In partnership with several associations of rights holders, Google removed from its results approximately 10,000 illegal downloading and streaming sites. In this way, the web giant intends to drastically reduce traffic on these platforms. With the blocking of the domain name, it is indeed the most effective technique.
Google is a key element in the fight against piracy. By generating the vast majority of searches on the web, the platform is a great transit to illegal download sites. In fact, the firm is under enormous pressure from rights holders to take part in the fight against piracy.
Following the request of BREIN in particular, the Dutch anti-piracy organization, The Pirate Bay and all of its mirror sites are no longer available in the Netherlands. The country is not alone. In several European states, including France, more than 10,000 pirate sites no longer appear in Google search results.
Google blocks several pirate sites from its search results
Google appears to have acted on its own, without a court order. On the other hand, his decision corroborates with the declarations of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), which affirms that several pirate sites have disappeared from Google results in ten countries. Charles Rivkin, president of the association, is sure: this is the most effective method to eradicate piracy.
Related: Google Takes Down Vast Hacker Network That Infected Over 1 Million Windows PCs
“Google’s delisting of pirate sites works”he explains. “Our early research on the effectiveness of delisting efforts is promising, as it shows that traffic to hacking sites when blocked and delisted declined more sharply than traffic to hacking sites that were not subject to than blocking ISPs. »
Clearly, Google agrees. Charles Rivkin also specifies that this method works particularly against streaming sites. Indeed, we observe a drop in traffic 1.5 times greater when the site is dereferenced. A figure that could be verified in 2020 when Google removed another wave of pirate platforms.
Source: Torrent Freak
