BitTorrent and uTorrent removed from Google piracy search filter, return to autocomplete

Over the years, Google has made a lot of changes to its search engine algorithms that control what content is returned for specific search terms. Google long ago implementing changes to its search results to block some access to content that had to do with digital piracy. Part of that move was to block certain terms such as BitTorrent and uTorrent from returning suggestions as the word was typed in.

Those two terms were reportedly blocked by Google since it originally blacklisted dozens of terms related to piracy. Reports have surfaced that indicate Google has recently begun unbanning certain keywords, including BitTorrent and uTorrent. The unbanning of those terms has reportedly resulted in a significant increase in search traffic to websites elated to those terms.

Google never blocked search results rom being returned in the main page listings for any terms, but it did prevent listings for certain terms from appearing before the user completed typing the word into the search blank. Like many things that go on behind the scenes at Google exactly how the company chooses which terms to blacklist is unknown.

BitTorrent Inc. has long maintained that BitTorrent is not always associated with piracy. The term showing up again in the auto complete app allegedly resulted in a significant bump in traffic to sites having to do with those terms. Other terms that were known to have been removed from autocomplete are still apparently on the blacklist.

SOURCE: TorrentFreak