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How to Report Copied Content to Google (and Get It Removed)

Istiak Rayhan

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Report copied content to Google

If you have blogged for a while, someone has probably copied your posts. Usually it does not matter, because Google recognizes the original. But sometimes a scraped copy outranks you, steals your traffic, or even appears in AI answers instead of your page. I have been there. The fix is to ask Google to remove the copy from search under the DMCA (US Digital Millennium Copyright Act).

Step 1: Find the Copies

  • Google search: copy a unique sentence from your post and search for it in quotes, for example “your exact sentence here”.
  • Plagiarism tools: Copyscape and similar tools find copies of a URL. See these duplicate content checker tools.
  • Google Alerts: set an alert for a unique phrase or your brand name to be notified of new copies.
Finding copied content with Google search

Save the URLs of the copies and the matching original URLs on your site. Take screenshots in case the pages change.

Step 2: Contact the Site Owner (Optional)

A polite email to the site owner (find a contact page or the domain’s abuse contact) sometimes gets the copy removed fastest. Many scraper sites ignore emails, so do not wait long before moving on.

Step 3: File a Copyright Removal Request With Google

  1. Go to Google’s Report Content page (or search for “Google copyright removal”).
  2. Choose Google Search as the product and select the option for intellectual property / copyright infringement.
  3. Confirm you are the copyright owner or authorized to act for them.
  4. Fill in your contact details, describe the copied work, and enter the URL of your original content.
  5. Enter the URLs of the infringing pages (you can list several).
  6. Sign the declaration and submit.

If the copy is on Blogger or another Google service, choose that product instead. You can track your requests in Google’s legal dashboard.

Step 4: Report to the Host (For Full Removal)

Google only removes the page from search results; the copy stays online. To remove it entirely, find the site’s hosting company (a WHOIS or hosting lookup tool shows it) and send the host a DMCA takedown notice. Most reputable hosts act quickly. If the site uses Cloudflare, use Cloudflare’s abuse form, which forwards your report to the actual host.

What Happens Next?

Google reviews each request, usually within days. Approved URLs disappear from search, and a notice may appear in results saying some content was removed due to a legal request. Only file requests for content you own; false claims can have legal consequences.

How to Protect Your Content

  • Add internal links in your posts; scrapers often copy them, which points readers and Google back to you.
  • Add a link back to the original in your RSS feed (SEO plugins can do this).
  • Publish consistently so Google crawls and indexes your new posts quickly.
  • Consider a DMCA protection service; see DMCA protection badges.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does copied content hurt my rankings?

Usually not, because Google identifies the original. It becomes a problem when a copy outranks you, which is when a removal request helps.

How long does Google take to process a DMCA request?

Often a few days, sometimes longer for complex cases.

Can I report content copied on social media?

Yes, but through each platform’s own copyright reporting form, not Google’s.

Comments

9 responses to “How to Report Copied Content to Google (and Get It Removed)”

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  1. Shagor Avatar
    Shagor

    I have faced this kind of problems. I have seen that many popular sites are using my content including my images, it was a very bad experience for me. But I didn’t know how to report against it. Thanks a lot bro, it is really very helpful for us.

    Reply
  2. Faridurjaman Ovi Avatar
    Faridurjaman Ovi

    Thank You. I have a blog that contains copy some blog, I report all blog.

    Reply
  3. Barakha Avatar
    Barakha

    Thank you for sharing these tips, very helpful. Sometimes the only way to deal with this problem, unfortunately, is taking legal action – if one spends a lot of time and resources in producing content that is then taken by someone else, slightly modified and published as their own, it can be extremely upsetting. We have had to remove the blog page from our own site as the posts were being copied and published on another site.

    Reply
  4. Simeon Tuoyo Avatar
    Simeon Tuoyo

    Ah, this just came at the right time. A lot of websites copy my content without linking or citing me as source. It even pains a lot when you discovered that the duplicate outrank your content on search engines. I tried everything I could to get them to take down the copied content but they refused. I think I will take your advice and tell Google to remove my content from those blogs. Thanks a lot man, so helpful!

    Reply
    1. Istiak Rayhan Avatar
      Istiak Rayhan

      Glad I could help. Let me know if you need any help.

      Reply
      1. Habib Avatar
        Habib

        Bro my old blog has been removed and now i started new blog i have backup of my old blog and when i import my old blog backup in my new blog some post have been copied by other sites it is legal to report because i imported my old blog backup in my new blog.
        Need urgent Reply.

        Reply
        1. Istiak Rayhan Avatar
          Istiak Rayhan

          I think it won’t help as Google won’t be able to detect the original writer.

          Reply
  5. Balaji Avatar
    Balaji

    Hai Bro thanks for this google dmca post,I want to say that last month I have filed a complaint regarding copyright issue of my blog,but google doesn’t take any action for this,so what I want to do now,because some of the peoples copies my blog posts and their posts only appears in first of google searches,
    I think nowadays google has become dumb on copyright issues :-)

    Reply
  6. Tirtha Ojha Avatar
    Tirtha Ojha

    Really man it’s a great trick. Few months back I found my copied content and if I am not wrong you have already published an article related with removing copied content. I followed the same procedure and thankfully the content was removed by search engine.
    Thanks man for this great and useful post.

    Reply