Google DMCA Notices Reach Record High With 7.8 Million Link Removal Requests Filed In One Week

Going on Google’s recent takedown notice numbers, it looks as if the site may be spending as much time on link removal requests as it is algorithm updates.

According to TorrentFreak, Google is now processing an average of more than a million takedown requests a day, an enormous increase from five years ago when the site was averaging one request every six days from copyright owners attempting to fight pirate sites.

To put these numbers in perspective, Google is currently asked to remove an infringing search result every eight milliseconds.

The report on TorrentFreak claimed takedown requests sent to Google hit an all time high last week when the site was asked to remove more than 7.8 million links, up 10 percent from the number or requests received just a week before.

In the past month, Google has received more than 30 million requests, a staggering jump from the number of URL removal requests it was receiving just two years ago:

Google continues to release transparency reports, outlining the number of takedown requests it receives, information on the copyright owners making requests and top domains specified in requests, as well as reasons why some requests are denied.

While Google says it is committed to its anti-piracy efforts, many complain the site is still not doing enough. From the TorrentFreak report:

The massive surge in removal requests is not without controversy. It’s been reported that some notices reference pages that contain no copyrighted material, due to mistakes or abuse, but are deleted nonetheless.

“Every day produces more results and there is no end in sight,” claimed RIAA executive vice president of anti-piracy Brad Buckles in the TorrentFreak report, “We are using a bucket to deal with an ocean of illegal downloading.

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Amy Gesenhues

Amy Gesenhues was a senior editor for Third Door Media, covering the latest news and updates for Search Engine Land, Marketing Land and MarTech Today. From 2009 to 2012, she was an award-winning syndicated columnist for a number of daily newspapers from New York to Texas. With more than ten years of marketing management experience, she has contributed to a variety of traditional and online publications, including MarketingProfs, SoftwareCEO, and Sales and Marketing Management Magazine. Read more of Amy's articles.