Competitor site copied my blogposts!

Discussion in 'Copywriting' started by sweetangel, Sep 29, 2007.

  1. #1
    Help pls.

    I have a site for Jessica Alba which my own blogposts were being copied by another Jessica Alba fansite which currently ranks #1 spot in google.

    What will I do?

    I posted these posted before she did and it was really mine as I have hired my own blogger.
     
    sweetangel, Sep 29, 2007 IP
  2. sirion

    sirion Peon

    Messages:
    165
    Likes Received:
    3
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #2
    If you can prove that your entries were online first, then simply make a complaint over at blogger.com I believe most blogspot accounts have a bar at the top of the page with links, I believe one of them allows you to report the site.
     
    sirion, Sep 29, 2007 IP
  3. sweetangel

    sweetangel Peon

    Messages:
    1,383
    Likes Received:
    27
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #3
    its not from blogger, actually
     
    sweetangel, Sep 29, 2007 IP
  4. sirion

    sirion Peon

    Messages:
    165
    Likes Received:
    3
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #4
    My apologies, I read blogposts incorrectly, I thought it read blogspot. Obviously I haven't had enough coffee this morning.
     
    sirion, Sep 29, 2007 IP
  5. Boulder

    Boulder Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    806
    Likes Received:
    46
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    118
    #5
    Start by contacting site owner and asking them directly to take your blog posts off of their website.. The response you get from them after doing this will help you to to further decide the next approach to take.. The next step, depending on their response, may include contacting their ISP service provider..

    Boulder
     
    Boulder, Sep 29, 2007 IP
  6. sweetangel

    sweetangel Peon

    Messages:
    1,383
    Likes Received:
    27
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #6
    oh thanks boulder, I will surely do that!
     
    sweetangel, Sep 29, 2007 IP
  7. LayLifeScience

    LayLifeScience Peon

    Messages:
    77
    Likes Received:
    2
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #7
    If the competitor refuses to take down your content, do the following steps:

    1. Do a Whois on the domain.
    2. Issue a Cease and Desist Letter. Templates could be found around the Internet. Here's an example.
    3. If they still don't remove your conent, contact the blog's host and report stolen content.
    4. If the host asks you to provide proof that you had upped the content first, go to the Internet Archive and use the wayback machine. If the wayback machine fails you, check if you have dated documents of your content in your PC (files which haven't been modified since the time you posted the content).
     
    LayLifeScience, Sep 29, 2007 IP
    Analyst likes this.
  8. jhmattern

    jhmattern Illustrious Member

    Messages:
    8,909
    Likes Received:
    794
    Best Answers:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    455
    #8
    LayLifeScience has it covered pretty well. I normally give them 48 hours to remove it before contacting the host.

    First I'd ask this.... are you 100% sure that the blogger you hired didn't just steal their content? Just be sure first.

    Other things you can do if they don't remove it (I'd do these before contacting the host):

    Contact the major search engines with every URL of their copied content (have to be specific), so you get those pages deindexed b/c they're ranking higher than yours.

    Contact their advertisers with the proof. If they're using an ad network, they'll likely be suspended. If they're using private advertisers, they'll likely lose some.

    Hit them where it hurts, and they'll be much less likely to do it again. They can always get new hosting. You can't always get new advertisers or rankings.
     
    jhmattern, Sep 29, 2007 IP
  9. Analyst

    Analyst Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    623
    Likes Received:
    17
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    155
    #9
    Thirded LayLifeScience
     
    Analyst, Sep 29, 2007 IP
  10. Slincon

    Slincon Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    1,319
    Likes Received:
    44
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    180
    #10
    welcome to my world, I have a very similar problem:
    1) My competitors copy whole parts of some of my copy on articles I write. This is flat out illegal, but these idiots keep doing it. It's about 2 sentences of copying that they always take but still.

    2) This is the worse one, a competitor takes my copy, and rewrites it but using the same structure as what I wrote, so they reword every sentence with different words ("I eat vegetables", they use "Food is what I eat"). They do it sentence for sentence, so there's no way it's just a coincidence - and then some sentences are directly copied from me and yet I get spidered first, and they still manage to outrank me - even when they flat out copy my article and I'm spidered by google for it, they manage to get ranked #1 for the dupe content (which is a mystery to me since Google already recognizes that it was on my site first).

    In your case I'd recommend sending them a letter to stop. Tell them they're breaking your copyrights.
     
    Slincon, Sep 29, 2007 IP
  11. sweetangel

    sweetangel Peon

    Messages:
    1,383
    Likes Received:
    27
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #11
    I have contacted them and they apologized, they really copy it word for word and even the expressions of my blogger.

