Hmmmm...Can We Stop this Duplicate Content Debate?

A little while back, I posted an entry to my FAQ entitled, "Does Duplicate Content Get You Banned?" I was speaking from the perspective of using reprint and PLR articles in an original website. I said I'd been doing it for years and felt no ill effects. Some people expressed they felt that was going to change and people should beware of using duplicate content.

I just read an article at Web Pro News called Duplicate Content Jeopardizes Your Site, which is a summary of what was discussed by search engine representatives at the SES in New York. Since much of the info David A. Utter shares in his article came straight from the horse's mouth, I am actually paying attention because I'm tired of people debating about things they aren't really sure about (and yeah...even I don't know the answers to it all! LOL).

Is it just me, but I don't see any reference to people using articles that may appear on other websites? They talk about carbon copy websites, linking, multiple landing pages and redirecting. And much of the duplication issues seem to surround having the same content within a single site.

And as written in the article, some wise words from Google's Matt Cutts:

"Honest site owners often worry about duplicate content when they don't really have to," Google's Cutts said. "There are also people that are a little less conscientious." He also noted that different top level domains, like x.com, x.ca, are not a concern.

A site that has an article broken into multiple sections, and also a printer-friendly version that contains all of those sections, likewise aren't cause for worry.

Cutts did emphasize the importance of consistent internal linkage as Baillie did. For example, if a site uses www., it should be used everywhere on a site, or nowhere on the site.

So, if you want to live in fear, I guess there's nothing I can do about it...but I'm going to keep on keeping on! :-)