Google to sink pirate websites

Google said it is tweaking its search formula to give higher priority to legal content and sink rankings for websites hit with piracy complaints.

"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 on Spotify." More than 200 "signals" are factored into Google`s secret search algorithm for determining what gets priority on results pages.

Since Google revamped its copyright removal process two years ago, it has been able to gather much more data about pirated content popping up online, according to Mr Singhal.

"Starting next week, we will begin taking into account a new signal in our rankings: the number of valid copyright removal notices we receive for any given site," Google senior vice-president of engineering Amit Singhal said in a blog post.

BdST 1754 HRS, AUG 12, 2012

Edited by:
Sabbin Hasan, ICT Editor