You might have seen the news that Google is rolling out a new algorithm to detect and remove duplicate content.
You can read more here: http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/110225-125210


But I thought it would be wise to discuss and clarify what "Duplicate Content" is when it pertains to us as affiliates and content creators.

So whether you are an affiliate or a sponsor, I hope this thread is of use.

In the mainstream world, duplicate content is simply the use of written content seen by Google in multiple locations. This can be articles from places like Ezine, copied and pasted words from other sites and simply content that is very similar to that found on other sites.

In the adult world, this primarily means scene descriptions. For us, the primary concern will be the use of scene descriptions provided by sponsors for use on blogs to promote their material.

So why is this suddenly a problem for us?
As Google has long warned, their intention is to present original content suited to a search query. They've stated this over and over; Original content is vital. Until now, their efforts to combat duplicate content have been limited and flawed. Many bloggers and site owners have been able to bypass the duplicate content filters by gaining more links or employing suspect SEO methods to outweigh it.

But probably not any more. This new algorithm is predicted to remove 11.8% of sites from Google results. That might not seem too drastic for the majority, but consider how many sites there are, and how many of those sites are going to be retail or affiliate sites and blogs with identical copy to describe the scenes or products. Suddenly, we're looking at a major chunk of the internet.

For bloggers, this simply means that you'll probably need to go in and remove all that copypasta you've used. If it came with a sponsor update, it needs to go. Thousands of others have used it too, and they'll be in the same positions as you. So now you're back in competition to see who can get that copied text gone and replaced, and secure that top spot once again on the next Google shuffle.

But this affects sponsors too. How?
Some sponsors use the same content on their own site when they send an affiliate update. Yeah, you'd think they'd know better. New blog updates show up in Google very quickly compared to standard site updates, so by sending that out and allowing it to be seen by the Google monster they're losing the value of that copy when they add it to their site, and they're adding to the negative weight Google will find there.
In addition, many run their own blogs, but again they use the same written content on both their blog and their pay-site. Doh!

The most simple way to look at this is... every time a person writes about something (anything) there should be no copy/paste involved. It's that simple.

While many of us cannot predict what Google will do, or if they'll do it right, one thing remains a constant; original content is indeed vital.

I'm seeing my position change on new blogs daily. And I discovered three of my blogs (running for less than two months) are now on the first page in Google Blog search for several keywords. And that's with approximately 10 links in, mild on-page SEO in copy only, and plenty of original content.

What are your thoughts on the new Google algorithm? Have you seen any changes in your organic traffic?