Field Notes Inside an Integrated Communications Agency

Question: Does posting some in-site duplicate content help, hurt, or have no impact on SEO?

Example:
This post by Todd Coats titled “Trippin’ on Acid Park”:
http://blog.capstrat.com/articles/trippin-on-acid-park/
Also appears on all these URLS:
http://blog.capstrat.com/tags/acid/
http://blog.capstrat.com/tags/creative/
http://blog.capstrat.com/tags/legend/
http://blog.capstrat.com/tags/park/
http://blog.capstrat.com/tags/raleigh/
http://blog.capstrat.com/tags/reflector/
http://blog.capstrat.com/tags/simpson/
http://blog.capstrat.com/tags/vollis/
http://blog.capstrat.com/tags/whirligig/
http://blog.capstrat.com/authors/todd-coats/

All but 4 of those pages are exactly the same as the original page. Some pages are different from the original page in that they contain the other posts that share the same tag.

My questions are:

1. Does it hurt us to have duplicate in-site content?
2. Are we diluting our link value for any given post by posting the same content to multiple URLs?
3. Or, are we getting a good bump because we have 3 to 4 times as many “pages” that are loaded with key words (albeit on pages with identical copy)?
   

Interesting Note:
A Google search for “acid park” reveals that Google only indexed 3 of the above links with a reference to those key words:

Another interesting note:
This page:
http://blog.capstrat.com/tags/raleigh/
Was indexed by Google, but a search for acid park does not return this page. Why?

Numbers
Our 1300+ page Web site has only a fraction of that number of actual posts. Posts often  appear at 5 or 6 different URLs.

A little looking around revealed a couple of opinions:

Search Engine Guide says “Such duplication also leaves you open to splitting link value between multiple URLs. If someone links to a (page), they may link to any of the multiple versions, instead of a single primary version/URL. This can cause the search engines to give weight to the "wrong" URLs.”

SEO Book says  “Interesting tactic by Google. If too many pages on the same site trip a duplicate content filter Google does not just filter through to find the best result, sometimes they filter out ALL the pages from that site.”

Thoughts from the experts?

I don’t know a lot about search engines. And I don’t know anything about becoming a parent. But the combination of the two is fascinating. It seems search engines are becoming fruitful in the area of well…being fruitful and multiplying. A Web site called Nymbler can find the perfect name for your unborn child. Based on names that you enter, the engine will generate new names that you may not have thought of or even heard of before.

Let me include a disclaimer here since I am of childbearing age and have been married for more than five years (apparently the longest a married couple should remain childless): children are not in our near future. But this site is so much fun. First I entered some names I have always liked: Wyatt, Lucas, Maggie, etc. It came up with some good results, all of which seemed like names I would consider. Then I started messing with it. I entered names like Star, Precious, Birdie (it does have some limitations: Flower and Sassy do not exist in the database). The results? Princess, Emerald and Whisper were some of my favorites. Imagine the possibilities: you could use this site to find a name for your pet, your alter ego or even a stage name for when you become a contestant on American Idol.

The voodoo behind this search wizardry is even cooler than the site. Nymbler combines the research and analysis of a human expert with a technology called Hunch Engine, developed by Icosystem, a company based in Cambridge, Mass. The Hunch Engine works on a genetic algorithm. In their words, this innovative technology  “solves the dilemma of searching when you don’t really know what you are looking for, but you’ll know it when you find it.” That is me every day of my life. Clothes, home décor, food, shoes, my car keys (wait, that doesn’t really apply here). The algorithm takes the information you give it and identifies subtle patterns. Then it gives you personalized suggestions.

If you haven’t been impressed yet, get ready. The Hunch Engine is trainable. It can be taught to recognize patterns in all sorts of input. Without getting too sci-fi, this search engine can get inside your head and tell you what you will like. Hunch Engine responds to what you give it, but it brings you new ideas, new options in multiple nuances.

I’m hooked. Now I just have to have enough kids to use all of these great names.