Is Article Marketing an Endangered Species?

Article marketing is a wonderful way to drive free traffic to your website or blog. Posting unique content articles to numerous article sites multiplies your opportunities for people to read your content and subsequently click the link that directs them to your site or blog. This equals free traffic.

However, it appears that Google hates the concept of freely driven traffic. Actions always speak louder than words and by the simple yet insidious tactic that Google uses to penalize duplicate content, article marketing may become an endangered species. Those brave souls who are courageous enough to speak out about Google's prejudice are leading the discussion.

There are two types of approaches to the subject. The first is to timidly mentioned it in passing; the author not wanting to offend the Internet beast, and risk a Google slap. The other approach is similar to this article when the subject is brought into the light for healthy debate on the matter, and damn the consequences.

What disappoints me however, is that very few (if any) article sites are leading this discussion. Perhaps they are little timid also? If this is the case -- and I hope it isn't -- then it is a very sad state of Internet affairs to find that Google has the ability to hold a dagger to the neck of anyone who would challenge them through criticism.

Basically Google would say that uploading duplicate content is cluttering the Internet, and that any article marketing software that aids in this, or even changes the content slightly by creating numerous articles from one original, so that they can beat Google's duplicate content policy, is cheating (perhaps they wouldn't do this if Google played fair?); and therefore Google has the right to censor it, and penalize webmasters who use this technique.

Most people would say in their hearts "Oh well, how sad, never mind." But I say, "Wake up World Wide Web!" Who made Google the policeman of the Internet? They don't own it -- yet.

Here's a challenge all serious and leading article sites should take up. Start writing about Google's duplicate content policy. Crank up the debate and bring the heat to the feet of the Google beast. Google may very well be the 800 pound gorilla in the room that no one wants to talk about for fear of making them angry, because who really wants to have an 800 pound gorilla in the room beating its chest like King Kong? But, unless Google voluntarily changes their policy there will eventually be no room left in the room, for anyone, but the gorilla!