Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT)
Google kills 1.2 million search results in a month
12 Jul 2012
| 2 min read
Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT)
Google kills 1.2 million search results in a month
12 Jul 2012
2 min read
Since the early years where it was thought of as little more than a low level search engine, Google has proven itself against the test of time to become what is easily the best recognised household brand name that most people think of when they hear the term ‘search engine’. Its widespread use has created a situation where most persons use it also to track down their own content on the web and to ascertain that it has not been misappropriated by others.
When it turns out that this content has in fact been taken without the creator’s permission, Google offers the opportunity to have the website removed from its search listings. From a legal perspective, this is done through the enforcement of copyright. Copyright laws practically everywhere in the world provide for this sort of situation and have now allowed companies like Google to give copyright owners their due by ensuring that these infringing websites are not found through the search engine.
It has been said that Google receives over 250,000 such requests per week nowadays. The last month saw Google receive 1.2 million requests from 1000 copyright owners to take down around 24,000 web pages containing infringing material. Google has announced that these figures surpass the quantity of requests made in 2009 over the entire year. This shows both awareness on the part of web users of the service as well as the reality that copyright enforcement is still alive and well in the age of the web, with the identification of effective new remedies to protect owners’ legal rights.
Zammit & Associates – Advocates has experienced a surge in requests for the taking down of websites containing plagiarised or copied material or trademarks without license from the trademark owner, all of which have all been successful within 72 hours. The remedy is quick, economical and effective, giving intellectual property owners tighter control over the use of their property in the virtual world. This is contributing in no small way to the staggering rate of growth in online businesses amidst the general economic sluggishness that currently pervades the real world economies.
For further information about how GVZH Advocates can assist with the protection and enforcement of your intellectual property rights kindly contact us here.