Matt Cutts took to the Webmaster YouTube channel, to answer another user’s question:
“How does Google handle duplicate content and what negative effects can it have on rankings from an SEO perspective?”
Cutts focused on users not needing to think too much into duplicate content when it comes to quoting and linking to other blogs, as "25% - 30% of the the web’s content is duplicate content, and that’s okay." He stated that Google treat duplicate content as something that needs to be clustered appropriately to ensure correct ranking. So, if a site is solely duplicating content in a manipulative manner, Google reserves the right to take action on spammy activity. All this said, if you have identical pages on your site, then this can create confusion for search engines, which we discuss in this article about duplicate content.
On that Google note, it was nice to see the upping of Christmas spirit with a new Google card for “Let’s go caroling”. Try it out for yourself and you’ll get a variety of different carols you can sing along to.
Since I mentioned Instagram Direct last week, I’ve noticed quite a few mixed views voiced on Twitter about the future of the feature. Although I have updated my app, I still haven’t tried it out, which says a lot as I have been Snapchatting. Maybe It’s a grower? Either way, I did enjoy the humorous illustration by The Joy of Tech. It’s true, there are far too many choices when it comes to sharing images.
Thinking back to last month, do you remember how you felt when you watched the John Lewis advert? You know, the one with the adorable bear and hare. If you thought that was emotional, the tech world have gone and joined in. Get your handkerchiefs out for the latest Apple advert. The advert plays looks at the typical boy always on his phone, but this time he's "mistaken", as at the end of the ad he surprises his family with a video montage of their lovely Christmas memories. It certainly had me teary-eyed!
