What does Duplicate content mean?

Duplicate content refers to identical or very similar content that appears on multiple URLs. In an e-shop, it can arise with similar products, product variants, category filtering, descriptions copied from suppliers or when the same page is accessible through different addresses.

Duplicate content does not automatically mean a penalty, but it can make it harder for search engines to decide which page to show in results. Google therefore selects a so-called canonical URL for similar pages, meaning the version it considers most appropriate. For an e-shop, it is important to create original and useful content, work with URLs correctly and make sure product pages don't just bring customers repeated information.