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Google Removes 'Kodi' From Search Autocomplete In Anti-Piracy Effort (torrentfreak.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the anti-piracy dept.

Google has banned the term "Kodi" from the autocomplete feature of its search engine because it's "closely associated with copyright infringement." This means that the popular software and related suggestions won't appear unless users type out the full term. TorrentFreak reports: It turns out that Google has recently removed the term "Kodi" from its autocomplete results. While Kodi can be abused through pirate add-ons, the media player software itself is perfectly legal, which makes it an odd decision. Users who type in "Kod" get a list of suggestions including "Kodak" and "Kodiak," but not the much more popular search term Kodi. Similarly, when typing "addons for k" Google suggests addons for Kokotime and Krypton 17.6. While the latter is a Kodi version, the name of the media player itself doesn't come up as a suggestion. Once users type the full Kodi term and add a space, plenty of suggestions suddenly appear, which is similar to other banned terms. Ironically enough, the Kokotime app is frequently used by pirates as well. Also, the names of all of the pirate Kodi addons we checked still show up fine in the autosuggest feature. Unfortunately, Google doesn't document its autocomplete removal decisions, nor does it publish the full list of banned words. However, the search engine confirms that Kodi's piracy stigma is to blame here. In a statement to TorrentFreak, a Google spokesperson said: "Since 2011, we have been filtering certain terms closely associated with copyright infringement from Google Autocomplete. This action is consistent with that long-standing strategy."

6 of 117 comments (clear)

  1. whew by mr_resident · · Score: 5, Funny

    Problem solved!

    1. Re:whew by Highdude702 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I love how everybody wants the major corporations to police the internet now.

    2. Re:whew by emaname · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Because who are you going to switch to? Bing?

      How about DuckDuckGo? I switched to it about 4 or 5 years ago, right after I was filter bubbled by Google.

      --
      An effective "democracy" creates the illusion the people have a say in their government.
    3. Re:whew by rtb61 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Or more accurately https://duckduckgo.com/?q=kodi... . I don't even understand what everyone is talking about, search for Kodi right there. Is it me or has the rest of the internet gone nuts, I stopped using https://duckduckgo.com/?q=goog..., I don't see a whole slew of problematic searches any more. The googlites have seemingly turned into a whole pack of problematic control freaks, their market lead, their stint in the sun, seems to have caused the arrogantly flow of blood from the bug brain to the egotistical undefined genitals brain, you think from down there and you will make stupid decisions.

      You have to keep tech companies small, otherwise they just all go nuts, absolutely nucking futs.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
  2. The Humanity by rmdingler · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There has to be a whole other level just north of 1st world problem to properly convey the angst and suffering experienced by the user forced to enter the full four letters to link to the Kodi site.

    --
    Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

    Ernest Hemingway

  3. Re:Thank goodness for Bing by squiggleslash · · Score: 4, Informative

    That's true with Google too. Read the summary again, Google are just removing Kodi from autocomplete, not from their search listings.

    --
    You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.