Some bloggers spend too much time worrying about scraping, a form of content theft. I prefer to call it what it is - plain and simple, it is theft.
Content scrapers typically subscribe to your RSS feeds then use automatic posting software to post your content on their blogs and websites alongside Google AdSense ads in hopes of profiting off of your content. Some of them actually make a pretty decent amount of money through this practice even though it is unethical and, technically, illegal. Because content scrapers have ways of maintaining their anonymity, it is virtually impossible to ever prove that someone stole your content and that makes suing them for damages next to impossible. Should you even worry about it?
There are two types of scrapers. Some scrapers take your articles from article directories and do not include a link back to your blog or website as is generally acceptable. In addition to attempting to profit from your content they do not even give you the credit for creating it, making them guilty of a double sin. Other content scrapers will take your content and at least link back to your website with an attribution link. They still include the AdSense ads next to the cotnent, but I find this kind of content scraper less of a threat because the search engines know that your content was on your site first and will give you the credit for that by indexing your content in their search engines. The content scraper is banking on you following the link from the back end of your blogging platform and clicking on an ad or approving their trackbacks and profiting off of your visitors clicking through to their websites from your blog.
I have a way of dealing with that second type of content scraper. I don’t approve their trackbacks. That effectively gives me an inbound link from their website (which won’t help me much if any at all because their website likely will not be crawled), but it also does not give them the reciprocal link they were hoping for and therefore cutting off the only hope of traffic that they may get. In order for them to profit from scraping my content then is to market that content themselves and they are not likely to put forth the time and energy to do that. Therefore, I kill their profits.
To me, it’s a waste of time to worry too much about content scrapers beyond that because I just end up eating away my time, which cuts down on my profits. If they make a little bit of money from my content then it’s no big deal. They are likely not getting rich from my content. They may make a few dollars each month and that’s about it. Content scrapers make their money through a numbers game by stealing thousands of web pages’ content and using AdSense to profit from the totality of their theft. I believe it’s just a matter of time before the search engines address the issue and stamp it out. I’m not all that worried about it.
What Is Content Aggregation?
On the positive side of things, content aggregators use RSS feeds from various sources to populate their web pages with content. They may or may not profit from this activity, but since it is considered legal and ethical it doesn’t matter if they do. Aggregators usually have the permission of the content owners whose feeds they aggregate. They may be niche oriented or general in nature, but content aggregators do not pose a problem for content creators. They always link back to the original source and give attribution where necessary. That is the difference between a content aggregator and a content scraper.
The content aggregator can be good for your business. It’s another way for you to market your content and attract new visitors to your website. The most popular blog aggregator online is Technorati. I am a member of a content aggregator that specializes in literary content as well. There may be content aggregators for your industry. I’d encourage you to find suitable content aggregators and join so that you can expand your reach into the online marketplace. And don’t spend too much time worrying about scrapers.
