What is the difference between commodity and non-commodity content?
Commodity content is interchangeable: the same information sits on a hundred other websites and the order of the tips is the only difference. Non-commodity content contains at least one element that exists nowhere else, usually a figure, a name, a date or an outcome.
| Type | Example title | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Commodity | Seven tips for first-time home buyers | Already online a thousand times, in the same shape |
| Non-commodity | What a 1962 renovation actually cost us, invoice by invoice | Contains amounts and choices only the owner knows |
| Commodity | What is local SEO? | A definition that is the same everywhere |
| Non-commodity | Eight ChatGPT questions about installers in Limburg, and who got named | An own measurement with a date and a method |
The second column holds examples, not Jakency cases. The point is the difference in shape: one title promises information, the other promises evidence.
Where does the term non-commodity content come from?
From SEO practice, not from Google documentation. The distinction between commodity and non-commodity content was popularised by SEO specialist Steve Toth, who uses it to describe how content gains value when it cannot be reproduced. Google does not use the term itself and has published no official framework under that name.
That distinction matters for two reasons. You know you are applying a working model rather than a rule, and you can use the term without claiming Google invented it. What Google does document is below.
What does Google itself say about this?
Google publishes no list of characteristics for non-commodity content, but it does publish a set of questions you can use to assess your own page. They sit in the guidance on creating helpful, reliable, people-first content. Four of them touch this subject directly.
- Does the content provide original information, reporting, research or analysis?
- Does the content provide a substantial, complete or comprehensive description of the topic?
- Does the content provide insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond the obvious?
- Does the content demonstrate first-hand expertise and a depth of knowledge?
Read those questions in Google's documentation on helpful content. They are self-assessment questions, not ranking factors: Google does not measure whether you answer yes. They do describe the kind of content the systems aim to reward, which is exactly where the non-commodity idea connects.
Which three properties make content uncopyable?
Unique, specific and authentic. Together they decide whether someone else can rewrite your page without doing your work.
| Property | What it means | Test |
|---|---|---|
| Unique | An angle others do not have | Does this claim already exist somewhere else? |
| Specific | A concrete case with real numbers and names | Can I replace it with a vaguer word and lose nothing? |
| Authentic | First-hand knowledge, photos, screenshots, figures from the file | Could I know this without having been there? |
The middle test is the sharpest. Write a small saving and it is commodity. Write fifteen thousand euro on a property in Berchem and it is not. The difference is that the second is verifiable, and therefore risky to invent.
Where do you find your own non-commodity material?
In what your business already produces and never publishes. Most companies believe they have nothing to tell, while they throw away material daily that nobody else holds.
| Source | What comes out | What you must add |
|---|---|---|
| Quotes from the past year | Real price ranges per type of job | A period and what is included and excluded |
| Questions on the phone | The words customers actually use | The answer you currently give verbally |
| Rejected or failed files | The mistakes others make too | What you did differently after |
| Measurements you already run | Figures with a date | The method, so somebody can check the sum |
| Photos of the work | Evidence that you were there | Permission and context with the image |
Work out the first row and you immediately have a page no competitor can copy. How such pages fit into a whole is covered in content strategy.
Do keywords still count?
Yes. Pure non-commodity content without a keyword works mainly in Discover, video and social media, where the topic finds you instead of the other way round. For classic searches you combine both: you target a query and build something around it that only you can write.
The practical order is the search question first, your own material second. Start with keyword research, pick the question you want to answer, then look through your own files for what you can say about it that nobody else can. How to write it down is covered in SEO copywriting.
What does this mean for AI-written content?
That the problem is not the tool but the supply. A language model can write anything that already exists somewhere, and nothing that sits only in your administration. Use AI to write faster about your own figures and the value of the page does not change. Use AI to produce general tips in bulk and you fill your site with content that is interchangeable by definition.
That is also why deleting AI text in bulk is not a solution. The question is not whether a model helped write it, but whether the page contains anything that cannot be copied.