diff --git a/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/dao/FeedEntryContentDAO.java b/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/dao/FeedEntryContentDAO.java
index a03591e9..4a244e28 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/dao/FeedEntryContentDAO.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/dao/FeedEntryContentDAO.java
@@ -9,8 +9,6 @@ import javax.persistence.criteria.JoinType;
 import javax.persistence.criteria.Predicate;
 import javax.persistence.criteria.Root;
 
-import org.apache.commons.codec.digest.DigestUtils;
-
 import com.commafeed.backend.model.FeedEntry;
 import com.commafeed.backend.model.FeedEntryContent;
 import com.commafeed.backend.model.FeedEntryContent_;
@@ -19,27 +17,15 @@ import com.google.common.collect.Iterables;
 
 public class FeedEntryContentDAO extends GenericDAO<FeedEntryContent> {
 
-	public FeedEntryContent findExisting(FeedEntryContent content) {
+	public FeedEntryContent findExisting(String contentHash, String titleHash) {
 
 		CriteriaQuery<FeedEntryContent> query = builder.createQuery(getType());
 		Root<FeedEntryContent> root = query.from(getType());
 
-		Predicate p1 = builder.equal(root.get(FeedEntryContent_.contentHash), DigestUtils.sha1Hex(content.getContent()));
-		Predicate p2 = null;
-		if (content.getTitle() == null) {
-			p2 = builder.isNull(root.get(FeedEntryContent_.title));
-		} else {
-			p2 = builder.equal(root.get(FeedEntryContent_.title), content.getTitle());
-		}
+		Predicate p1 = builder.equal(root.get(FeedEntryContent_.contentHash), contentHash);
+		Predicate p2 = builder.equal(root.get(FeedEntryContent_.titleHash), titleHash);
 
-		Predicate p3 = null;
-		if (content.getAuthor() == null) {
-			p3 = builder.isNull(root.get(FeedEntryContent_.author));
-		} else {
-			p3 = builder.equal(root.get(FeedEntryContent_.author), content.getAuthor());
-		}
-
-		query.where(p1, p2, p3);
+		query.where(p1, p2);
 		TypedQuery<FeedEntryContent> q = em.createQuery(query);
 		return Iterables.getFirst(q.getResultList(), null);
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/feeds/FeedParser.java b/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/feeds/FeedParser.java
index e3bea81c..81617b71 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/feeds/FeedParser.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/feeds/FeedParser.java
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ public class FeedParser {
 				FeedEntryContent content = new FeedEntryContent();
 				content.setContent(getContent(item));
 				content.setTitle(getTitle(item));
-				content.setAuthor(item.getAuthor());
+				content.setAuthor(StringUtils.trimToNull(item.getAuthor()));
 				SyndEnclosure enclosure = (SyndEnclosure) Iterables.getFirst(item.getEnclosures(), null);
 				if (enclosure != null) {
 					content.setEnclosureUrl(FeedUtils.truncate(enclosure.getUrl(), 2048));
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ public class FeedParser {
 		} else {
 			content = StringUtils.join(Collections2.transform(item.getContents(), CONTENT_TO_STRING), SystemUtils.LINE_SEPARATOR);
 		}
-		return StringUtils.trimToEmpty(content);
+		return StringUtils.trimToNull(content);
 	}
 
 	private String getTitle(SyndEntry item) {
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ public class FeedParser {
 				title = "(no title)";
 			}
 		}
-		return title;
+		return StringUtils.trimToNull(title);
 	}
 
 	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/feeds/FeedRefreshUpdater.java b/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/feeds/FeedRefreshUpdater.java
index bab91020..b8c0c632 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/feeds/FeedRefreshUpdater.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/feeds/FeedRefreshUpdater.java
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ public class FeedRefreshUpdater {
 		// lock on content, make sure we are not updating the same entry
 		// twice at the same time
 		FeedEntryContent content = entry.getContent();
-		String key2 = DigestUtils.sha1Hex(content.getContent() + content.getTitle() + content.getAuthor());
+		String key2 = DigestUtils.sha1Hex(StringUtils.trimToEmpty(content.getContent() + content.getTitle()));
 
