that weekly inspiration question about favorite charities. As Izzy pointed out, most things are already written about online so it's hard to avoid this duplicate thing, especially, as I've discovered the hard way, if you're highlighting a charity. There's only so much to say.

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                     1. 87

                        Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                        It's very rarely I disagree with Izzy but in this case, I do. 
                        
                        It's true almost everything has already been written about - and if you write about something that's already been covered on several other websites, you may have trouble getting readers because the other websites got there first.  But that is a completely different issue from duplicate content. 
                        
                        Duplicate content is when you reproduce a block of text exactly from another site.  Spun content is when you take a block of text from another site, then make it "original" by changing individual words using synonyms etc.  Both are "illegal" on HubPages, and most other revenue-sharing sites. 
                        
                        It's very easy to avoid both those things - don't do them.   The difference between taking a piece of text and changing individual words, and writing a new piece starting with a blank piece of paper, should be fairly obvious.

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                        1. 93

                           jansharesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                           So even though I did start with a blank piece of paper (literally wrote the hub on my pc, then wrote it again in capsules) and did not use blocks of text from any site, there are only so many ways to describe an existing charity factually without being cited for duplicate content.

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                           1. 93

                              Jean Bakulaposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                              Yes, janshares, that's about right. I have also had issues like this a few times. Of course you want to mention the name of the organization. You just need to be sure you use different words than you did other times you wrote about it. It is hard, and frustrating. But you can do it! Don't lose heart!

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                              1. 93

                                 jansharesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                                 Thank you so much Jean for that validation and support. I don't feel so much like I'm losing it anymore. I will work on it after the holidays. I really appreciate everyone's help and support. This community is awesome.

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   2. 87

      Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I disagree with others - it is absolutely OK to mention these organisations by name.  Using their names cannot possibly be anything to do with being "too similar".  So long as you did not quote chunks of information verbatim from their websites, it's fine.
      
      By "too similar" I assume they're saying it's duplicate content?  Are you sure that's what the warning says, or is it a more general warning which includes other possible reasons?

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      1. 93

         jansharesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         It seemed like a general warning but it did specifically say "duplicate content." I definitely didn't use chunks of information. I did change words around and used synonyms. There were also number details about the Hunger Fund that I couldn't change, eg, the number of feeding programs in Washington, the amount of grants awarded, etc.

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   3. 71

      Matthew Meyerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      The Hub is showing as almost a 100% duplicate of this content that appears to have been published by you (same profile photo).  It even contains the same images.
      http://bloomingdaleneighborhood.blogspo … at-st.html
      
      You can find out more about duplicate content here:
      http://hubpages.com/learningcenter/Mode … te-Content

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      1. 93

         jansharesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         OMG!!!! Now I know what happened. I sent the link to the secretary for the neighborhood civic association. I thought he would just post the link. If I ask him to take it down, will that solve the problem?

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         1. 71

            Matthew Meyerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            If that is the only other place it is available online, then removing it will make your Hub original.  So, yes, that should address the duplication issue.

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            1. 93

               jansharesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               Glad to hear there is a solution to this and that it is now known that I did not illegally create my hub as initially thought. I'm still rattled by the whole experience; it still makes me want to tweak it just in case. Maybe it will be best to publish it again as a test run without tweaks based on what you're saying. I've just spent the last hour and a half trying to contact the civic association officers; left several phone and email messages. Hopefully, I'll hear from them by Wednesday. I'll send an email to hp staff with update as soon as it's down from their site. Thank you Matthew.

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2. 60

   mr-vegposted 11 years ago

   Try and describe both the hunger fund and Kwanzaa kitchen in your own words and keep it simple and uniquely described in your words. Also try catching up with the HP staff by emailing them.

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   1. 93

      jansharesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you, mr-veg. I did plan to email them if I didn't get a response. Funny thing is that a lot of the info on the Kwanzaa Kitchen website IS my own words. The volunteers created it.

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3. 72

   brakel2posted 11 years ago

   I probably would briefly describe in own words these programs without mentioning program names. You might try this now by saying "a religious breakfast program."  If you understand the issue, you might try to fix it on your own. Staff seems embroiled in other issues right now. I think they only help with idled hubs on lack of understanding. You are pretty sharp. Good luck.

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   1. 93

      jansharesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Good idea, brakel2. I will try that. Thanks for the heads up about hp staff.

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4. 0

   Anonymous00posted 11 years ago

   I think that is the only downfall to hosted blogs. You can be cited for infringement much too easily. Not as much control over the content as self-hosting a website.  Just try to re-write the article and submit for publication again. If your unclear as too what maybe contributing to a violation - outline this in the comments field. Hopefully if your declined again, there may be some notes indicating what might need to be changed.

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   1. 93

      jansharesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you, Anonymous00. I definitely need more info about the specific violation. I don't really know if the duplicate content is about the Hunger Fund, the Kwanzaa Kitchen, or H.O.W. Thanks for the tip on adding my comments on the new article to elicit clarification.

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5. 84

   psycheskinnerposted 11 years ago

   It doesn't matter if the other site was written by you or not, only if it is duplicate and will trip the duplicate detector.

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   1. 93

      jansharesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I'm beginning to understand that, psycheskinner, which is why I was so deliberate in changing my own words around that gave the history of the Kwanzaa Kitchen. But perhaps the ideas were similar enough to trip the indicator. I may have to remove specifics about the history.

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      1. 72

         brakel2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Hi Jan Did you see the response from HP staff? If similarity is almost 100%, it may be hard to change it so much without it sounding as if it is spun. The only way it can be different is to completely rewrite it starting from scratch. You might be able to write an article on how programs like this help people and maybe tell a personal story about how it affected one person's life. Just an idea.

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         1. 93

            jansharesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            I just saw it, thanks. It's actually the same article posted on our civic assn website.

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6. 61

   cascolyposted 11 years ago

   when you're not sure if your own writing may be lurking but forgotten in some corner of the web, one quick test is to grab a few sentences and feed them into google.
   
   early on, as i migrated to HP, i removed most of my book reviews from amazon, but when i published hubs based on these reviews they got tagged asdupes -- turns out removing them from amazon.com didnt always get them off some of amazon's other sites .uk, .de etc  in addition, in a few cases, my reviews had been copied onto other websites, so i had to get those cleaned up too.
   
   spinning hubs from existing texts can result in some pretty fractured tales when people use one of the various spin-doctors available online - here's a humorous result of one test:
   
   http://cascoly.hubpages.com/hub/Mass-Ar … Duplicates

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   1. 93

      jansharesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the info, cascoly, I need to post an update. It has worked itself out. There was no illegal activity or spinning involved.

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