How can buyers tell templated content from specialist content?
Part of MFA avoidance
The short answer
Templated content is a set of pages built from one fixed text pattern, where only a few slots such as a city, product or keyword change from page to page. Buyers tell it from specialist content by comparing several pages side by side: if the facts, advice and structure barely change when the slot changes, the content is the template.
Key takeaways
- A templated page is one where the slot fill is the only part that changes; a shared layout or house style alone does not make a site templated.
- Google's spam policies name city and region pages that funnel users to one page as doorway abuse, and mass generated pages without value as scaled content abuse.
- Template sites attract spend because pages are cheap to multiply, can match many keywords and can look brand safe.
- Score a template site from several pages across different slot fills, and decide on the share of text that is specific and checkable.
What is templated content?
Definition
- Templated content
- Pages produced by filling the same text pattern with different values, such as a city name, product name or error code, so the substance of each page stays the same while the label changes.
Websites use templates for their layout: a header, an article column, a byline and a related stories rail. That is not what buyers mean by templated content. The concern is a template for the words themselves, where a writer or a script produces one master article and then copies it hundreds of times with a different town, model or keyword dropped into the blanks.
Google's Search Quality Rater Guidelines (opens in a new tab), in the September 11, 2025 edition, give two examples rated Lowest. In one, each page on a site was created automatically by filling in a template from a list of error code information, and the page left out the most important fact. In the other, product pages were built by substituting different product names into a generic template, with little to no manual editing. The trade groups behind the shared MFA definition (opens in a new tab) of September 26, 2023 also list poorly designed, templated websites among the five characteristics of made for advertising sites.
How can you tell a templated article from specialist content?
The clearest test is a side by side read. Open two pages from the same site that should differ, such as the same service in two cities, and compare them sentence by sentence. Specialist content changes in substance when the subject changes. Templated content changes only in its labels.
| Part of the page | Templated page: roof repair cost in Duluth | Specialist page: roof repair cost in Duluth |
|---|---|---|
| Opening | Looking for roof repair in Duluth? Duluth homeowners know a good roof matters. The same lines appear on the St. Cloud and Rochester pages with the city swapped. | Opens with the repairs local roofers say they see most after a hard winter, such as ice dam damage along the eaves, with a named roofer quoted. |
| Facts | A cost range with no source, identical to the figure on every other city page. | Explains which permit the city requires, links the city's own permit page and says when the information was checked. |
| Advice | Generic tips: get three quotes, check reviews, ask about warranties. | Advice tied to the place: what local building rules mean for re-roofing over an old layer, and what to ask about wind ratings near the lake. |
| Author and date | No byline, or a stock name used on every page; no update date. | A named writer with a short bio, a publish date and a correction note. |
| Ads and links | Ad units between every short paragraph and a quote request form that leads to a lead resale page. | A normal ad load and links to the sources quoted in the text. |
The slot test for any site that publishes many similar pages
- Pick five pages that should differ. Choose different cities, products or models from the site's own navigation or sitemap.
- Mark the slot fills. Highlight every word that is a place name, product name or keyword, then read only what is left.
- Compare what is left. If the remaining sentences match across pages, word for word or close to it, the content is the template.
- Look for broken fills. Missing values, a city in the wrong state or a product named in the wrong category show that no person read the page.
- Check one fact per page. Pick a local or product specific claim and confirm it at its source. Specialist pages hold up; template pages may make no checkable claims at all.
Why do templated sites attract ad spend?
A template turns one article's worth of effort into thousands of pages. Each page can rank for a long tail search such as a service plus a town, or receive bought traffic from sponsored link units, and each carries ad slots. The cost of the next page is close to zero, so even small ad revenue per page adds up across a network of domains.
The same pages can slip through standard buying controls. They match topic keywords because the keywords were written into the template. They can avoid sensitive subjects, so they pass brand safety filters. The ANA's 2023 announcement notes that MFA websites usually have brand-safe environments and good viewability rates. A plan built on keyword matches and safety scores can therefore fill with template pages that no reader chose.
Are programmatic local pages always templated?
No. Generating pages from data is a method, not a verdict. A weather service, a transit schedule, a school board meeting tracker or a public records listing can build one page per town from a shared template and still be useful, because each page carries different, accurate data that a reader came for. Google's own helpful content guidance (opens in a new tab), last updated October 5, 2026, asks whether content provides original information, reporting, research or analysis, not whether a template produced it.
