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Google Putting More Restrictions on Piracy Websites in its Search Network
Even though Google penalizes spammy websites which try to manipulate its ranking algorithms but the internet giant do not gave much focus piracy websites especially torrent sites. But now, things have changed as Google updated its search engine algorithms in an attempt to suppress or restrict piracy sites appearing in the top positions in its search result pages. The decision to roll out these changes was announced in Google’s How Google Fights Piracy report which is refined version of its original report which was first published in September 2013. Google’s new stance against piracy websites was due to immense criticism it received from the US entertainment industry which has argued that these websites should be “demoted” or “downgraded” in Google’s search results because they encourage people to download media content illegally.
Google in its official blog site has mentioned that it updating its search algorithms with the aim of restricting the search visibility of piracy websites when people search for films, music and other copyrighted content. According to the blog, the new algorithm updates have included new major features such as:
- Ad Formats – Google has been testing new ad formats in their search results on queries related to movies and music that help people to find legitimate websites that provide copyrighted media content. For example, for relatively small number of search queries for movies that consists of terms such as “free”, “download” or “watch”, Google has replaced piracy sites with legal services such as Netflix and Spotify in a box at the top of the search results. They are testing other ways of pointing users to genuine sources of movies and music, including in the right hand panel on the search result pages
- Based on DMCA Removal Notices – Google is now removing more terms from its auto-complete feature as per Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) removal notices. Google search has rolled out as part of the refresh which down-ranks websites for which the search engine has received a large number of valid DMCA notices. According to Google’s representative, “We have refined the DMCA signal in ways Google expect to visibly affect the search result rankings of some of the most notorious websites”. Initially, Google is implementing this new search update in the US and it will roll out this update globally in the coming weeks.
According to the official blogpost, Google is trying to strengthen its partnership with the entertainment industry as the latter has been lobbying Google for years in taking necessary steps to curb the threat posed by the piracy websites. In October 2014, Google launched collaboration with the popular Hollywood film production company Paramount Pictures for promoting their upcoming movie “Interstellar” with an interactive website. The film company utilized Google’s Content ID feature for easily identifying and managing their content on Youtube channel. In addition to strengthening ties with film industry bigwigs, Google says that it will continue to invest in combating piracy across all of their services.
