Example: Commodity vs Non-Commodity content:
| Industry | Commodity | Non-Commodity |
| Running Store |
Top 10 Things to Consider When Buying Running Shoes
Standard advice on sizing, arch support, and cushioning. |
Why This Customer’s Shoes Collapsed After 400 Miles: A Wear Pattern Analysis
A deep-dive video analysing the wear pattern on a customer’s shoes after 400 miles, explaining exactly why their specific gait caused the foam to collapse laterally. |
| Real Estate Agent |
7 Tips for First-Time Homebuyers
General tips on pre-approval, location, and budgeting. |
Why We Waived the Inspection (And Saved $15k): A Look Inside the Sewer Line
A breakdown of a specific bidding war you won last week: “We offered $15k under list but waived the sewer scope because I personally crawled the line and saw it was PVC, not concrete.” |
| Interior Designer |
2024 Kitchen Trends You Need to See
Photos of green cabinets and brass hardware found on Pinterest. |
Marble vs. Grape Juice: Why I Refused to Install Stone for a Family of Five
A video explaining why you refused to let a client put marble countertops in a house with three toddlers, showing the stain tests you did with grape juice and turmeric to prove your point. |
Commodity content relies on generic, easily replicable advice – like basic tips and broad trends – that anyone can find or produce. In contrast, non-commodity content stands out by offering highly specific, authentic, and experiential insights rooted in real-world expertise, such as deep-dive case studies or hands-on problem-solving.
Ultimately, to capture an audience’s attention and provide real value, creators must move past standard industry knowledge and share unique, lived experiences that cannot be easily duplicated.
People often ask how to make content that’s “what Google wants”. Our answer is that Google wants to show content that fulfills peoples’ needs. Focus on making unique, non-commodity content that visitors from Search and your own readers will find helpful and satisfying. John Mueller, Google, May 21, 2025
Avoid Commodity content.
“The content commodity trap: Content exists on a commodity spectrum. When it’s easy to replicate, you have a problem. When it’s differentiated, it’s a business moat.” Kevin Indig, 2021: The content commodity trap
See: What is Non-Commodity Content? See also Good SEO is Good GEO.