Copied-content watch for the Cedwyn research text: exact-phrase checks, then the right response (scraped copies vs our own family mirrors)
Added 31 Oct 2026 (skills harvest 11:46Z). Topic check first: 'copyscape', 'scraper', 'image theft', 'content theft' had 0 hits in INDEX.md and no skill file. Related files already exist and are not repeated here: ebook-piracy-social-drm-takedown-routine.md (pirated PDFs), reverse-image search, link-reclamation-unlinked-mentions-dead-urls.md, syndication-canonical-noindex-medium.md, wayback-snapshot-pages-noindex-canonical-ogl-fair-dealing.md.
What Google states (primary, read 31 Oct 2026)
- Spam policies for Google web search, "Scraped content": abusive scraping is taking content from other sites, often by automated means, and hosting it to manipulate rankings. Examples: republishing without adding original content or value, or without citing the source; copying and lightly modifying (synonyms, automated rewording); reproducing feeds without benefit to the user. Such sites can be ranked lower or removed.
- Same page, "Legal removals": when Google receives a significant volume of valid copyright removal requests about a site, it can demote other content from that site, so the original is more likely to be seen than copies.
- Copyright removal from Search goes through Google's legal form (reportcontent.google.com, DMCA search form). Google's Transparency Report publishes each request and the URLs named, including the requester's name, so a filing is public.
- Practitioner testimony (snippets): Google Search Community thread (2025-26): approved DMCA removals did not take effect at once and a legitimate site lost its own brand query to a copy; the advice was to check which URL Google treats as canonical (URL Inspection). r/SEO PSA: file spam reports and DMCA notices against copying domains; a few reports usually suffice. WebmasterWorld (older): Google sometimes gets source attribution wrong and ranks the copy. No study with measured recovery rates was found, so this skill gives a routine, not a forecast.
Routine (monthly, 10 minutes, free, no install)
- Pick 6 distinctive sentences: 2 from /research/, 2 from /wales/ (one English, one Welsh), 1 from /ebooks/, 1 from an e-book sample. Choose sentences with a date or place name; skip boilerplate.
- Search each as an exact phrase ("...", 8-12 words from mid-sentence). Record every host returned.
- Sort hosts into: (a) ours (cedwyn, other bucklerfamily.estate hosts, the family wiki); (b) allowed copies with a link back (Medium syndication with canonical, Wikipedia citing us, quote with attribution); (c) copies with no link or credit.
- For (a): confirm the duplicate carries rel=canonical to the Cedwyn page or noindex (see the wayback and syndication skills). Our own mirrors competing with each other is the more likely problem than outside copying.
- For (c), in this order: polite request to the site for a credit link (draft only, owner's go); if bulk/automated copying, a Google spam report (no identity disclosed); a DMCA/copyright request to Google only on the owner's go, because the filing and the filer's name become public in the Transparency Report.
- In Search Console, URL-inspect the original page; if Google's chosen canonical is the copy, strengthen ours (internal links, sitemap lastmod, a dated "first published" line) before any legal step.
Measured baseline (31 Oct 2026, 4 exact-phrase searches)
- 1 sentence from /research/ (the Tŷ Mawr recorded-home paragraph): returned only cedwyn /research/ and /wiki/.
- 1 sentence of guidance text on /wales/: returned cedwyn (/docs/ evidence page), directory.bucklerfamily.estate and the family WordPress wiki, all ours.
- 1 Welsh sentence from /wales/ and 1 caption from /research/: no results (not indexed yet, or too new).
- Third-party copies found: 0. The copies found are our own family hosts carrying the same text.
How we apply it to Cedwyn
- Run the routine monthly; log hosts to the project workspace (date, phrase, host, class, action). Takes 6 searches.
- Today's action is internal: the guidance sentence appears on three family hosts. Check canonical/noindex on the directory and wiki copies (proposal for the onpage flywheel; no edit made here).
- Outside copies: credit-link request first; spam report second; copyright filing only on the owner's go (public filing, family name visible).
- Plain language on public pages: never accuse a copying site; a neutral "first published here on
" line is enough. - Gate: if a copy outranks Cedwyn for its own sentence two months running, escalate to the problems queue.
Sources
- developers.google.com (read: scraped content; legal removals)
- support.google.com (read: copyright request data published per URL)
- reportcontent.google.com (form, sign-in required, not used)
- support.google.com (snippet; thread body not loaded)
- reddit.com (snippet)
- webmasterworld.com (snippet, older)
- Own exact-phrase searches, 31 Oct 2026 11:45Z
Raw Markdown: copied-content-watch-exact-phrase-scraped-vs-own-mirrors.md · version and changes: changelog · machine index: agents.json