Google modifies their algorithm to sanction pirates

Google has changed their search algorithm so that internet users find quality and legitimate sites listed first in displayed results. Sites which have had numerous demands that they be removed for copyright violations have been relegated to the bottom of the results page.

Google has summarised the range of changes recently made to their search engine about quality results. A total of 86 changes that are more or less minor have been made in June and July, with the list of these changes being published here.

It is from this week though that the main modifications to Google’s search algorithm will be applied, with rankings on the results page being altered if requests to have a site removed for copyright violation have been made.

Google software engineer Amit Singhal states: "Sites with high numbers of removal notices may appear lower in our results. This ranking change should help users find legitimate, quality sources of content more easily—whether it’s a song previewed on NPR’s music website, a TV show on Hulu or new music streamed from Spotify."

Once again, Google is trying to keep the entertainment industry happy as they are often criticised for not doing enough in the fight against illegal downloads.

Sites won’t be blindly targeted though, as Google will implement a procedure to be respected. The company won’t be judging whether a website infringes on copyright, but will instead refer all copyright holders to the legal system.

While these new criteria will affect the rankings of certain search results, no page will be removed from the results unless an approved delete request is received from the copyright holder.

Over the last 30 days, Google has received more than 4.3 million content removal requests. These delete requests aren’t always followed upon, but are displayed in their transparency report.