Google SEO Question: How Much Plagiarism Percentage-wise Is Allowed?

May 31, 2022 - 7:21 am 6 by

Google Seo Plagiarism

I spotted a weird question that was asked of Google's John Mueller around plagiarism. The question was, what percentage level of plagiarism does Google allow so a site can rank in Google. Is it 5%, 10%, etc? The question is weird but I guess there are some myths out there around it being okay to plagiarize content for SEO purposes?

The question was posted on Twitter and read "is there any specific percentage of plagiarism that is acceptable in content some people says 5 to 10 percent is acceptable. How much true is it. Is there any specific guidelines regarding plagiarism."

I am not sure how John can answer that, but he said "Acceptable by whom? Why not aim for none?"

Here are those tweets:

He then goes on to explain that this is accepted by the SEO industry...

I am not going to make the SEO joke everyone is expecting but seriously? Where does this stuff come from.

Sure, we had someone claim they were plagiarizing their own content - which is just a misuse of words. Maybe that is the same thing here, people are not understanding the true definition of plagiarism?

Sure, you can quote people, like I am doing here in this story, and then add more context, your own opinion, your own value. But to outright plagiarize content - that is just wrong and unethical. Can you do it and rank in Google Search? Possibly... But there is no percentage that Google is going to say is okay when it comes to plagiarism or really much of anything else...

Forum discussion at Twitter.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
- YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Google Search Engine Optimization

Google Still Says URL Extensions Still Don't Matter

Jun 24, 2025 - 7:51 am
Google

New Google Search Emoji Answer Feature

Jun 24, 2025 - 7:45 am
Google

Google Expands AI Mode To India In Search Labs

Jun 24, 2025 - 7:41 am
Google Maps

Google Business Profiles Tests Social Profiles Above Google Posts

Jun 24, 2025 - 7:31 am
Google

Google Undisclosed Blue Search Answer?

Jun 24, 2025 - 7:21 am
Google

Google Tests Slim Light Blue Vertical Bar By Search Result Snippets

Jun 24, 2025 - 7:11 am
Previous Story: Google AdWords API Error Rates Begins June 1st