Algorithm Rolled Out: October 21, 2014
Algorithm Summary: Overall Gist
The Pirate Update 2 was released this week, according to Google. Following numerous criticisms that Google is not doing enough to combat piracy, the company updated its filter to help combat piracy. It works in the same way as Panda or Penguin. Google is looking for copyright infringements based on a massive set of queries and data from the first Pirate Update, which was released about two years ago. Any site that Google finds is in violation or reported through Google’s DMCA system will see a significant drop in rankings or even be removed from search engine result pages. The data we analysed revealed that almost all sites experienced a significant drop due to the Pirate Update. Some websites lost up to 98% of their SEO visibility. We are unsure how many false positives are among these pages, so the loser list is simply an observation of lost sites.
Normally, we conduct a longer analysis and explain why sites lost or won; however, we make an exception this time. There isn’t enough to be said about the losers. Sites with links and content to movies, TV, and music content were among those that were lost. Sites such as movie4k.to, which lost 98% of its SEO visibility, have typical loser keywords such as “movies download,” “watch [movie name] online free,” “online free movies,” “movies download,” “where can I watch [movie name] online,” and so on.
What Exactly Is the DMCA?
The DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) is a United States law that was passed in 1998 to protect digital copyright. The full law text is available on the website of the United States Congress, but you can become acquainted with its provisions by visiting the DMCA’s official website.
The DMCA’s Impact on SEO
Google removes resources from search results that have received complaints, and these complaints have been confirmed as DMCA violations. As a result, site traffic decreases significantly because all SEO activities aim to reach the top of the SERP and entice users to click on your site in search results. If your resource does not appear in the SERP, you are missing out on many potential buyers who could find you on Google. Unfortunately, even after you have dealt with the situation and removed non-unique content, Google DMCA takedowns continue to affect SEO results. It also affects pages that do not contain pirated content. Users frequently disregard copyright on the Internet, which explains why there is so much plagiarism. It is, however, governed by law. Google helps with this by using the Pirate Update algorithm. In this article, we will examine the complexities of US intellectual property law in the digital space, explain Google’s anti-piracy algorithm, discuss how to protect your content, and discuss what to do if you are accused of plagiarism.