Google Algorithm Change Not Effective, According to RIAA

According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the change to Google’s algorithm, which is designed to takes sites with higher rates of copyright-infringed material and give them a lower search rating is not helping ongoing piracy problems. A new report from the RIAA notes that none of the sites were demoted in a significant way and search results were nearly unaffected.

“The report concluded that pirate sites are much more likely to appear in top search rankings than are legitimate music sites,” according to Wired. “Whatever Google has done, it doesn’t appear to be working,” according to the report.

The algorithm change took place in August and “at the time, a Google spokesman told Wired that a primary reason for the move was to better the ‘user experience’ in Google search to direct Internet surfers to ‘high-quality’ sites. The plan was not a result of any ‘deal’ with the content industry, the spokesman said.”

Google did not respond to the RIAA directly but did release a statement regarding its removal of millions of infringing links monthly under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

“We have invested heavily in copyright tools for content owners and process takedown notices faster than ever,” explains the statement. “In the last month we received more than 14 million copyright removal requests for Google Search, quickly removing more than 97 percent from search results. In addition, Google’s growing partnerships and distribution deals with the content industry benefit both creators and users, and generate hundreds of millions of dollars for the industry each year.”

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