Google Reveals 6 Million Search Removal Requests in August

Google received almost six million URL search removal requests in the last month as copyright holders continue their fight against sites offering copyrighted content for download.

The firm revealed the extent of the requests in the latest update to its Transparency Report Page, as the requests submitted to the search giant now peaked at 1.49 million in the last week of the month, up from 124,860 during the same weekly period last year.

Notable requests received by Google include those from its archrival Microsoft, which submitted 681,227 requests, as well as the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), 554,959 requests, and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) with 841,177.

The data does not include information on how many of the requests Google complied with, though, and the firm had not responded to V3’s request for clarification on this matter.

The requests are made to Google under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA), which removes liability from the firm if it provides inadvertent access to sites offering illegal material, if they comply with requests to remove content flagged by rights’ holders.

Earlier this year Google revealed that it removed 640 terrorist videos from YouTube between June and December 2011 at the request of the U.K.’s Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) as part of its half-yearly Transparency update on government takedown requests.

Google caused controversy earlier this month when it said it would add data on the DCMA takedown requests it receives to its search algorithms, in a move that could see sites unjustly punished under the “guilty until proven innocent” system.

This article was originally published on V3.