Google posts new page detailing URL takedowns, Microsoft leads with most requests

Jake Smith | May 24 2012 - 3:55 pm PT

Google posted a new page on its Transparency Report that details content the company has been forced to remove from its search engine (via The Verge). The information is interesting, because it gives us a look at how often Google is asked to remove something for all to see. During this past month, the team in Mountain View, Calif., was forced to remove 1,246,713 links from its pages, and non other than Microsoft is leading the requests. The Redmond, Wash.-based Company requested that Google remove 543,378 links this month, followed by a British recording company and NBC Universal. As you can see in the graph below, the number of takedown requests served has increased dramatically over the last nine months—ever since Google started keeping track in July of last year. So why is Google publishing the data now? The company said, “As policymakers and Internet users around the world consider the pros and cons of different proposals to address the problem of online copyright infringement, we hope this data will contribute to the discussion.” The takedown requests by the record labels are not surprising, but Microsoft leading the pack certainly is.