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"Google has blocked web pages for file-sharing site The Pirate Bay from appearing in its auto-complete search facility.  The move means that when users start to type &amp;quot;thepirate...&amp;quot;, Google does not suggest web pages relating to the site in a drop-down list below.  Only when the full name or web address of The Pirate Bay is written will search results start to be suggested.  It is understood that Google&amp;#039;s move is intended to stop people using the search engine from being pointed to alleged copyright-infringing material.  Google started censoring certain web links to pirated material in its instant and auto-complete tools in January this year.  The unpublished blacklist is understood to include &amp;quot;torrent&amp;quot;, &amp;quot;BitTorrent&amp;quot;, &amp;quot;uTorrent&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;MegaUpload&amp;quot;. TorrentFreak claims that thepiratebay.org and thepiratebay.se were added to the list at the beginning of August.   Access to The Pirate Bay is already blocked by all the major UK internet service providers, although users have found various &amp;#039;workarounds&amp;#039; to circumnavigate the blockade and still access the service.  Google claims that the auto-complete blacklist is an effective and simple way to curb online piracy.  &amp;quot;While there is no silver bullet for infringement online, this measure is one of several that we have implemented to curb copyright infringement online,&amp;quot; a Google spokesman told TorrentFreak. &amp;quot;This is something we looked at and thought we could make some narrow and relatively easy changes to our auto-complete algorithm that could make a positive difference.&amp;quot; Google also censors auto-complete on search terms related to &amp;quot;pornography, violence, hate speech, and copyright infringement&amp;quot;, although the sites themselves remain indexed. Blocking The Pirate Bay from search auto-complete has apparently led to a significant fall in the volume of search results for the terms.  However, a Pirate Bay spokesperson told TorrentFreak that the site was not harmed by Google&amp;#039;s &amp;quot;half-baked&amp;quot; attempt to keep people from accessing the file-sharing service.  They claimed that there has been no major decrease in referrers from Google following the move, and only a small percentage of The Pirate Bay&amp;#039;s traffic comes from search engines anyway.  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tech/news/a405439/the-pirate-bay-added-to-googles-auto-complete-blacklist/>