Search delisting: removing pirate results from Google and Bing

Why search results matter

A pirated copy that nobody can find does little harm. Search is where demand turns into traffic, and a title name followed by words such as “watch online” or “free download” is a very common query.

Removing the host copy takes time, and copies come back. Delisting works on the other end: it reduces how many people reach the page while the notice to the host is still in progress.

What delisting does and does not do

• It removes a listed URL from the search engine's results for the territory covered by the request.
• It does not delete the file or the page from the site that hosts it.
• It does not stop the site from publishing a new URL for the same file.
• It does not block anyone who already has the direct link.

Treat it as one layer. It pairs with a DMCA notice to the host, and with monitoring to see when pages return.

What a request contains

Both engines use web forms, and the content follows the same elements as a DMCA notice: the work, the infringing URLs, the sender's contact details and the good-faith and accuracy statements.

1. Identify the original work, with a link to an authorised copy where one exists.
2. List each infringing URL. Search engines remove URLs, and not sites, so every page needs to be listed.
3. Give the sender's details and say whether the sender is the owner or an agent.
4. Sign the statements that the claim is made in good faith and is accurate.

Requests are normally published in some form, for example in transparency reports, and a copy can be sent to the site owner. Senders should expect that.

Google and Bing

Google offers a copyright removal form in its Help Centre and publishes data about the requests it receives in its transparency report. Bing provides a separate copyright infringement report form. Each has its own required fields and its own way of tracking the status of a request.

Check the current form on each service before sending. The wording and fields change over time, and the fastest route is the one the engine currently documents.

Working with volume

Pirate sites create new pages constantly, so one title can have hundreds of listed URLs. Sending them one at a time is slow. Batch requests, grouped by work, keep the process manageable, and so does a clean list that removes duplicates and URLs already handled.

Search engines can also lower the position of sites with many valid notices. This is a ranking signal that works in your favour over time, but it depends on notices being accurate and consistent.

Keep requests accurate

A listing for a licensed partner, a review, a news item or a legitimate store page is not an infringing copy. Wrong requests can be rejected, and can reduce trust in later ones.

Review each URL before it goes into a request, and keep a record of when it was checked, what it showed and what the result was.

Check the results afterwards

After a request is accepted, search for the title again, with and without the usual added words, in the main markets you care about. New URLs from the same site are common, and they need their own requests.

Tracking which domains return most often shows where to escalate, for example by contacting the site's host or its domain registrar.