The implications of creating a site that re-uses content from many sources seems to me to be something that is actually quite commonplace.  News aggregator sites for example pull in RSS feeds from other news sites, re-use content from press releases, and run stories across multiple sites.  In the travel business, there are hundreds of sites that have licensed the Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, or Columbus Guide content for their own websites.  In these cases, the companies are paying a license fee to the the original publishers to place duplicate content on their sites.

I wanted to find out what the implications are for duplicate content and how Google and other search engines actually treat duplicate content.  This is what I have discovered:

1. Only use content that is Creative Commons, CopyLeft, Opensource, or otherwise not copyrighted.  If you are going to use copyrighted material, be sure to follow the copyright exactly. Although this seems obvious, it is important to remember that by default, all written content is copyrighted unless otherwise stated and NOT the other way around.

2. When using duplicate content, try to rewrite the content or paraphrase the content in order to ensure that it is not exactly the same as the original.  You will probably still need to give the original author credit for the original work.

3. When aggregating RSS feeds, it is always best to notify the original author to let them know what you are doing.  This will avoid any uncomfortable questions about inappropriate usage later.  Be sure to link to the original post along with the article.

Google clearly identifies what it considers to be duplicate content.  These guidelines can be found on Googles Help site.  According to Google, content is considered duplicate when:

content is deliberately duplicated across domains in an attempt to manipulate search engine rankings or win more traffic.

So my question is… if the author of the content has agreed to allow another site to post the content, and the poster has added a link back to the original article, does this count as duplicate?  If the intention is not malicious but rather benign, can Google tell the difference?

In the case of consolidating or aggregating blog posts into a single site (like the Tips from the T-List), here is what Google recommends:

Syndicate carefully: If you syndicate your content on other sites, Google will always show the version we think is most appropriate for users in each given search, which may or may not be the version you’d prefer. However, it is helpful to ensure that each site on which your content is syndicated includes a link back to your original article. You can also ask those who use your syndicated material to block the version on their sites with robots.txt.

I know that Darren Cronian has had experiences in the past with splog sites re-using his content but does anyone have any real evidence that duplicate content issues have had a negative impact on your their blog readership, traffic, reputation, or rankings?

PhoCusWright

Although I didn’t participate in the survey (but would clearly have fit the criteria), I thought I would see how my responses would stack up to the results:

• Seven out of ten (71%) use the Internet to search for travel information, while 41% have taken a virtual tour of a destination, and 38% have built a trip itinerary online; Yes on all counts!

• More than half (58%) cite the “ability to check the best fares/rates” as the most important feature in a travel Web site; Yes again, although I would say that comparing rates (metasearch) is event more important!

• Almost four in ten (37%) report being influenced by personal comments read on social networking or travel advisory Web sites, but they frequent social networking sites such as MySpace.com (56%) and Facebook (30%) more than travel advisory or review sites such as TripAdvisor (14%); Yes again, although MySpace isn’t really my thing.  I get way too much “Be my Friend” spam to bother.  I have to admit that my TripAdvisor use significantly declined after the by out!

• Fully one-third (33%) have authored and posted a travel review online. Yes, definitely!

Okay, so it would appear that all I have proven is that I’m a sucker for new technology and that I’m a statistic.  I don’t mind because it sure makes it easier to market to an audience when you’re part of it.  It’s kind of like buying a present for a friend who is just like you… just buy them something you would really like and you can’t go wrong.

One of the most interesting remarks in the release about the new survey was this line:

“The implications of this work for marketers of travel services are quite profound,” said Peter C. Yesawich, Chairman and CEO of Ypartnership, and co-author of the survey. “They not only suggest the need for a fresh approach to media strategies that will reach this growing audience, but raise provocative questions about the influence of the user-generated content that is now flourishing online.”

It sure is nice to have some industry heavyweights back you up on the importance and impact of user generated content on consumer decision making.  Any organization who feels they are immune or somehow outside of the influence of UGC needs to get their head out of the sand.  The impact of UGC and social computing on your organization and brand, regardless of size or influence, is very real.  If you are not already dealing with the implications, then you will be very soon.

You can purchase the survey at the PhoCusWright or Ypartnership websites.

In an article I wrote back in June 2007 titled “Keeping Travel Agents Relevant” and another article from January 2008 titled “The Value of Travel Agents – Unique Products & Value Add Services” I discussed how travel agents can become relevant again in the eyes of consumers by offering value add services and by specializing in niche travel markets.  In the boston.com article, the author sent requests for proposals to the sites for very specialized trips.  In both cases, the author received messages back that either did not meet his specific requests or seemed “canned”.  The point being, it would seem, that the long tail of travel does not only exist in terms of the desires and needs of the traveler but also in the services and products offered by agents.  If you want to sell everything to everyone then you are going to be competing with the likes of Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, and others who have very deep marketing pockets.  If you specialize, however, then you have a chance to become an expert in your specific market and to sell highly specialized, high margin, and difficult to find products and services.  You may be selling less volume in the case of specialization but the profits from these sales could be much higher because you are not competing on volume.  Bottom line, choose a market direction and go with it, but DO NOT claim you specialize when you do not.  As the author of the Boston.com article discovered, there is nothing more frustrating then sending a request and expecting a specialized response and receiving nothing but a canned packaged or product.

