Google Doesn’t Want You to Stream That TV Show

Google is smart. When I type something wrong, it tries to show me what I should have typed. It can, to some extent, fill in the gaps in searches. We’ve all made impressively vague google searches, a la “who’s the guy in the thing with the hat?” and Google has been able to tell us. Well now Google has gotten even smarter, and it’s trying to use those smarts to keep us from breaking the law.

Google is now making it harder for people to find illegal streaming, downloading, and torrenting sites. Essentially, if you’re trying to find a free download of a show, you’d probably search “How to Get Away with Murder watch free.” Under Google’s new algorithm, it would guess what you’re looking for and prompt you with legal ways to watch the show, even if they’re not necessarily free. For example, an ad on the side for Hulu, or to be able to purchase an episode of the show from iTunes.

It’s all part of a concerted effort that Google is making to fight piracy, detailed in its recently released report, “How Google Fights Piracy.” Google has taken many other steps as well, including removing terms that can be associated with pirating from its autocorrect and suggestion filters. Google also is working hard to make sure that when removal requests are filed — essentially when someone shows that their copyrighted material is being used illegally — the material is dealt with appropriately. It also make sure that it doesn’t allow companies or sites that infringe on copyright and pirating practices to buy ads. Google is especially vigilant when it comes to YouTube, given the possibility of pirated content being used on that site.

Overall Google’s efforts to stand against piracy are based on a few simple ideals:

• Create More and Better Legitimate Alternatives
• Follow the Money (essentially keep the pirates from profiting, removing the incentive to pirate.)
• Be Efficient, Effective, and Scalable
• Guard Against Abuse
• Provide Transparency

So far, Google’s efforts seem to be working. The algorithm changes have resulted in less visibility for many popular and well known illegal streaming sites. According to SearchMetrics, which publishes SEO visibility rankings, streaming sites have been hard hit. Marcus Tober of SearchMetrics explained who saw the greatest drops:

Amongst the loser sites are sites that had links and/or content to movie, TV and music content. Sites like movie4k.to which lost 98% of SEO Visibility have typical loser keywords like “download free movies”, “watch [movie name] online free”, “online free movies”, “movies download”, “watch [movie name]”, “where can I watch [movie name] online” etc.

So if you set out with the direct intention to watch something illegally, it’s not hard to find if you know what you’re looking for. What Google is really attempting to do is make it harder to watch something illegally for people who don’t really know how to find it in the first place. The company is going to be inundated with legal ways to do what they’re trying to do. They’re also trying to make sure that less illegal content is out there in general, rendering it harder for everyone to pirate.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.