The Kentucky Derby is this weekend. As with any big horse betting event, like the UK's Grand National, it's a great time to acquire customers.

It's all well and good for small shops until major media starts regurgitating the same story every 12-24 hours to mop up the top SERPs.

CBS Sports (USA TV and Media Network) started doing this Sunday evening. They released various articles titled "Kentucky Derby Picks", "Kentucky Derby Odds", "Kentucky Derby Picks for Win Place Show", all within a few hours of each other.

Admittedly, they do have some good content with quotes from notable horse racing experts.

But by Tuesday, before post positions were even released, they had released even more articles about picks, predictions, and odds. I'm counting more than 8 in the past 3 days!

Meanwhile smaller affiliates - and some big ones - get pushed down the page so this repetitive garbage can get all the clicks.

Parting thoughts:
1. These pieces eventually drop out of the news rotation in 24-48 hours, which is why they keep pumping them out. So the early ones will drop by Thursday-Friday, to be replaced with Mint Julep recipes, odds on who's wearing what hats, and other goofy pieces.

2. Google's hypocrisy here is noteworthy: don't write substantially similar pieces, unless you're a news agency "covering" an event.

...steps off soap box.