Is there a penalty for duplicating a website ??

I have been all over the map today and have found out that 2 people have stolen all of my coding from one of my sites

Is it possible google would have de indexed me because of this?

 

Have they stolen the content or the coding?

There isn't a duplicate content penalty in Google. Google chooses which page to include in the index and excludes the others. Usually the first indexed page is identified as the orginal. But this isn't always the case.

 

They stole both

 

Definately can be a problem. Yahoo and MSN choose the first indexed page as original but Google gives credit to the page with the most juice.

 

if you are talking about duplicate content then google will probably penalize the duplicate ones.

 

Sometimes it might not be a matter to worry about, using content protection services can be one solution.

 

If you were indexed 1st then their rank would decrease if not you are in trouble.

 

It depends to what lengths they have taken to copy your site.

Read this
http://www.seofaststart.com/blog/google-proxy-hacking

 

Thanks for the link. The article was very helpful and it will be interesting to see what other solutions come about.

 

Imitation is the best form of flattery. Just out-content them ;-) They can only fake it so long.

 

I have seen occassions where more than 5/6 SERP belonged to similar contecnts from different sites. So I would say this cannot be a harm to your site in any way.

 

They stole everything, every page and have not changed 1 word...

It appears my google ranking has returned for most terms which is a relief, now just the legal end which I am working with an attorney to resolve