GoogleAlgorithmConfirmed
Pirate (DMCA demotion signal)
Ranking demotion for sites with large numbers of valid copyright removal notices, aimed at piracy portals.
What changed
Google announced that the number of valid DMCA removal notices received for a site would become a ranking signal, demoting sites with many confirmed complaints. The change was aimed at torrent and streaming portals rather than mainstream publishers. A substantially strengthened version, generally called Pirate 2.0, followed in October 2014 and removed many piracy sites from the visible results altogether.
Timing
Rollout began 10 August 2012. No completion date was announced. Rankings typically remain unstable for the whole rollout window, so measurements taken inside it are not a reliable read on the outcome.