Google’s 3rd ranking signal: The Deduplication System

Google has expanded the typical organic listings on search result pages with new categories over time. Some examples include:

• Featured snippets 
• Top stories
• Interesting finds

The latter two are displayed most on mobile phones.

Opportunities existed in the past with these additional sections since they increased visibility in search results. But not anymore. The “deduplication” algorithm that Google now uses ensures that a URL only displays once on the first page of search results. The URL will not be among the top 10 organic results if displayed in a different section.

The URL’s organic position won’t change even if it comes in at position 11.

What Is the Deduplication System?

Deduplication Systems’ responsibility is to identify a URL if it appears twice in Google search results. Duplication occurs when the same page shows up twice in the search results; deduplication systems only function to eliminate this duplicate page from the search result page.

This Ranking Signal belongs to Systems because Google has numerous systems that seek to eliminate duplicate pages from the search results page.

Types of Duplication Systems

There are two types of duplication on the SERP:

• External Duplication
• Internal Duplication

External Duplication

Consider a scenario in which a searcher enters a single term, and Google’s engine detects that you have 100 pages for that keyword, but 20 of those pages contain the same type of content.

The 20 duplicate pages will be eliminated from the search result page when Google’s Deduplication Systems are activated in such a case. This process is known as the External Duplication System.

Internal Duplication

The process of internal duplication requires you to accept the cost of being too good. Whenever Google thinks it can respond to a question right on the search results page, then, at that point, it provides you with the solution to that query directly in the form of Feature Snippets on the search results page itself. This system is known as the Internal Duplication System.

The information displayed in the Feature Snippets in the search result now originates from one or more web pages, meaning that the information on those web pages is so good that Google can confidently display it to the search user.

However, when Google selects the website’s content to answer user queries, that website suffers due to Google’s respect because there is no traffic at that time.

Previously, when Google displayed a website in Features Snippets, it also ranked that website in the top spot. However, Google has since stopped doing this and has merely stated that when the same URL appears twice on the search result page, it degrades the quality of SERP (Search Engine Result Page).

Now that we look closely, Google’s assertion is also true. Still, in this case, the website owner suffers because if the searcher does not click on the website and does not enter the website, how can that website owner receive advertising revenue, or what will drive sales? What benefit does such quality content provide the website owner, then? We refer to this as internal duplication because from Google’s point of view, it is like a direct friend zone.

If we duplicate the content carelessly, our website will die from external duplication. Our website will die from internal duplication if we post too many high-quality, SEO-friendly articles on our website.

Now the question arises: Why are these systems termed Ranking Signals if they delete websites from search result pages?

Why Are These Systems Called Ranking Signals?

If any pages are removed from the search result page, their space won’t be left empty; instead, other new pages will have a chance to take their place and reach the top of the list. The loss of one is the gain of the other.

How To Optimize Your Pages?

There are two ways to optimize your pages for Deduplication Systems.

External Deduplication Systems

If any of your pages are removed by Google due to plagiarized content, there is only one thing you can do. STOP COPYING THE CONTENT.

If you publish content that is copied from somewhere else, Google will remove your page from the SERP as well as the Deduplication system. Google might also stop indexing your page/website, which may lead to you having trouble with indexing your web pages. Therefore, avoid posting copied content of any type and only publish original content.

Internal Deduplication Systems

Sometimes, website owners close the Snippets of the website using the No Snippet Meta Tag. this removes your pages from Feature Snippets. However, this will do your website more harm than good.

On applying the No Snippet Meta Tag, your webpage will appear in the results without a description, which is useless. If your webpage appears below the Feature Snippet with no description, it will affect your CTR, leading to all hard work to rank your content in vain.

However, there are certain policies by Google that you have to follow if you want your website to appear under the Feature Snippets. However, if you deliberately violate these policies, your entire website, performance, indexing, and ranking will all be at risk.

What is the solution?

The right way to tackle this problem is to create a different page. Publish the content under Feature Snippets by creating another page on your website.

Keep this new page’s URL similar to the one on the previous page. You are aware of the quality of your content because Google is displaying it in Feature Snippets; all you need to do is design the second page such that it does not resemble the first one.

If it is copied, Google might not even index this new page. If you follow the steps correctly, both your old and new pages will show up in the Top Search Results in the Feature Snippets.

By employing this technique, you will receive traffic while also abiding by all Google policies.