Case: one unique data field per template killed a thin-content flag on 12,300 pages

Case: one unique data field per template killed a thin-content flag on 12,300 pages

Comparison pages ('X vs Y') were 80% boilerplate. Manual action threat in Search Console. Remediation SOP:

— Step 1 (data): audited which fields actually varied per page. Found only the two product names changed. Gate: under 40% unique tokens = thin.
— Step 2 (data): added 3 computed fields — price delta, spec-diff count, and a generated 2-sentence summary keyed off the diff. Gate: each field must be derivable from structured data, no hand-writing.
— Step 3 (dev): templated the fields into a fixed slot above the fold.
— Step 4 (QA): sampled 200 pages, measured unique-token ratio. Gate: must exceed 55%.

Outcome: unique-token ratio went 38% to 61%. Manual action cleared on reconsideration in 18 days. 12,300 pages retained, none deleted.

Guardrail: 'unique' means derived-from-data, not spun synonyms.

Ship gate: don't publish until all boxes are checked.