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Google has added new keywords to their blacklist of "piracy related" terms, that will now get filtered in Google's auto-complete, suggestions and Instant search services.
Google introduced keyword filtering almost a year ago, when terms like "BitTorrent" or "Rapidshare" were removed the auto-complete/suggestions list (which suggests likely search terms for users based on what they've typed already). The actual search results have never been filtered.
This week, Google added more keywords to the "blacklist", and the names of almost all of the popular file-sharing websites have added to the list. Keywords like "the pirate bay" or "isohunt" top the list of blocked terms, and file hosting websites like "4shared" and "fileserve" have also been added to the list that already included the likes of "rapidshare" and "hotfile".
Google's attempts at appeasing copyright lobby through self-censorship however has not met with approval, as the copyright lobby is still pushing for legislation that will force Google to filter search results as well.
Google introduced keyword filtering almost a year ago, when terms like "BitTorrent" or "Rapidshare" were removed the auto-complete/suggestions list (which suggests likely search terms for users based on what they've typed already). The actual search results have never been filtered.
This week, Google added more keywords to the "blacklist", and the names of almost all of the popular file-sharing websites have added to the list. Keywords like "the pirate bay" or "isohunt" top the list of blocked terms, and file hosting websites like "4shared" and "fileserve" have also been added to the list that already included the likes of "rapidshare" and "hotfile".
Google's attempts at appeasing copyright lobby through self-censorship however has not met with approval, as the copyright lobby is still pushing for legislation that will force Google to filter search results as well.