“Everyone is doing it… just source it on Google and grab images and copy for your own use… who does it really hurt anyway?”
Why is digital plagiarism considered so bad, after all, you’re not physically harming anyone… right?
Online content plagiarism has become an everyday phenomenon and rising rapidly. Google search at our fingertips, has led to easy access to many billions of different sources. The person copying marketing material knows all too well that he or she is engaged in an 'unethical act. Now we all agree that sharing, as well as, link building is recommended online marketing process. The material of another person should be shared for expanded reach and online growth, we certainly support that. But, how can anyone have a right to copy your original piece of creativity for their own benefit without any credit to you as the source?
When you produce a non-plagiarized ‘aka original’ piece of content on the internet, it automatically puts your intellectual property at risk. But, it’s vulnerable because it is open to the world… so anyone can take possibly take it from you, representing it as their own online. Welcome to digital marketing in 2020.
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For instance, at Engage2Excel hired a team which worked hard and developed new content made to assist candidates looking for a job. In this unfair world, a competitor copied their materials and used it for the same purpose. The problem is that their competitor recruited a worker for a job using their exact idea. The other would be appreciated for that and the true creator will not gain the full benefit for it.
This simple example of plagiarism can lead to a loss of new business and customers. Your originality and creativity will no longer remain unique, nor protected with any real enforceability. You can send a cease and desist letter (see below resource) hire an attorney or work with a copyrighting organization with some klout… but this takes and energy for their theft.
“Borrowed thoughts, like borrowed money, only show the poverty of the borrower.”
Can you really prevent plagiarism?
If you think that you can easily and fully prevent plagiarism, then we you are in for a harsh wake up call. This is a reality of the modern digital marketing world. In this age of capitalism, human beings time and again need to be taught ‘basic ethics and business integrity’ which they have lost, forgotten, or never were taught.
People may really like your ideas, and even appreciate it, and then copy it… instead of referencing you. This is a dangerous trend going on these days.
In the early 2000s, the now infamous Winklevoss brothers filed a massive lawsuit against Mark Zuckerberg for copying their concept idea for making The Facebook on the basis of it. Zuck had to pay handsomely at the time for this concept theft and has become one of the richest humans by developing it fully.
Carl Jung said, “the concern is not that the man of today has become more corrupt than his predecessor. But, he has skillful ways with the help of which he has turned into evil. The intellect of a human has increased, but he/she has become morally corrupt.” Wikiquote
Fifty years ago it was nearly impossible to steal money from an extremely secured bank vault. Now, hackers can steal millions of dollars from bank accounts of normal people and secure sites. Crimes have become inevitable and even more corruption.
“There is much difference between imitating a man and counterfeiting him.”
As mentioned above, let us face reality. You cannot yet fully prevent plagiarism. Maybe as AI and computers get more advanced there will be resources to leverage to prevent this from happening fully.
The only way to truly stop it is when you decide to amend your behavior in digital marketing…the choice is yours. If your answer is ‘no way’ then Darwin’s law is followed in this internet jungle, survival of the fittest.
Right now, some would say you need to be hyper-flexible and unstoppable in the business of online digital marketing. Any one who stops may lose the battle.
How can plagiarism affect your business? The copied content from other people is difficult to separate from the first-hand copy. The writers by and large do not know about intellectual property rights. Before we answer the question. Let us ask you, what are the types of plagiarism?
Modification
Modifying the material taken from another website is the most common technique. People also consider it illegal in the world of digital marketing.
Simultaneous Copying
Some writers copy from more than one website to not get caught. One paragraph from one website and the other paragraph from the competitors’.
Unintentional Acts
The world is still filled with honest business people, yes not everyone is a cheater. The more creative writers often use idioms and phrases with a specific style of writing, which might be similar and in some cases be the same with the content of another digital marketer. Google may still consider it plagiarism and this will affect the system of search ranking in accordance with Search Engine Optimization (SEO). If you produce plagiarized content your own results may become hidden and not reaching the top results search page, the originator has won this battle and rightfully they will gain the full benefits online.
How Plagiarism impacts you directly
Let’s review how bad plagiarism can be bad for you, as a creative originator of a new piece of digital marketing content. Someone copies your owned content for their usage as online assets and there is zero reference to you, nor a link back to your work. Google must rank the content for search and will not show the same exact rank in the search results, it is always a hierarchy of pages. If the competitor brand has a higher ranking, used better meta-tags, has more online influence/reach or is a larger brand authority online… you will lose. People searching will find the other’s content before yours most times. You may even appear to be ‘the evil copier’ since the competing site is larger than you online.
This puts you and your copied content in real trouble. You worked hard, although your copier simply stole it from you, again with no source or reference back to you. But, due to the sameness of the article Google does not bring you in the top of the page one in the search results, equaling certain death online.
How to prevent the plagiarism?
Let’s be honest here… this part is not easy. Try to be as original as you can when you write and create marketing content online. Don’t copy full quotes or content blocks, without naming the exact source you pulled them from. Try to name a person or source who was quoted and then relate something back to them, but in your own words. Be aware that quoting exact words may result in consideration by Google that it is plagiarized material… you have been warned.
Do not use too many plagiarism checkers. What if your content is copied? Try to use the plagiarism checker for free online, see the resources below. If you are skilled at html code or have a webmaster you can ask them to do the following:
Use a 301 redirect which helps you connect the duplicate page from the original source. This will make your page most authentic.
Make a habit of using rel=canonical attribute which will inform Google that particular link will be considered as a duplicate to another URL.
Do not use too many plagiarism checkers, try simply using any free plagiarism checker online
Sourcing content and creating truly original is a never-ending and challenging game for digital marketers. For a stable content strategy to work keep on producing content at a sustainable and and constant pace to achieve a higher results rankings on Google. If others are stealing your content online, have a pre-written letter ready to send to them to request they remove it immediately or face legal action. Most times calling them out directly like this, is often enough to have it removed and reminds them of their infringement on your rights. Remember there is an opportunity here to have more backlinks added and sources for your work, so request this also.
Two attributes help any digital marketers to arrive at the top of the rankings on search engines… due to their own creative originality and sincere patience in the process.
So get out there… be original, and earn the top online reputation you deserve!
Related Resources:
Plagiarism & Academic Integrity: Citing Direct Quotes
4 common ways to use a cease and desist letter - Legal Zoom
This post created as a collaboration with Matheo Walker and Jared Brick. Content is owned by Brick House Media Co All Rights Reserved © bhmedia.co • 2020