The line runs between data that varies and text that pretends to. A page per town is useful when the town changes the content: local figures, local sources, local events. It is templated in the problem sense when the town changes only the headline. Google's publisher policy on screens without publisher content (opens in a new tab) draws a related line for ads: do not place ads on automatically generated content without manual review or curation.
How should templated sites be scored?
Score the site, not one page. A single template page tells a reviewer little; five pages across different slot fills show the pattern. Record what share of each page's text is specific to its subject and checkable, whether fills break, and whether a named person stands behind the pages. Then map the result to an action the whole team applies the same way.
| Evidence from five sampled pages | Outcome | Note for the plan |
|---|---|---|
| Each page carries specific, checkable facts and named sources; shared text is limited to navigation and boilerplate | Keep | Generated or structured pages with real data; record the facts checked |
| Some pages are specific, others repeat the master text; no broken fills; a named owner | Review | Keep only the sections or page types that passed, or ask the seller for a narrower list |
| Remaining text matches across pages; broken fills; no named author or owner; heavy ad load | Exclude | Record the slot test result and the pages sampled, with the date |
Before a site with many similar pages goes on an inclusion list
- Five pages with different slot fills were read side by side.
- The share of text that changed beyond the slot fills was noted.
- At least one specific claim per page was checked at its source.
- Broken or mismatched fills were looked for and recorded.
- Sister domains on the same template were reviewed together, not one by one.
- The outcome and the date of the review are written next to the site.
What does a templated content review look like on a real brief?
Fictional example
A roofing contractor group plans its spring display buy
A fictional roofing and gutter repair company with crews in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Milwaukee and Madison asks its agency for an English display plan in Minnesota and Wisconsin, beside home repair guides and local homeowner news, ahead of the spring storm season.
Keyword research returns a dozen domains that rank for roof repair plus a city name. The planner runs the slot test on each. Three domains share one master article: the Duluth, Eau Claire and Green Bay pages differ only in the city and a stock photo, one page names a Wisconsin town as being in Minnesota, and every page ends in a quote form. Those three go to the exclusion list as one network.
A regional home improvement magazine also publishes one page per city, but each carries a local permit link, a named contributor and different advice for older housing stock. It stays on the plan, with a note listing the pages checked and the date of the review.
How does PlacementGraph judge templated pages before they reach a plan?
The slot test is slow by hand across a long candidate list. PlacementGraph scores page quality during planning.
Frequently asked questions
Is a site built on a ready made theme templated?
No. A shared theme, layout or house style is how publishers build sites. Templated content in the sense buyers care about means the words follow one pattern with slots swapped. A small blog on a stock theme with original articles is not templated; a site on a custom design that copies one article across hundreds of towns is.
Do templated pages count as invalid traffic?
Not on their own. Invalid traffic describes impressions that a real person did not see or that come from bots and manipulation. Template pages can be visited by real people who arrived through search or paid links. The problem is the value of the placement, which is why templated content is a planning question rather than a fraud filter.
Can a template site be bought safely through a private marketplace?
A private marketplace limits who can buy, not what the pages contain. If a template domain sits in a seller's package, it runs inside the deal. Review the domain list behind the deal with the same slot test before accepting it, and ask for the site to be removed if it fails.
Do product comparison and listing sites count as templated?
Some do and some do not. Google's rater guidelines rate Low the kind of best lists that are based on existing reviews and lists with little original content. A comparison site that tests products, publishes its own measurements and names its reviewers adds something; one that rewrites retailer descriptions into a fixed pattern does not.
Sources
- Search Quality Rater Guidelines (General Guidelines, September 11, 2025) (opens in a new tab)Google
- Spam policies for Google web search (opens in a new tab)Google Search Central, last updated August 28, 2026
- Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content (opens in a new tab)Google Search Central, last updated October 5, 2026
- Google-served ads on screens without publisher-content (opens in a new tab)Google Publisher Policies Help
- Leading Trade Groups Define Made For Advertising Websites (opens in a new tab)ANA, September 26, 2023
- Manual actions report: thin content with little or no added value (opens in a new tab)Google Search Console Help
Researched and written by PlacementGraph Research. Read how we research, source and update these pages. Corrections: diana@placementgraph.com.