There just isn't a 'softer' way to say this; it's bad. Duplicate content, as defined by Google, “refers to substantive blocks of content within or across domains that either completely match other content in the same language or are appreciably similar.” Google highly recommends avoiding duplicate content. The key reason is that the ranking of the page on search engine results may suffer. This means, your audiences will not find your content, and when they do, they are unlikely to consider it useful. Understanding how Google handles duplicate content can help you elevate user experience and create a better content marketing plan.