How to detect article theft

Worried about article theft?  You should be.  Online article theft in particular is a rampant practice among those who wish to have something for nothing.  The only work they put into it is two seconds of copying and pasting and then they are using your work to make ad money.

But how do you know if your work is being stolen or not?

It's very easy.  Set up a Google Alert.  By doing so, you can be notified by email of any particular phrase that is used across the web that is indexed by Google.  The first Google Alert you should set up is your name.

1. Click here for the page to set up the alert.  If you don't have a Blogger or Google account, you might have to register.
2. Type your writing name inside quotation marks in the field marked "Search Terms".  For example, if I didn't use quotations for "Pamela Gifford", then every time Google picked up the individual first and last names, I would be notified.  If would be overwhelming!
3. Check the options you want in the remaining fields, enter your email address, and click "Create Alert".

Depending on it you are registered with Google or not, you might have to click a confirmation email to finish creating the alert.  Otherwise, you're done.

When you publish an article, create a Google Alert for it using the title or a unique phrase in quotation marks in the field for "Search Terms".

Using a Google Alert should help you determine if there are scrapers using your articles for their own profit.