Two years ago, Google started delisting the URLs of several popular pirate sites from its search results.
This decision didn't impact all users. Instead, Google voluntarily decided to remove URLs in countries where the sites are blocked by local Internet providers, typically following a court order.
In the Netherlands, for example, The Pirate Bay and many of its mirrors and proxies were delisted by Google in response to a notice sent by local anti-piracy group BREIN. Google took similar action in the UK, France, and other countries, once it was notified by rightsholders.
Knowledge Panels
These interventions don't stop at simply removing the domains from the search index. Initially, we noticed that the so-called "knowledge panels" for the blocked pirate sites were gone too. Apparently, these were also considered problematic.
The image below shows the panel currently shown in countries where The Pirate Bay isn't blocked. Aside from some basic details, this includes a direct and uncensored link to The Pirate Bay's homepage.
US Google Search Results
Showing this knowledge panel in blocked regions wouldn't make much sense after Google carefully stripped all thepiratebay.org URLs from its search results. In this context, removing the panel entirely seems a logical decision.
URL Disappears
However, when doing some recent searches, we noticed The Pirate Bay's knowledge panel reappearing in blocked regions such as the UK and the Netherlands. As can be seen below, the official site doesn't appear anywhere in search results, which has been the case for some time.
Here, the link to thepiratebay.org has now been stripped from the knowledge panel, something we hadn't seen before.
Dutch Google Search Results
Whether these interventions will do much to stop people from finding The Pirate Bay is doubtful. Wikipedia remains one of the top search results and the online encyclopedia continues to list the site's official URL, at least for now.
Bard Refuses to Provide The Pirate Bay's URL
To check how consistent Google is across its services, we also tried Bard, the company's AI chatbot. That didn't get us very far, however, with the AI pointing out that The Pirate Bay facilitates 'illegal' activity.
"Please note that The Pirate Bay is a website that facilitates the sharing of copyrighted material, which is illegal in many jurisdictions. As such, I cannot provide you with direct links to the website or instructions on how to find it.
"I would encourage you to seek out legal and ethical ways to acquire the content you are looking for," Bard notes.
When we phrased the question differently, asking Bard how one can access The Pirate Bay, it offered more concrete suggestions on how to find blocked websites (even though we didn't mention 'blocking'). One piece of advice was to use a search engine; this works indeed, unless it's Google.
"One way to find blocked websites is to use a search engine. There are many different search engines available, so you will need to do some research to find one that is right for you. It is important to choose a search engine that is reputable and has a good track record of privacy and security.
"Another way to find blocked websites is to use a social media site. Many social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, have groups and forums that are dedicated to sharing blocked websites," Bard added.
Bard has Options
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
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