Duplicate Content for Multiple Instances of the Same Product?

[newwhy]

Hi again! We're set to launch a new inventory-based site for a chain of car dealers with various locations across the midwest. Here's our issue:

The different branches have overlap in the products that they sell, and each branch is adamant that their inventory comes up uniquely in site search.

We don't want the site to get penalized for duplicate content; however, we don't want to implement a link rel=canonical because each product should carry the same weight in search.

We've talked about having a basic URL for these product descriptions, and each instance of the inventory would be canonicalized to this main product, but it doesn't really make sense for the site structure to do this.

Do you have any tips on how to ensure that these products (same description, new product from manufacturer) won't be penalized as duplicate content?

[Dr-Pete]

Yeah, no argument there. I worry about it from an SEO standpoint, but sometimes there really isn't a lot you can do, from a business standpoint. I think it's occasionally worth a little fight, though - sometimes, when all the dealers want to have their cake and eat it, too, they all suffer (at least, post-Panda). Admittedly, that's a long, difficult argument, and you have to decide if it's worth the price.

[mikefitzpatrick]

okunen,

When you say "overlap in the products that they sell", do they have two identical franchises e.g. 2 Toyota stores that are on opposite sides of the same city, or are they wanting to share pre-owned inventory across multiple sites?

[mikefitzpatrick]

Dr. Pete, I think we are on the same page. The reason that I say don't worry too much about duplicate content when it comes to dealer inventory is; for the most part it is out of your control in the automotive industry. Dealer's want to have their inventory on as many sites as they can so it becomes virtually impossible to control.

[Dr-Pete]

I have to disagree with Mike a bit - this is the kind of situation that can cause problems, and I think the duplication across the industry actually makes it even more likely. Yes, the big players can get away with it, and Google understands the dynamic to some degree, but if you have a new site or smaller brand, you could greatly weaken your ranking ability. You especially have to be careful out the gate, IMO, when your authority is weak.

To be fair, I'm assuming you're a small to mid-sized player and not a major brand, so if that's an incorrect assumption, let me know.

There aren't many have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too approaches to duplicate content in 2013. If you use rel=canonical, NOINDEX, etc. then some version of the page won't be eligible for ranking. If you don't, then the pages could dilute each other or even harm the ranking of the overall site. Each product won't "carry the same weight in search" - if you don't pick, Google will, and your internal site architecture and inbound link structure is always going to weight some pages more highly than others. Personally, I think it's better to choose than have the choice made for you (which is usually what happens).

I'd also wonder if this structure is really that great for users - people don't want to happen across nine versions of the same page, that only differ by the branch. The branch is your construct, not theirs, and it's important to view this from the visitor perspective.

Unfortunately, I don't understand the business/site well enough to give you a great alternative. Is there a way to create a unified product URL/page, but still give the branch credit when a visitor hits the product via their sub-site. For example, you could cookie the visitor and then show the branches template (logo, info, etc.) at the top of the page, but still keep one default URL that Google would see. As long as new visitors to the site also see that default, it's not a problem.

[mikefitzpatrick]

Don't worry so much about the duplicate content. Those same cars are probable on 5 to 10 other sites anyway; e.g. cars.com, Autotrader, etc. The Search Engines understand the automotive industry dynamic pretty well.

Focus on location, content, and authority. By content, if you can get them to add unique descriptions to each vehicle and if possible unique text on the inventory search pages. Then of course relevant blog posts.

Depending on how much control you have over the inventory SEO you should be able to make the meta title/descriptions unique between the different dealers too.