Are Google Search Console DMCA Takedown Notifications Broken?

Mar 2, 2021 - 7:21 am 2 by

Google Priate

Last week, Max Prin from Merkle, notified me that one of his awesome free tools on technicalseo.com was removed over a false DMCA takedown request. There are a couple of issues here (1) the DMCA takedown was false and successfully removed his free tool from Google Search and (2) he was not notified of the removal until much later.

Here is when Max Prin found out:

It was a fraudulent claim that some companies are using to remove sites from Google's search results:

John Mueller of Google replied on Twitter saying there isn't much he can personally do because this is a legal issue. DMCA goes through legal and he cannot handle legal issues. He said "There's often not a lot we can do when it comes to legal issues like these. You're welcome to work to change the legal foundation for these processes though... (I'm not the one you have to convince, and Twitter is likely not the best medium for legal discussions, YMMV.)"

But on the second point, Max should have been notified of the takedown sooner. John added "You should be getting search console notifications for DMCA complaints. If that's not happening, that would be a bug afaik. Maybe it's just a timing issue? I can double-check on our side though."

Max did not receive the email that his page was removed until Friday night:

Danny Sullivan from Google told Max to file a counterclaim, which he did. Danny wrote "Filing a counter-claim is the right things. When DMCA removals happen, my understanding is sites do indeed get notified. That said, there's enough weirdness here that I'm also passing it on for further review."

Then sometime on Saturday the site returned to Google. Max didn't know it returned either, he did not receive any notification that it returned.

Scary to think it can be that easy to remove a site or page and potentially cause that much damage.

Forum discussion at Twitter.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Follow

Search Video Recaps

 
Google Core Update Rumbling, Manual Actions FAQs, Core Web Vitals Updates, AI, Bing, Ads & More - YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Google News

Google Changes: Liz Reid New Head Of Search, Pandu Nayak Steps Down As Search Quality & Rankings Lead

Mar 19, 2024 - 7:11 am
Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: March 18, 2024

Mar 18, 2024 - 4:00 pm
Google Updates

Google Urges Patience As The March 2024 Core Update Continues To Rollout

Mar 18, 2024 - 7:51 am
Google

Official: Google Replaces Perspective Filter With Forums Filter

Mar 18, 2024 - 7:41 am
Google Maps

Google Business Profiles Now Offers Additional Review After Appeal Is Denied

Mar 18, 2024 - 7:31 am
Google Maps

EU Searchers Complaining About Google Maps Features Changes Related To DMA

Mar 18, 2024 - 7:21 am
Previous Story: Google Chrome To Support Scroll To Text Links With Images & Videos