Link-Busters Now Requests the Majority of Google Search Takedowns

• Link-Busters leads the charge in 2024's anti-piracy efforts, flagging more than 2 billion URLs.
• Among the anti-piracy company’s customers are renowned companies like Penguin Random House and HarperCollins.
• These publishers rely on Link-Busters to combat the spread of pirated e-books and academic articles.

The Link-Busters anti-piracy company, working primarily for the world’s leading publishing houses, has flagged over two billion URLs for DMCA takedown requests this year. Its efforts now account for more than half of all takedown requests received by Google.  

Link-Busters reached the two billion URLs milestone less than six months after surpassing the one billion mark earlier this year. The company is now processing over 250 million URL removal requests monthly.  

The majority of these takedown notices target publishing industry-related content. Link-Busters’ top clients include renowned companies like Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Taylor & Francis, Simon & Schuster, and Hachette. 

Despite Link-Busters' record-breaking performance, websites like Z-Library and Anna’s Archive continue to attract millions of users while shadow libraries grow their content collections at staggering rates. These publishers rely on Link-Busters to combat the spread of pirated e-books and academic articles, particularly on platforms such as Z-Library and Anna’s Archive.  

With the rise of shadow libraries and the emerging threat of AI scraping tools using pirated content, publishers are ramping up their anti-piracy efforts. Many have turned to third-party companies, like Link-Busters, to monitor and eliminate links to pirated materials. 

A significant portion of Link-Busters’ takedown efforts centers on shadow libraries, which offer free downloads of published works. For example, Anna’s Archive and Z-Library are two major platforms hosting millions of books and academic papers, making them primary targets for publishing companies.  

Reports indicate that more than 340 million URLs flagged by Link-Busters this year were linked to just six major domains, including three Anna’s Archive sites and several regional Z-Library mirrors.  

According to Penguin Random House, Link-Busters outperformed competitors in both infringement detection and response time while maintaining a low rate of "false positives." Taylor & Francis reported that Link-Busters facilitated “400% more removals than in previous years.”