--- title: "Pirate update (2012): what it changed and what it means now" url: https://seomadman.com/updates/pirate-update-2012 section: updates language: en published: 2026-09-26T00:00:00.000Z modified: 2026-09-26T00:00:00.000Z author: Adam Hafez topics: ["Content strategy"] --- # Pirate update (2012): what it changed and what it means now ## The short answer On 10 August 2012 Google said that from the following week it would use the number of valid copyright removal notices a site receives as a ranking signal, so sites with many notices could rank lower. Google never named it; Search Engine Land called it the Pirate update. The demotion still exists as a legal removals signal. ## Key takeaways - Google announced on 10 August 2012 that valid copyright removal notices would become a ranking signal. - Google said the change would start the following week and gave no exact launch day. - Google never named it; Search Engine Land dubbed it the Pirate update because it targeted piracy. - Google said it would not remove pages without a valid notice, and kept its counter-notice tools. - Google's ranking systems guide still describes the demotion under removal-based demotion systems. ## What Google changed Google announced the change on 10 August 2012 in an [Inside Search post](https://search.googleblog.com/2012/08/an-update-to-our-search-algorithms.html) by Amit Singhal. It would begin "taking into account a new signal in our rankings: the number of valid copyright removal notices we receive for any given site." Sites with high numbers of removal notices "may appear lower in our results." Google said it had the data to do this because it was processing more copyright removal notices every day than in all of 2009. It stressed that only courts can decide infringement, and that it would not remove pages from results without a valid notice from the rights owner. Its counter-notice tools stayed in place. ## When it rolled out Google's post said the change would start "next week." It gave no exact day and no completion date. This page dates it to Monday 13 August 2012, the first day of that week, so the exact day is approximate. Google never named it. On the day of the announcement, [Search Engine Land](https://searchengineland.com/dmca-requests-now-used-in-googles-ranking-algorithm-130118) wrote that it was dubbing it the Pirate update "as it's aimed at copyright piracy." It had first called it the Emanuel update, after Hollywood executive Ari Emanuel, then switched to the clearer name. ## What is known about its impact Google published no figure for how many sites or queries the demotion affected. The one number in its post is about input, not impact: more than 4.3 million URLs in copyright removal notices in the previous 30 days. Treat any traffic loss percentage attributed to this update as a third-party estimate unless Google published it. ## What site owners should do The signal is still live. Google's [ranking systems guide](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ranking-systems-guide) describes it under removal-based demotion systems: after "a significant volume of valid copyright removal requests involving a given site," Google can demote other content from that site. Its [spam policies](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies) repeat this under legal removals. In practice: - Publish only content you own or are licensed to use. - Act on valid removal notices quickly, and remove infringing material at the source. - Use the counter-notice process if a notice against your content is wrong. - Know that Google applies similar demotions for defamation, counterfeit goods and court-ordered removals. ## How to check whether it affected you This is historical: Search Console keeps 16 months of data, so it cannot show August 2012. If you kept analytics from then, compare organic Google traffic for a week before 13 August 2012 with a week in late August. The [Google Algorithm Updates timeline](/updates) lists the other updates of 2012, so you can rule them out first. ## Later refreshes - **Pirate 2** (week of 20 October 2014): Google said on 17 October that a refined DMCA demotion signal would "roll out globally starting next week." ## Related updates - The [Penguin update](/updates/penguin-update-2012) was the spam-focused change before it in 2012. - The [exact match domain update](/updates/exact-match-domain-update-2012) followed in September 2012. ## Frequently asked questions ### When did the Pirate update start? Google announced it on Friday 10 August 2012 and said it would start the following week. It gave no exact day, so this page dates it to Monday 13 August 2012 as an approximation. ### Why is it called the Pirate update? Google never named it. Search Engine Land dubbed it the Pirate update because it was aimed at copyright piracy, after first calling it the Emanuel update after Hollywood executive Ari Emanuel. ### Does a single copyright complaint hurt my rankings? Google's signal is based on a significant volume of valid copyright removal requests involving a site. Its ranking systems guide says that volume can be used to demote other content from the same site. ### Does this demotion still exist? Yes. Google's ranking systems guide lists legal removals under removal-based demotion systems, and its spam policies list legal removals among practices that can lead to demotion. ## Sources 1. [An update to our search algorithms](https://search.googleblog.com/2012/08/an-update-to-our-search-algorithms.html) - Google Inside Search blog (primary) 2. [The Pirate Update: Google Will Penalize Sites Repeatedly Accused Of Copyright Infringement](https://searchengineland.com/dmca-requests-now-used-in-googles-ranking-algorithm-130118) - Search Engine Land 3. [A guide to Google Search ranking systems](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ranking-systems-guide) - Google Search Central (primary) 4. [Spam policies for Google web search](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies) - Google Search Central (primary) 5. [Continued progress on fighting piracy](https://publicpolicy.googleblog.com/2014/10/continued-progress-on-fighting-piracy.html) - Google Public Policy Blog (primary)