Science & Technology

Google to "Demote" Sites with Copyright Problems

Pages cites with many copyright violations will appear lower in search results

|

Starting next week, Google will roll out a change to its search ranking that demotes websites that have received a high number of valid copyright removal notices.

Sites that have been cited for containing copyrighted material "may appear lower in our results," Amit Singhal, senior vice president of engineering, wrote in a blog post. "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 from Spotify."