It never fails to amaze me how some people can be so stubborn when it comes to duplicate content.  Google has undergone quite a few changes lately and one of these big changes is how they deal with duplicate content.  In the Google forums and discussion boards it is quite understood that duplicate content is routinely weeded out by the Google search filters.  What happens when Google finds a piece of duplicate content?  It usually is either not included at all (it may be included or not with a site command search (site:www.yourdomain.com) but it will not show when searched for) or it will be ranked so far down as to basically get zero traffic.

Being that Google is the largest search engine by far and that it controls more traffic than all the other search engines put together (multiplied by 2 according to some sources) that means that if you have duplicate content you are just adding worthless pages.  Then, to make matters worse, Google may even reduce your sites trust value depending on the extent of the duplicate content.  So, duplicate content can easily be more detrimental to your website than beneficial.  So, why is it that so many people still participate in adding duplicate content?  Just look at this reply I made on the Google Discussion Boards (my username is Bluegill01):

http://groups.google.com/group/Google_Webmaster_Help-Indexing/browse_thread/thread/d74a876b9f055c7b

In my reply I just pointed out the obvious.  The person asking for help was wondering why their posts were not showing up in Google search and it was hurting them - apparently they are dependent upon the advertising money.  So, with a quick check by using Copyscape (a free tool and website that quickly identifies plagiarism and duplicate content on the web) I found that a good portion of this persons website and posts were heavily plagiarized from TMZ!  Now, it's quite obvious that Google does not like duplicate content and so I stated this and what was their response?  Somehow I am an idiot and they just wanted technical information.

Apparently they think that regardless of how duplicate their content might be they will rank well and get good traffic if they just fix the technicals on their website.  This would have helped a few years back, but now it won't matter much.  If your site is mostly plagiarized, duplicate or rewritten content (still plagiarized) then you will suffer the consequences of low rankings and little if any traffic.  What also amazed me is that later on in the thread the same individual that called me an idiot went on to say that he has tons of original content and that he hires or paid for 3 writers - well in this case I would definitely ask for my money back as all they did then was copy content straight from TMZ and maybe change a line here or there (not good for SEO and traffic generation). 

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All of the knowledgable people that responded to this thread on the Google discussion boards pretty much responded in the same way as I did with the number 1 recommendation being that they take the time to add unique content and stop with the duplicate crap.  Yes, they had some other issues too, but the duplicate content was the biggest part of it.  And, you know what?  It isn't just this one guy doing it.  Every day there are hundreds of people with the exact same duplicate content problems and they all wonder why their website is not ranking as well as it did or why it is receiving less traffic and so on... 

The basic rule is this - unique and valuable content is king and then quality (natural gotten) links are queen.  Paid links and exchanged links are a no no.  Linking schemes, link farms and heavy cross linking are also bad.  Yes some websites still rank high due to some serious crosslinking, but rest assured Google will eventually get them and they will rank back where they belong and maybe get a penalty to boot.  If you have some scoundrel or black hat moron that is outranking you in a certain niche or search and they are using black hat techniques (extensive cross linking between their own sites, hidden keywords and links, paid links, doorway pages, etc...) then report them using the link in your Google Webmaster Tools.  Google will not get them immediately, but with the next fine tuning and update of their search algorithms they will probably get nabbed.

Now that you know what works and what doesn't work, spread the word.  Hopefully more people will get the message that basically to rank well you need to add value to the web.  You cannot just scrape other people's sites and plagiarize hoping for some easy money.  Those days are going, going, gone.  The best advice out there is to give advice and opinions from your own experience.  Be sure to insert your opinions and don't be afraid to stir up the pot with a little controversy.  And as always - think outside the box.  With so much out there that you can write about there is no need for duplicate content anyway! 

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Just think about it for a few seconds - there are at least 20 different conspiracy theories with JFK's assassination - what is your take on it?  Why did the secret service clean out the presidential limosine with a bucket prior to its being examined?   How about the recent global temperature and weather changes?   What are your opinions on the Stock market crash of 2008?  Why is Russia suddenly looking like it wants to renew the Cold War with the United States?  Is the Bird Flu calming down or do doctors and researchers see MRSA (antibiotic resistant bacteria) as a far worse problem?  Should marijuana be made legal in the U.S.?  What are your thoughts on hypnosis?  Ghosts and paranormal activity?  The list of things one can write unique content about is virtually endless. 

So, bottom line, there is no need for duplicate or plagiarized content.  This is not college and you are not going to be able to get by with cheating here (Google will catch you eventually and may even give you the Google smackdownor penalty).  It just blows my mind that so many people still go to sites like Ezinearticles and other places and copy their content and then post it on their sites hoping for an onslaught of traffic.  You may get some, but it will be short lived.  Instead, do youself and your readers justice by providing value.  Besides, who wants to read badly rewritten content anyway?  Hopefully now enough people will read this so that I and the other members at the Google Discussion Boards won't be stuck with question after question dealing with duplicate content.