How to Detect Duplicate Content and Deal With Content Scrapers

Content scrapers have been popular on the blogging scene for a while now, and many bloggers creating good content have encountered them. In this practice, bloggers steal content from their RSS feeds and post it as new posts without mentioning the original author. Whereas some scrapers use manual means to scrape, many automate copy and pasting on their websites.

Despite the fact that scraping is negative and bad for the web, there are inherent link-building opportunities in it. Every blogger needs to know how to take advantage. This article gives you tips on how to find sites scraping from you and how to either benefit or take them down.

How to Track Content Scrapers

Content scrapers have come of age; most of them have different techniques to scrape content from your site without you knowing. One of the most effective manual ways to catch them in the act is by carrying out a Google search for the topics you write on your blog. However, the results of this are limited to a couple of Google results. Here are some of the automated ways to catch content scrapers on your website.

• Duplicate content checker: PlagSpotter is an effective tool you can use to detect those sites that steal content from you. It’s a search engine that crawls the web for all forms of content. You can determine who has stolen content from you by merely testing a URL’s path. With a premium membership, you can discover what pages have been copied and so on.

• Having trackbacks: Trackbacks can help you detect direct scrapers who steal content from your website. Ideally, the trackbacks will give you paths to websites that have stolen the content from your website. These trackbacks are more common on WordPress compared to other CMS’s. However, just because you have trackbacks on your website doesn’t mean you will rank well or benefit from the link. The secret is in linking within the site with rich anchor text that can give you link juice when scraped.

• Google webmaster: The Google webmaster tool is a great resource for discovering scrapers for your site content. You need to check within the sites linking to you, and, if these site links come from regular posts, then it could mean these are either die-hard fans of your blog, social followers or scrapers.

• Google Alerts: The Google Alerts are some of the most effective ways to discover those who scrape content from you. Setting alerts for topics you write about can enable you to detect such publishers as soon as they put the posts up. This can help you discover scrapers at work and take action.

How to Get the Links from Scrapers

When scrapers steal your content, there are a number of things you can do to benefit, especially if you run your site on WordPress. The RSS footer plugin can enable you to get the credit you deserve for the content you create. In the process, the content can also give you a number of link backs to your website. 

How to Deal with Scrapers

Scrapers have discovered ways of living off the sweat of others without giving credit. This means that you have to take them down. For sites that are hosted, the hosts are the best people to contact for a take down. The DMCA is another take down function route you can take to ensure your authentic work benefits you.

Have you had to deal with content scrapers? How did you handle the situation?

Stanley Harpers is a freelance tech writer.

photo credit: ♔ Georgie R