Google is using new algorithms to detect content which is not unique, is thin, or does not add any value.
It's been talked about ad nauseum recently on copywriting and content marketing blogs, it's even been flagged by Google as something that would happen.
Quote:
One of the most important steps in improving your site's ranking in Google search results is to ensure that it contains plenty of rich information that includes relevant keywords, used appropriately, that indicate the subject matter of your content.
However, some webmasters attempt to improve their pages’ ranking and attract visitors by creating pages with many words but little or no authentic content. Google will take action against domains that try to rank more highly by just showing scraped or other cookie-cutter pages that don't add substantial value to users.
Examples include:
Autogenerated content
Doorway pages
Scraped content
Thin affiliate sites
If your site has been removed from our search results, review our Webmaster Guidelines (including the above links) for more information. Once you've made your changes and are confident that your site no longer violates our guidelines, submit your site for reconsideration.
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If a WL isn't a cookie cutter site then I don't know what is. Of course a WL is a cookie cutter site, substantially identical to the main published site.
This was always going to happen, Google has been talking about the importance of original, compelling content preferably with social media linked authorship for quite a while now. Suddenly people are surprised that a substantially thin WL gets penalised ?