Google has removed the Search Engine Land title (Report: Clickout Media turned news sites into AI gambling dens, published March 26) from their search results after a copyright complaint (which appears to be completely false). Meanwhile, a similar DMCA filing led to a drop in the Press Gazette’s original investigation.
What’s going on. A DMCA notice filed on March 27 says Search Engine copied the content “verbatim” and used proprietary images.
- The complaint led Google to begin removing the article from search results worldwide.
- The notice identified the plaintiff as “US Webspam,” without a clear description of the community.
Context. The leaked article reported that Clickout Media allegedly used outdated or acquired domains to publish AI-generated gambling content.
Claim details. Here’s the message we got through Google Search Console on March 27:
Claim description: The infringing news website has knowingly and willfully violated copyright law by copying all of our content verbatim, including all images, which belong exclusively to our company. This includes full reproduction of our original written material, as published on our official website, and accompanying proprietary images. Despite many good faith efforts to resolve this matter amicably, the infringing party (hereinafter referred to as the “Infringer”) continues to illegally publish and distribute our copyrighted content without permission. This is a direct and flagrant violation of our rights and a clear violation of Google’s copyright policies. We therefore demand immediate removal of these infringers from Google search results to protect our intellectual property.
You can read the DMCA complaint here.
What doesn’t come together. The Search Engine Land article has no images, which contradicts the complaint. Also:
- A search of its text shows no evidence of plagiarized content.
- The notice says “many good faith attempts” to resolve the issue, but no communication was received prior to installation.
- The appeal was submitted one day after publication.
What Google says. Google’s general policy is to remove content when it receives a valid copyright complaint, with the option for publishers to file a counter-notice. The company did not comment on this specific case.
Why do we care. This shows how the DMCA takedown can be used to suppress reporting, including the coverage of search spam and abuse of the site’s reputation. Legitimate content can be temporarily removed from search results due to unverified claims, and corrections can take weeks or more.
What’s next. We’ll see if this article is DMCA’d and removed, along with the Press Gazette’s, and anyone else covering the story.
Reaction. Here is X’s reaction:
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