 		Iterator<Lock> iterator = locks.bulkGet(Arrays.asList(key1, key2)).iterator();
 		Lock lock1 = iterator.next();
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/model/FeedEntryContent.java b/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/model/FeedEntryContent.java
index fc6a545e..551f0dc5 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/model/FeedEntryContent.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/model/FeedEntryContent.java
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@ public class FeedEntryContent extends AbstractModel {
 
 	@Column(length = 2048)
 	private String title;
+	
+	@Column(length = 40)
+	private String titleHash;
 
 	@Lob
 	@Column(length = Integer.MAX_VALUE)
@@ -97,4 +100,12 @@ public class FeedEntryContent extends AbstractModel {
 		this.entries = entries;
 	}
 
+	public String getTitleHash() {
+		return titleHash;
+	}
+
+	public void setTitleHash(String titleHash) {
+		this.titleHash = titleHash;
+	}
+
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/services/FeedEntryContentService.java b/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/services/FeedEntryContentService.java
index 18ec32f4..eeeeae6a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/services/FeedEntryContentService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/services/FeedEntryContentService.java
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package com.commafeed.backend.services;
 import javax.inject.Inject;
 
 import org.apache.commons.codec.digest.DigestUtils;
+import org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils;
 
 import com.commafeed.backend.dao.FeedEntryContentDAO;
 import com.commafeed.backend.feeds.FeedUtils;
@@ -17,12 +18,16 @@ public class FeedEntryContentService {
 	 * this is NOT thread-safe
 	 */
 	public FeedEntryContent findOrCreate(FeedEntryContent content, String baseUrl) {
-
-		FeedEntryContent existing = feedEntryContentDAO.findExisting(content);
+		
+		String contentHash = DigestUtils.sha1Hex(StringUtils.trimToEmpty(content.getContent()));
+		String titleHash = DigestUtils.sha1Hex(StringUtils.trimToEmpty(content.getTitle()));
+		FeedEntryContent existing = feedEntryContentDAO.findExisting(contentHash, titleHash);
 		if (existing == null) {
+			content.setContentHash(contentHash);
+			content.setTitleHash(titleHash);
+
 			content.setAuthor(FeedUtils.truncate(FeedUtils.handleContent(content.getAuthor(), baseUrl, true), 128));
 			content.setTitle(FeedUtils.truncate(FeedUtils.handleContent(content.getTitle(), baseUrl, true), 2048));
-			content.setContentHash(DigestUtils.sha1Hex(content.getContent()));
 			content.setContent(FeedUtils.handleContent(content.getContent(), baseUrl, false));
 			existing = content;
 			feedEntryContentDAO.saveOrUpdate(existing);
diff --git a/src/main/resources/changelogs/db.changelog-1.2.xml b/src/main/resources/changelogs/db.changelog-1.2.xml
index fcb8bd54..34297474 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/changelogs/db.changelog-1.2.xml
+++ b/src/main/resources/changelogs/db.changelog-1.2.xml
@@ -90,4 +90,15 @@
 		</createIndex>
 	</changeSet>
 	
+	<changeSet author="athou" id="add-title-hashes">
+		<addColumn tableName="FEEDENTRYCONTENTS">
+			<column name="titleHash" type="VARCHAR(40)" />
+		</addColumn>
+		<createIndex tableName="FEEDENTRYCONTENTS" indexName="content_title_index">
+			<column name="contentHash" />
+			<column name="titleHash" />
+		</createIndex>
+		<dropIndex tableName="FEEDENTRYCONTENTS" indexName="content_hash_index" />
+	</changeSet>
+	
 </databaseChangeLog>