Most web designers only think about Google as an SEO target, but because they store so much information, they can be a useful tool in helping you fight copyright violations on your website.

Google spiders websites constantly, and when it finds a new page it makes a note of the URL and date in its database. And while it is possible that Google might not see your article before a plagiarizer does, most likely it will.

And you can use this information to show that your article was posted on the web at your URL before the plagiarizer’s copy was posted.

Difficulty: Average

Time Required: 10 minutes

Here's How:

1. First, make sure that your page shows up in Google search.
   To do this, do a search for your page title, in quotes. For example:
   

   
   "splash pages: pros and cons"
   

   
   If your page doesn’t show up, then add your site URL to the search with the site: function:
   

   
   "splash pages: pros and cons" site:webdesign.D106
   

   
   If it still doesn’t show up, it may not have been indexed by Google, and so this tutorial won’t help you.
   
2. Once you know the page is in Google, you need to be able to see the date it was added. Click on "Show search tools" in the left column.
   
3. You need to know the date the article was posted to your site so that you can narrow the search appropriately. Click on the "Custom range..." link and enter in a date range that includes the date your article was posted.
   
4. When you click "Search" your search results should change to include a date below the title.
   
   For my article, that date reads: Mar 1, 2003.
   
   For the plagiarist’s page, the date reads: Dec 22, 2009, almost 7 years after mine was posted.
   

Tips:

1. This is not foolproof. If your robots.txt file blocks all spiders or the Googlebot spider specifically, your page won’t be in the index.
   
2. Google notes that viewing the dates on articles works best for pages published after 2001. If your piece is older than that, you may have better luck with tools like the Internet Wayback Machine.
   
3. Also, this is not a proof of ownership. You’ll need to prove you own the domain or write for it on the date that Google spidered your article.
   
4. This is not legally binding. I recommend viewing this as just another tool to help website owners do the right thing and remove your copyrighted content from their site.
   

What You Need:

• Web Browser
• The date you wrote your article or posted your web page