Can we copy and Paste Press Releases from Other Websites onto My Website? [Case Study]

Ever wondered if it’s okay to copy and paste press releases onto your blog without adding anything extra? It’s a question many of us have pondered. Join me as we delve into this topic, exploring insights from SEO experts like Taylor Scher, Anna York, and Peter Rota. Let’s navigate the intricacies of sharing press releases together and find out the best approach.

We run a travel website and often come across press releases from hotels or restaurants announcing reopenings or other significant events. Especially in the travel industry, numerous press releases are issued by hotels and restaurants.

The real question is: Are we allowed to copy and paste these press releases word for word onto our blog? Is it legally correct?

From my perspective, I lack a legal answer to this, but I can address it from an SEO standpoint. If anyone has a legal answer, kindly comment on this article.

The only answer that comes to mind for this question is “publishing press releases as news” and adding a source link to them.

For example, let’s consider this press release: [Example Press Release Link below]

https://www.jumeirah.com/en/jumeirah-group/press-centre/press-releases/press-releases-for-2024/jumeirah-hotels-and-resorts-announces-reopening-of-hotels-in-mallorca-and-capri-for-the-2024-season

The answer to whether you can copy and paste it onto your own blog is a resounding “NO.” Doing so could create duplicate content issues.

Even though Google does not penalize websites with duplicate content, it’s still best practice to avoid it for better ranking and improved crawling. Please refer to the image below for clarification.

To find an answer to this question, ‘Can I copy press releases?’ I conducted research and reached out to several individuals on LinkedIn for their opinions.

Firstly, I posed the question to SEO professionals:

Question "We have a travel blog. Is it okay to copy and paste press releases from hotels, like the one from Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts without adding any value? For example, this press release: 

https://www.jumeirah.com/en/jumeirah-group/press-centre/press-releases/press-releases-for-2024/jumeirah-hotels-and-resorts-announces-reopening-of-hotels-in-mallorca-and-capri-for-the-2024-season

 Can I simply copy and paste it onto my site without adding anything? Word for word? "

After conducting my research, I contacted individuals I know on LinkedIn to seek their insights.

While I’ve messaged many, only a few have responded thus far. If anyone replies after I publish my blog, I’ll include their responses.

Throughout my research, I gathered three opinions from SEO professionals with significant experience in the field.

Here are the three opinions I received from them:

1) Pointing Canonical tags to press release

I asked Taylor Scher for his opinion on this matter, and I was a little surprised by his response. Here’s what he said:

“I believe it would come down to your canonical tag. Are you taking at as your own or are you citing it?  If you copy and paste it, I’d recommend adding a canonical tag that points back to the original source (the hotel press release). Otherwise, this may go against Google’s spam policy “

Following this, I sought opinions on the following questions:

Would you like to hear other opinions? One option is to use ‘noindex‘ tags since we’re copying word for word. Another option is to publish it as news on the website and add a source link.

Here is what he is replied? I think the noindex could work too. I think the canonical would work best in this case since you’re directly telling Google that this is a copy of another article. The source link article could work too, but I’d still be cautious about that one since it’s still technically repurposed content

In my opinion, it’s good practice to point your canonical tags to source links since you technically do not own the content. Also, it doesn’t have any negative impacts on your website. Next, we’ll discuss the second opinions.

2) Use Noindex Tags on the press release articles:

Since you are copying content from other press releases, it’s not advisable to have it indexed. You might have some questions; even I have observed top news publications publishing press releases word for word.

In my opinion, since they are highly authoritative blogs, Google doesn’t care much about those articles. Additionally, the percentage of such articles is very low, considering they publish hundreds of pieces of content daily. For example, Reuters used to publish press releases.

In my opinion, using “Noindex” tags for press releases is the way to go.

Here’s what Peter Rota says about the same question. He’s one of the experts in the SEO field who often shares useful content on LinkedIn; you can check that out as well

Ahh, probably no-index it then
There’s not really any value to google

3) Publish as news ( Link Source content)

I’m not suggesting rewriting or repurposing content. Instead, you can present it as news, akin to how we typically cover topics. For example, conducting research and highlighting key features or specialties, especially in the case of hotels.

I posed the same questions to Anna York. Here’s her response:

Hey,  Be careful with duplicate content.  But you can copy&past only a part and add your own experience. Plus mention the source!  But not the whole text and adding nothing else! This goes wrong.

Following up with a couple of questions: “Since it’s a press release, is it acceptable to write it in our own style, like news, and include source links? Secondly, can we use ‘noindex’ tags on these press releases? I’ve done some research, and some people suggest using them. What’s your opinion on this?”

Here is what she says “Since it’s a press release, is it acceptable to write it in our own style, like news, and include source links? Yes, that’s great! 2. Can we use ‘noindex’ tags on these press releases? Yes “

My Personal Opinion on Copying Press Releases:

I have mentioned three different ways to handle press releases, and here is my opinion on this:

Adding “Noindex” or pointing canonical tags towards the press release is completely fine. If anyone is copying a press release, they can try any of these methods.

Using Noindex tags – Google will not index the content.

Pointing canonical tags towards the press release may sometimes result in your blog appearing above the original source, making it easily discoverable via SERP.

Regarding the third point, “Publishing as news giving source link,” we are still creating content based on information. Technically, it’s not against Google’s guidelines. As mentioned, we are not rewriting it; we are expressing our opinion.

You can try these methods; they might work better. If anyone has comments or feedback or wants to share any opinion, I am glad to hear it.

Please share your opinion in the comments or DM. Thanks! I would love to hear your perspective.