Media Companies Republishing Google Right-To-Be-Forgotten Links

Google is notifying publishers when it de-indexes their links under the controversial “Right to Be Forgotten” (RTBF). What this does is often trigger republication of a version of the story by the media outlet or a page that indicates what URLs are being removed from the search index….

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Google’s Eric Schmidt In Berlin: “Really, Our Biggest Search Competitor Is Amazon”

The attitudes of European policy makers toward Google seem to have hardened of late. On various regulatory fronts, Google faces vocal critics and well-organized opposition. Google’s Eric Schmidt gave a speech earlier today in Berlin seeking to change some of those hardened hearts and minds….

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Facebook & YouTube Are Top Sites With Content Removed From Google Under “Right To Be Forgotten”

Google is now sharing details about Right To Be Forgotten removals in a new section of its pre-existing Google Transparency Report area. The latest numbers show that Facebook, ProfileEngine.com and Google’s own YouTube are the top three sites to have content taken down through the new…

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Study: 60 Percent of “Right To Be Forgotten” Requests Denied

Reputation VIP operates the Forget.me website intended to handle Google and Bing “Right to Be Forgotten” (RTBF) requests. Using three months of data, the company has released a study on RTBF’s impact in France, the UK and Germany. There was a smaller, separate study on Spain. It…

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Celeb Lawyer To Google: Block Nudes Or Pay $100 Million

As reported by several media outlets, an LA-based attorney representing “over a dozen female celebrities” whose photos were hacked and stolen in the recent iCloud nude photo scandal has threatened Google with $100 million in damages if the company doesn’t immediately block or…

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To Avoid Liability, Google Limits German News Content To Headlines

German news and magazine publishers are determined, one way or another, to get Google to pay them for their content. They’re not upset about the content appearing in Google News or search. They want it to appear – they just want Google to pay for it. Google doesn’t want to pay….

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In The EU, Lots Of People Are Asking Google To Forget Content That They Authored

Here’s one from the “shaking my head” department: If you assumed that all of the “Right To Be Forgotten” (RTBF) requests that people in the European Union are sending to Google are for unflattering or inaccurate web pages written by third parties, you’d be wrong….

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EU Antitrust Endgame Looking More Murky, Risky For Google

The Wall Street Journal added more color to the unfolding story of the collapse of the Google-European Commission antitrust settlement. Notwithstanding denials by outgoing competition czar Joaquín Almunia, it’s clear that pressure from major European publishers, rivals and politicians…

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German Official: Google Should Reveal Its Ranking Algorithm

One of the unanswered questions in the ongoing European-Google antitrust saga is what concrete changes or concessions critics want (or will accept) from Google. One of those things may have just come to light in a Financial Times interview with German justice minister Heiko Maas. Maas asserts in…

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Publishers To EC: We Want More From Google Or We’ll Sue

As we discussed last week, the current Europe-Google antitrust settlement is dead. This is a surprising turn of events considering that it was once described by European regulators as essentially a done deal. Outgoing European Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia confirmed last week in a talk…

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Google’s Current EU-Antitrust Settlement Appears Dead

Without immediate, new concessions from Google it appears that the company will not be able to finalize an antitrust settlement with the European Commission before antitrust chief Joaquin Almunía leaves office in November. It’s almost certain that a stronger Google critic will succeed him…

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Google Wins Round Against German Publishers, Who Vow To Fight On

The convoluted saga of Google News in Germany took another turn on Friday when regulators declined to pursue an antitrust claim against the company brought by “VG Media,” a consortium of German publishers including publishing giant Axel Springer. Reuters covered the decision but…

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Google DMCA Notices Reach Record High With 7.8 Million Link Removal Requests Filed In One Week

Going on Google’s recent takedown notice numbers, it looks as if the site may be spending as much time on link removal requests as it is algorithm updates. According to TorrentFreak, Google is now processing an average of more than a million takedown requests a day, an enormous increase from…

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Indian Govt. Rages At Google Maps Outing Of Secret Bases

In 2013 Google imitated a “mapathon” project in India, offering prizes to encourage people to help fill in gaps and improve Google Maps in the country. At the time, India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) asked the company not to collect “classified data,” such…

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Google Settles Shareholder Suit, Will Set Aside $250M To Disrupt Rogue Online Drug Ads

Google will create a $250 million internal program to battle rogue online pharmacies as part of a deal to end a shareholder lawsuit, Reuters reported today. The litigation was sparked by Google’s $500 million settlement in 2011 with the U.S. Justice Department, which alleged that the search…

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Spainish Law To Force Google To Index And Pay For Local News

There’s a basic feeling among traditional news publishers throughout Europe, and among some in the US, that Google has benefited enormously from their content but failed to offer anything in return. Furthermore, many publishers see Google as directly responsible for the decline of their…

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Blogger Fined By French Court Because Negative Restaurant Review Was Too Prominent In Google

A French court has ordered a blogger to pay a substantial fine and change the title of a restaurant review because the review was too prominent in search results and harmed business at the restaurant. The review/post has since been removed but can be v…

Right To Be Forgotten: Do Users Even Care?

In the last few weeks, two monumental events related to Internet privacy caused the biggest uproar in discussions about personal privacy since Edward Snowden’s revelations about the NSA. In May, the European Court of Justice ruled that Google must respect the “right to be…

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Google Solicits Feedback On Right To Be Forgotten

Google’s implementation of the EU’s new Right To Be Forgotten mandate has been difficult, to say the least. Which is why Google may have decided to now solicit feedback on their implementation through a new Advisory Council. Google released a page at google.com/advisorycouncil that is…

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Looks Like Google Hates “Jersey Boys” Just As Much As The Film “America”

Filmmakers behind “America: Imagine the World Without Her” have accused Google of keeping their movie’s showtimes and locations from appearing in search results. As it turns out, “America” isn’t the only film not getting fair play from the search engine. Based on…

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