    So she just put my link on every post she copied as a source and in return it will greatly benefit me as she's the #1 in google and will share her traffic, so that would be fine.
     
    sweetangel, Sep 29, 2007 IP
  12. webmasterlabor.com

    webmasterlabor.com Peon

    Messages:
    2,889
    Likes Received:
    76
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #12
    I'm glad it worked out alright at the end. How were you able to determine that you were copied? Just random google checks on key phrases?

     
    webmasterlabor.com, Sep 29, 2007 IP
  13. jhmattern

    jhmattern Illustrious Member

    Messages:
    8,909
    Likes Received:
    794
    Best Answers:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    455
    #13
    You're really OK with that??? They stole your articles. They're ranking higher than you are for them. And you're saying that you're ok giving them all of that free content on the hopes that you'll get some traffic to your what now looks like copied content (when franky all of their traffic from search rankings for those articles should be yours; not a portion)?? That's not smart in the slightest. Adding a credit link doesn't make copying right or legal, and the SEO benefit you feel you're getting is completely misguided because of the simple fact that they're ranking higher than you. All you had to do was report them as the copy to the search engines and have their content de-indexed... it's easy. I have to say I'm a bit shocked by the lack of reasoning in this case. Now you'd be stuck anyway since you granted permission, but moving forward, think these things through more before doing that. You're hurting your site; not helping it.
     
    jhmattern, Sep 30, 2007 IP
  14. sweetangel

    sweetangel Peon

    Messages:
    1,383
    Likes Received:
    27
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #14
    thanks a lot jhmattern, I'm really no good with seo and that's what I have understand so far. and yes what happens was they copied my daily postings and just put my link as a source which I thought would benefit me. I'll contact them again to stop copying.

    yes webmasterlabor, they admitted that they were copying my daily posts and put it on their site coz they thought it was ok.

    search jessica alba, and the site next to imdb was the one I'm talking about. their news aside from picture updates were from my site. my site ranks #15 on the second page
     
    sweetangel, Sep 30, 2007 IP
  15. LayLifeScience

    LayLifeScience Peon

    Messages:
    77
    Likes Received:
    2
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #15
    I can't believe they know enough about SEO to rank number 2 and not know it is NOT okay to duplicate other people's content. Anyhow sweetangel, I really think it's best if you ask them to stop copying your content because clearly, they're not being penalized by Google and you're the one getting the lower ranking.
     
    LayLifeScience, Oct 1, 2007 IP
  16. fathom

    fathom Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    532
    Likes Received:
    25
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    120
    #16
    You really shouldn't mess around with "nicities"... if they were nice they would have at least ask permission so they wouldn't be a theft.

    You want to hit this from all angles a C&D to the owner, and Takedown notices to host, and all search engines.

    Review Google, Yahoo, and MSN DMCA claim procedures and generate DMCA Complaints ‘takedown orders’ for Google, Yahoo, and MSN.
    Generate a DMCA Complaints ‘takedown orders’ for the hosting service provider.

    Reviewing to see if they are on the Online Service Provider Designated Agents list - protected by DCMA Title II
    If not listed (not protected) which means they may or may not comply with take down order.

    Proof all DMCA complaints for errors.
    Fax, Register Mail, Courier (and where applicable email) all recipients at the same time.
    Google.com F: (650) 963-3255)
    Yahoo.com F: (408) 349-7821 or eMail:
    MSN.com F: (425) 936-7329 or eMail:
    Hosting Online Service Provider
    Alleged Infringer
    ...and good to prepare a version for Chilling Effects and your own website and post (exclude all private contact information). This measure aids to curb future infringement. (making a reference with your usual copyright statement will get noticed pretty quickly).

    On receipt of responses, append to original on your website.

    On the SEO side:

    From "to have a link" or to have "an original version" is easy... the domain with an original version (the only version) wins... the moment a copy is on the web (your version is worth less) and the link you got is "worthless" because it's a copy pointing to the original.
     
    fathom, Oct 1, 2007 IP
  17. cookiemon007

    cookiemon007 Banned

    Messages:
    136
    Likes Received:
    1
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #17
    Try to e-mail Google and contact the site owner...

    Maybe he/she is also a fanatic of Jessica Alba and lazy to create his/her own article so the person just copied it from others....:D
     
    cookiemon007, Oct 1, 2007 IP
  18. Blogspotter

    Blogspotter Notable Member

    Messages:
    2,327
    Likes Received:
    285
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    #18
    How unique can a Jessica Alba Site get? All celebrity sites recycle the same stuff again and again don't they. I mean unless you are a Paparazzi or a Investigative journalists, you won't have too good unique contents either.... Just a thought...

    I would politely ask the copier to at least change the content :) though
     
    Blogspotter, Oct 1, 2007 IP
  19. Perry Rose

    Perry Rose Peon

    Messages:
    3,799
    Likes Received:
    94
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #19
    If it is a simple blog piece, a hosting co. or Google isn't going to step in. Let's get real here.

    Getting her to put your url in that piece landed up being in your favor!

    Offer her more of your work in exchange to have your url in them.

    You see, sometimes having your content stolen is a good thing. lol

    This is a good example on why I advise Webmasters to ask them to put the url in their work, instead of doing things that, in all likelihood will not work.

    If it is the entire site, or part of it, that would be different.
     
    Perry Rose, Jan 27, 2008 IP
  20. jhmattern

    jhmattern Illustrious Member

    Messages:
    8,909
    Likes Received:
    794
    Best Answers:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    455
    #20
    Wrong Perry. Google does step in; so do hosting companies... and yes, for "simple" blog pieces. I've had it done more than a few times, and responses are usually pretty quick, whether it's to have an Adsense account suspended, content de-indexed, or content removed by the host.
     
    jhmattern, Jan 27, 2008 IP