Search engines DO penalize for duplicate content. But it isn't as simple as using the words duplicate content because there are acceptable uses and unacceptable uses.

Now, some of the sellers of Replicated sites will tell you that there is nothing to be concerned about. They quote a Google official who stated that honest website owners did not need to be concerned about duplicate content. They try to use this as a means of justifying the sale of multiple copies of identical sites.

Here's the problem the buyer of a replicated website may be an honest person trying to earn an honest buck. But the person who sold them a replicated site without warning them about the real issues with duplicate content is NOT honest. And their dishonesty means the buyer will get the blame, and the consequences!

Google and other search engines penalize duplicate content to prevent three situations:

1.Something called scraping, where someone uses a computer to spider the web and actually duplicate website content from the ground up. They may actually replicate your entire site. This is a violation of copyrights, so Google bans sites that do this, giving the search engine traffic to the site that is the oldest.

2.Precisely to prevent people from using replicated sites. You see, a replicated site does not just have identical content, it has identical EVERYTHING. Filenames, page tags, colors, layout, content, everything! Top to bottom the page code is identical. And when Google talks about not having to worry too much about duplicate content, this is NOT what they are telling you not to worry about. This is EXACTLY what they are trying to prevent! This is a shortcut, it provides nothing new to the information archives online, and they will penalize you and ban the site, if they even index it in the first place. Anyone who has used one will confirm this (except those who are selling them, who insist on touting them as a shortcut that will take all the work out of it). I actually sell some of these, but they have FULL instructions for customizing them, and I NEVER tell a client that they are not work because they ARE.

3.Use of unaltered PLR articles for lazy site content. Again, they add nothing new to the substance of the web, except copyright confusion.

So, what are the legitimate uses of duplicate content that Google IS telling you not to worry about?

1.Printer friendly and standard site pages for the same item.
2.Similar product listings on two different sites that you own that overlap in content.
3.Reprinting items that you have the rights to reprint with author credits.
4.The odd duplicated page in your site that happens for unusual reasons.
5.A replicated site that has been well customized, so that it has value added features on each page. This DOES add something new to the information online.
6.Honest reasons for duplicate content, or honest mistakes in having duplicate content. This is not the same as deliberate use of duplicate content, which replicate sites are classed as.

So, when they tell you to go ahead and buy their site and upload it and don't worry about duplicate content, they are lying. And yes, there is no other conclusion but that they are doing so knowingly, because they have heard the complaints, and seen it first hand.

It is NOT dishonest to sell a replicated site, but to do so while telling you that it will work without problems IS dishonest. Replicated Sites require a systematic and consistent step-by-step process to take them from duplicate, to completely original. It CAN be done, and in less time that it would take you to build the site from scratch, BUT, you really need instructions to do it, and you need to know which things matter. You can find more details on that at http://www.tiredofhype.com/.

Taking the lazy way out wont help you earn money, it will just kill your chances of earning. So if your intent is to upload a site that will work to earn you money over the long term, then you'll want to avoid the duplicate content trap, and get started right.