Google employs various technical measures to combat the prominence of notorious pirate websites in its search results. Despite these efforts, there has been a notable uptick in Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notices over the past year. In fact, Google is now contending with an average of 1.6 billion removal requests annually, with publishers being the primary drivers behind this surge.
While Google’s interventions aim to suppress the visibility of infringing content, the sheer volume of removal requests underscores the persistent challenge of online piracy. Publishers, in particular, are increasingly leveraging the DMCA takedown process to protect their copyrighted material from unauthorized distribution.
As the battle against online piracy continues, Google’s ongoing efforts to refine its anti-piracy strategies will be crucial in maintaining the integrity of its search results and safeguarding the rights of content creators.
The rise in DMCA takedown requests reported by Google is indeed noteworthy. Since 2012, when Google began publicly disclosing these numbers, there has been a staggering increase in the volume of requests, reaching over 30 million per week and surpassing 1.6 billion annually.
Initially, the surge in takedown requests was attributed to the rapid growth of online piracy, prompting Google to take action to maintain the integrity of search results. By implementing anti-piracy algorithms, Google aimed to reduce the visibility of infringing content, resulting in a decline in takedown notices around 2017.
However, recent months have seen a resurgence in DMCA requests, signaling an ongoing battle against online piracy. Despite Google’s efforts to combat piracy through search result downranking, rightsholders continue to submit millions of takedown requests each week, reflecting the persistent challenge posed by digital copyright infringement.
As illustrated by the graph showing the upward trend in takedown requests, the fight against online piracy remains a dynamic and evolving process, requiring constant vigilance and innovation to protect intellectual property rights in the digital age.
Is It Here to Stay?
The ebb and flow of takedown requests caught our attention once more around last August. Initially, we speculated it might be a passing surge, a temporary spike possibly fueled by the robust efforts of adult entertainment titan MG Premium, which flooded the scene with hundreds of millions of URLs within a mere span of months.
After MG Premium dialed back its operations last summer, we anticipated a return to the norm in takedown request volumes. What we didn’t anticipate was the emergence of new players eager to fill the gap.
In recent months, outfits like Link-Busters.com and Comeso have emerged as formidable contenders, significantly amplifying their takedown endeavors. Together, they now commandeer roughly two-thirds of the DMCA notices directed at Google. Should this trend persist, it could culminate in an astounding billion takedown requests annually.
These two entities collaborate with an array of rightsholders. Link-Busters primarily aligns itself with major publishing houses, boasting partnerships with literary giants like Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, and Hachette. Meanwhile, Comeso has emerged as a powerhouse in the webtoon sphere, spearheading takedowns on behalf of KakaoPage, a prominent player in the field.
In days gone by, it was the guardians of video and musical treasures who wielded the bulk of DMCA requests. However, the tide has turned, and now it’s the publishing realm that reigns supreme in this arena. The trajectory of Google’s takedown volume in the days ahead, and the potential shattering of new records, hinges largely on the moves made by these publishing powerhouses.
But, as history has shown, the landscape of takedown territory is ever-shifting. It’s entirely plausible that a fresh face in the anti-piracy domain could emerge, seizing control and reshaping the narrative once again. In the realm of takedowns, monotony is a foreign concept—every twist and turn unveils a new chapter in this ceaseless saga.
