How To Fight Content Theft: Plagiarism Detection Tools
It’s hard work to create original content.
Fortunately, there’s a simple way to make sure that your words aren’t being used on someone else’s website without your permission.
When it comes to to detecting plagiarism and other forms of content piracy, you have several choices — from simple copy/paste plagiarism checkers, to more advanced anti-piracy software.
Which plagiarism detection tool is right for you? (Tweet This!)
Manual Plagiarism Checkers
Manual plagiarism checkers are used to check for plagiarized versions of content one page or one article at a time.
Try using Google’s standard search function or Google Reader to see if your content (or parts of it) show up anywhere else on the Internet.
Or, try a manual plagiarism-detection service specifically designed to search for a block of matching content, one article at a time. A simple Google search will turn up many free tools that can be used for this purpose.
Sites that benefit most from this type of service? Manual plagiarism checkers are ideal for sites with a small number of articles. Drawback? A manual process can get unwieldy for a site that publishes a great deal of content.
Advanced Plagiarism Detection Tools
Instead of searching for duplicate content one page at a time, you can use an automated service to continuously monitor and protect your content.
In addition to automation, advanced plagiarism-detection services typically offer sophisticated custom features that can be very useful.
As an example, iCopyright’s infringement detection service, Discovery™ lets you determine what qualifies as matching content. You can look for matches that exceed a minimum number of words or a certain percentage of the original, or exclude sites where you know you’ll find a match — where you have syndicated content, for instance.
The ability to use advanced settings such as these, helps to identify suspects that may require further attention without wasting time on insignificant matches.
Sites that benefit most from this type of service? Blogs and websites that have lots of content and produce content on a regular basis. For many, the peace of mind that comes with continuous detection of duplicate content is worth the modest cost of protection.
Bottom Line?
The right plagiarism detection tool can help keep your site free from the negative effects of plagiarism and duplicate content. Fortunately, there’s a tool for every budget:
- Manual tools are a free, win-win solution for smaller content creators
- Advanced tools provide added benefits for sites with more content to protect, at a modest additional cost
Have you tried any tools to uncover plagiarism and duplicate content? What did you find? Do you regularly check for copies of your work, or is it an intermittent habit?
Let us know in the comments!
Next Up: Removing Duplicate Content
No matter which plagiarism tool you choose, it’s important to protect your work.
Once duplicate, infringing content has been identified, it needs to be removed quickly, in a way that doesn’t consume your valuable time.
We’ll cover remedies for plagiarism and content theft, using the DMCA Take down notice, in our next post.