Since I wrote this article I’ve found that Google doesn’t filter duplicate content all that aggressively. They’ll deindex or filter blatant copying, such as scrapping Wikipedia. Beyond that, it’s basically the authority of the domain that matters and multiple sites can rank well using essentially the same content if Google’s algorithms think that the sites in question have keyword authority.

Content gets borrowed for rewrites all the time. No where is this more evident than in the echo chamber that is the “Make Money Online Blogging” niche. There is very little original material.

In niche blogging, you may not be an expert in the subject matter at hand so a rewrite of an existing article is one of your least expensive options.

People copying your content can give you some links although the quality of these links may not be all that good. There is also a risk that somebody with a site with more authority than your’s could rank higher than you or push you into supplemental results.

I have linked to an article I wrote a while back, turning the issue on its head and encouraging people to copy my content. Does that basic premise still apply today, or has Google made everyone over protective of their own work in the name of ever changing SEO etiquette?

It really depends on a number of factors how much of a re-write you have to do in order to avoid penalties. 70% different is the general rule although there are apparently loopholes in this.

Anything that breaks up the pattern should work to avoid the duplicate penalty. Remember that it gets broken up into 5 to 8 word chunks so that’s the level you should concentrate on. You might be able to retain “70% sure” but the 5 or 6 words on either side of it would be what would affect the document’s ‘fingerprint’.

I guess the trick is to use words that don’t really mean the same thing! for example: using “70% sure” instead of “absolutely certain” - do you think that would work?