It is hard to tell if these types of match-making services will work in the long-term.  We have seen successful RFP style systems like Elance.com work for business to business type match-making, but travel services can be trickier.  In many circumstances a customer is entrusting an agent with their “dream”, and that takes a lot of trust and, in my opion, a strong personal connection with the agent.

If you have had any experiences using one of the aforementioned services, please let me know.  I’d like to hear your story.

In my opinion there are actually four distinct steps in the travel planning process:

• Dream – This is a visionary step where the traveler dreams about where they might want to go based on their unique travel style and lifestyle preferences.  The dream stage doesn’t necessarily identify specific destinations but rather builds a concept of an ideal holiday in the mind of the traveler.  This dream vacation or holiday becomes the basis for the next step of the travel purchase lifecycle, which is “The Plan”.
• Plan – The planning step takes the criteria derived from the dream step and puts some specific physical constraints on them.  These physical contraints generally don’t include budget but do include best times of year to go, seasonal considerations, access to specific attractions and events or activities.  This step usually involves a considerable amount of research and may include travel guides (both online and offline), blogs, review sites, dmo sites, Wikitravel, World66, and other third party resources.  The traveler will generally be planning an itinerary at this step including things they would like to do or see on their holiday, how long they would like to go, and where they want to go based on their dream.
• Shop/Buy – The shopping step is the first dose of reality in the lifecycle and is also where the bulk of travel abandonment happens.  I don’t have specific research to back up this claim, but I can extrapolate, based on anecdotal research that this is the case.  The shopping step aligns the true costs of the holiday against the planned expectations.  This is also where, if the traveler is willing, the most amount of compromise will happen.  For example, the traveler wants to go to Australia to rock climb Ayers Rock but discovers that airfare is going to cost 10 times more than if they travel to Smith Rock in Oregan which has superb rock climbing.  The question then becomes, is it the rock climbing or Australia that is the primary driver of this dream holiday.  The subsequent decision to purchase airfare to Oregon or to Australia will be based on the traveler’s own prioirties.
• Reminice – The Reminice step is post travel and involves the sharing of the traveler’s experience with others.  This reminice step is becoming more and more important in the travel lifecycle because studies have shown that travelers rely on first person reviews and experience when during the planning and shopping steps.  More and more sites on the web, primarily travel communities are dedicated to facilitating the reminice step and are now starting to include some planning and shopping aspects to their communities in order to monetize this important and increasingly relevant step in the travel purchase lifecycle.

One key issue I have identified over the last couple of years is the disconnect between the steps.  Many new technologies have come down the pipe that help with either one or two of the steps, but for the most part, all three steps are not addressed in one application.  Over the next few posts I will take a look at some sites that addressing the steps in their own way.

The bottom line for me is that it is a dangerous precedent to start applying your brand to products that are completely unrelated to your core offering.  Putting Zuji.com on a can of beans, tube of toothpaste, or a roll of toilet paper, just doesn’t make any sense.  Why would any company, other than the ones that actually make toilet paper, want their brand associated with the wiping of one’s you know what!  Enough with the rant, review the video for your self and let me know what you think.  Good marketing or just a lot of hot air.

Thanks to Tim Hughes for the inspiration.

Phil Caines, Tourism Solutions Executive with Sentias Software Corp. and Stephen Joyce, CEO of Sentias Software Corp. (makers of Rezgo.com) check voice mail during a break at the Online Revealed Conference 2008 held in Calgary, Alberta.

Tom Wilson from Tourism Victoria County, Teri McCulloch from Bay of Fundy, Stephen Joyce from Rezgo.com, William Bakker from Tourism BC, and Jens Thraenhart from Chameleon Strategies provide expert commentary on blogging and user generated content at the first Canadian Blogger Summit held at the Online Revealed Conference 2008.

Tom Wilson from Tourism Victoria County talks about his successes with Blogging while Teri McCulloch from Bay of Fundy, Stephen Joyce from Rezgo.com, William Bakker from Tourism BC, and Jens Thraenhart from Chameleon Strategies provide expert commentary on blogging and user generated content at the first Canadian Blogger Summit held at the Online Revealed Conference 2008.

Stephen Joyce, CEO of Sentias Software Corp. (makers of Rezgo.com) joins other distinguished panelists including Travolution’s Kevin May, and Claude Benard to discuss the real opportunity with blogging and the travel industry at the First International Blogger Summit at PhoCusWright ITB 2008 held in Berlin.

Stephen Joyce, CEO of Sentias Software Corp. (makers of Rezgo.com) joins other distinguished panelists including Travolution’s Kevin May, and Claude Benard to discuss the real opportunity with blogging and the travel industry at the First International Blogger Summit at PhoCusWright ITB 2008 held in Berlin.