The latest Google algorithm metric to hit the web is the number of copyright claims a website or page has had against it. In a way this is similar to how civil court cases often come with a punitive factor that serves to "punish" the offender for its supposed infringement. And while this might seem like a great tool for legitimate webmasters to report sites that steal content, it's also seemingly an efficient tool for black hatters and any enemy you might have - including competitors - to do serious damage to your site.
Copyright Claim as Part of the Google Algorithm - Legitimate Uses
If you find that your content is being used without your permission or is attributed incorrectly or not at all, Google has rolled this new metric out to aid in weeding out sites that steal or misuse content; by weeding out we mean being penalized in the SERPs. (Search Engine Results Page) The search giant is reporting that it has already incorporated the new metric as of August 2012, although few reports have surfaced about sites or pages being noticeably hit by this new factor.
Reports can be made via traditional DMCA claims reported to hosts or internet service providers, or reports can be made directly via Google - especially if the page in question is monetized with Google Adsense. The idea behind this is that as more and more people file claims against the same pages, those pages will subsequently show up lower and lower in the search results. Designed as a tool to help content owners and webmasters control rampant plagiarism and copyright violation problems on the web, it's likely however that there will be more illegitimate uses of this new metric than there will be good use of it - at least initially.
Copyright Claim as Part of the Google Algorithm - Illegitimate Uses
As if there aren't enough tools for unscrupulous people to attempt to take down your site already - mostly referred to as "negative SEO tools" - this algorithm metric is almost certainly already being wielded improperly by criminals and spammers worldwide. False reports can be filed against your site, causing a massive amount of work to be done in order to respond to those complaints and issue counter complaints, provide proof of content ownership and authenticity and so on. This can become extremely time consuming, and once your site has been penalized it can take weeks or even months to resolve. In the meantime, your rankings, traffic and sales will suffer.
The new metric will also likely be abused by people who are in fact stealing content, but issue counter claims when you file a report. Ultimately these counter claims lead nowhere, but they will cost you time and valuable rankings that may be difficult to regain. And because it can sometimes be difficult to prove that you created and own a piece of content unless you have taken specific steps to protect it, the damage can be done even if you are completely in the right.
This algorithm change was made in good faith, but it appears to be just another weapon in the arsenal of those who practice negative SEO - organic search ranking practices made to appear to originate from your site that are against the terms of service of Google. In fact, if you syndicate content or publish anywhere besides your own blog, thieves, crooks and competitors can make claims to those sites who will in most cases immediately take the content down out of fear of being punished under the DCMA.
If you suspect you're a victim of this or any other negative SEO tactic, call the number at the top of your screen now for an immediate consultation, backlink profile examination, and content copyright advice. We can help you get back the rankings you deserve using only white hat SEO, but we can't do anything if you don't call.
