Unnecessary Angst over Duplicate Content
I notice several disgruntled Hubbers on Eric's new Hub, saying they're leaving HubPages because of the duplicate content flags.
They seem to be misunderstanding what the dup content flag is all about - either they think they're being penalized, or that the flag means they have to delete the Hub.
I know HubPages prefers original content, but it's a pity if good writers are being driven away from HubPages because they happen to have republished a few of their old articles here.
I have several "dup content" articles on HP - written in my first few weeks here, before I understood why that wasn't a good idea. I know they won't earn as much as my original Hubs - not because of anything HubPages does, but because Google penalizes duplicate articles (which is why HP wants to warn you). I just haven't had the time and energy to rewrite them. It doesn't mean I need to delete them, and some of them are earning a few cents here and there.
I assume the angst is caused by the effect it has on Hubscore, and I sometimes wonder if having a Hubscore is a good idea at all - all it seems to do is divert people's attention away from attracting paying traffic to achieving a high score, which doesn't really have much to do with that.All a person needs to do, is a bit of a rejig, and if it's enough, it'll remove the flag.
It'll be of great benefit for the purposes of SEO for a person to do this.
Relache had a hub of original content republished, without permission, at a lot of other sites. She figured the effort to contact all those sites and have the material taken down would have been greater than doing a rewrite of her article. If I remember correctly, the result was an almost immediate influx of fresh Search Engine traffic.Exactly, Darkside. Ultimately, the dup content flag is there to help us, but people seem to be treating it as some kind of accusation.
That's true and due to some other internet timing (the release of a DVD that went with the hub topic), it was a massive spike in new traffic and some nice scratch to go with it.
HubPages is really clear about what the duplicate content flag means, and it gets re-explained frequently. My own feelings are that if people are so upset over the duplicate content flag that they want to stop using HubPages, I think they should be free to do so. It's sort of "you can lead a human to comprehension but you can't make them think."I'm sitting here laughing long and loud like Jabba the Hutt over that quote.
Just to clarify: I'm not having a hissy fit and removing my content because of the duplicate content flag. It's for other reasons. :-)
But It's interesting to note that you get flagged for duplicate content if your work appears on one or two other sites, yet the HubPages help file says it applies if your work appears on a "Large Number" of other sites.
cheers, Eric G.I think they've tightened things up since they posted that information.
Eric, I wasn't referring to you when I used the word "disgruntled" - I was referring to the two or three other Hubbers who sounded upset in the comments to your "departure" Hub. Although what I was trying to say in my own comments, was that your Hub read exactly like a hissy fit, and made it sound as though the dup content and overly promotional flags were your primary reasons for going.
You can have duplicate text in hubs, and you can have links in hubs. You just can't have duplicate text AND links on the same hub. Without this rule, armies of self proclaimed SEO experts would be cutting and pasting article after article (that they may or may not have written) to HubPages with links to sites they are trying to promote.
I'm sure we turn off some good community members and some new users that might turn into solid contributors with this policy. It's unfortunate, but we feel the benefit of more search engine love and less spam far outweigh the costs.
We are also are very clear about this rule, and provide automatic warnings on the hub as soon as it has been tested (which is typically within an hour or two of being published), but before it is reviewed by our moderation team.I did not understand this point completely. Can someone help, please?
You can't have duplicate text AND outbound links in the same hub.
(At the risk of sounding stupid) Is it okay to have duplicate text in one hub, and links in the other?
I think the policy is completely logical and legitimate. I have a couple of hubs noted as duplicate-- ( dups previously written by me) but that is fine since they are very low in visitation.
I have a choice of what to do about that.
I DO like to know if someone is copying without permission.I just read this and am glad because I didn't understand what the duplicate meant. Now I can fix that.
I'm usually pretty good at both comprehension and thinking (I think, anyway), but in my few instances of getting the "duplicate" warning I did think it was essentially encouragement to either change the material or else remove it. (It was stuff I'd written and, maybe, had on a blog or something like that.)
I had one not long ago that I wrote just for HubPages, and that one showed up as a duplicate. I thought it was because I had written a similar title/similar material thing elsewhere (but each one I'd written "just from my head", rather than "re-working" the first one). Since then, I've learned that it could have meant someone had taken the thing and posted it elsewhere. In the meantime, the second one I'd written is deleted.My problem with duplicate content is that in all cases it has happened to me it has been some other site ripping off my work and then not responding to my emails or posts asking for it to be removed. I do not see why I should rewrite my original, which I may be proud of as it is, nor do I see why Google should penalise me because someone else stole my work! Someone suggested mailing the offending site and threatening them with being reported to Google so I did this and they ignored it!
So...did you follow through and report them to Google? It is not difficult...
No, not yet because I am sure I read that you have to send your complaint via the mail or by fax but not by email. Either way it is more difficult for me seeing as I have no printer and the post office or the nearest fax machine means a trip into town that takes about an hour in all. I don't see why I should have to do all that because someone else stole my work!
I first file a DMCA with the site, then with the internet host of the site and then Google. So far, escalating to filing one with the host has worked, as they often are advertisers with Google and have rules about plagiarism of their own for their clients.
Of course, for me to have to snail mail Google costs a fraction of what it would cost to do so from the Canary Islands so that's always been a still-easy third step...
So from what I'm reading, an article I've previously written and posted elsewhere can also be posted here? If so, do I just ignore the Duplicate flag on my article?
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