Definition
Article spinning is a black hat technique that involves using specialized software to automatically rewrite an article by replacing words and phrases with their synonyms, to generate multiple seemingly unique versions of the same content. The source text is annotated with 'spintax', a special syntax using braces and separators to indicate possible alternatives (example: {buy|acquire|obtain}). The software then generates dozens or hundreds of different combinations. The goal is to mass-produce content for site networks, guest posts, or blog comments without triggering Google's duplicate content filters. In practice, spun content is very poor quality, often incoherent and poorly written, because mechanical synonym substitution does not preserve meaning or fluency. Google and its algorithms, notably Panda and SpamBrain, easily detect these automatically generated content patterns.
Key Points
- Uses synonym substitution software via spintax syntax
- Produces very poor quality, incoherent, and poorly written content
- Easily detectable by Google Panda and SpamBrain algorithms
- Often used to populate private blog networks (PBN) with content
Practical Examples
Spintax syntax
A source text is annotated: '{SEO|Search engine optimization} is {essential|crucial|indispensable} for {every business|each company|any business}'. The software automatically generates dozens of different combinations from this syntax.
PBN network
A PBN operator uses article spinning to generate 200 versions of an article on the same topic to publish 'unique' content on each of their 200 satellite blogs containing links to their main site.
Multi-level spinning
An advanced tool performs spinning at word, sentence, and paragraph levels, reorganizing the complete article structure to maximize apparent uniqueness, but the result generally remains low quality and easily detectable.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, they are different techniques. Article spinning uses mechanical synonym substitution from an existing text (spintax), producing low-quality results. Generative AI (GPT, Claude) creates new text from a prompt with much higher linguistic quality. Nevertheless, massive use of AI content without added value can also be penalized by Google.
Yes, very easily. Google's algorithms analyze linguistic patterns, semantic coherence, and writing quality. Spun content shows recognizable signatures: inappropriate synonym choices, loss of coherence, repetitive syntactic structures. SpamBrain, Google's anti-spam AI, is particularly effective at identifying these patterns.
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Last updated: 2026-02-07