Can product descriptions be considered duplicate content?

Mani from Delhi asks:

"Are product description pages on an e-commerce site termed as duplicate content if the same product description appears on other sites? It does happen for many branded products."

Recorded on April 23, 2009.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• google
• duplicate
• content

[fewsilly]

That is just an odd video. White shirt white background. Looks like it is from heaven.

[WpBlogHost]

So the next question is, can having that same content on your site actually hurt your SEO because Googlebot thinks your just a carbon copy or does the duplicate content not really affect your website's PageRank?

[KevPke81]

short answer = yes

[lllgrklll]

between ecommerce websites that have same product descriptions the value can be just the price.

between the same product even if the description is the same the value added by one of them is the price - this will make the user choose one search result over the other.

[lllgrklll]

I must argue his opinon - the value that's added to a product page, even with the same product descriptions (affiliate/dropshipping sites) is the product price.

So it will be bad filtering all the ecommerce sites when looking for a dolce perfume because they have same product descriptions.

it's not the first time when I search to buy something in my country (google products is not spread here) and I end up with blog entries and all kind of garbage.

[RealFullBarReviews]

Really appreciate your videos, Matt. Thanks man.

I am so glad to see others who still ignore your advice.  It makes it so much easier for the rest of us.

[benamara83]

slt to le mond

[JustBenInLA]

Unfortunately google doesn't care if you try and add value by creating reviews or adding additional content to a product description. If the description is to similar to to some other prescription out there they're now filtering your product pages.

[JustBenInLA]

Agree with you 100% what a waste of time this is going to be for most retailers rewriting manufacturers product descriptions. And even then they have to be different enough not to trigger the duplicate content filter.

[louivale]

This is bad news for merchants, we own 2 different stores and while they don't have exactly the same products, at least 20 products appear in both stores. The descriptions are provided by manufacturers and sometimes they don't allow you to change descriptions or make claims that are directly dictated by them. I don't understand why your answer does not cover this issue and only focus on affiliate sites...