Google has faced ongoing pressure from entertainment companies to crack down on pirated content. (Raul Ochoa/Creative Commons)

Starting next week, Google will use algorithms that push potentially pirated content to a lower position in search results. Entertainment companies have pressured the Mountain View, Calif.-based tech giant for years to make pirated material more difficult to find.

“So while this new signal will influence the ranking of some search results, we won’t be removing any pages from search results unless we receive a valid copyright removal notice from the rights owner,” said Amit Singhal, Google’s senior vice president of engineering.

Google’s move has one digital rights group concerned that the system could be abused by those who want to push rival sites to the bottom of search results, according to the Washington Post.

“Google needs to make sure this change does not harm Internet users or the Internet ecosystem,” Public Knowledge senior staff attorney Bergmayer said in a statement.

Singhal added that the company received 4.3 milllion copyright removal notices over the last 30 days and that a lower ranking does not mean that a copyright has been violated.

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