Google fights back against News Corp accusation that it's 'a platform for piracy'

Web firm responds to Rupert Murdoch's open letter with a blog post

Google has rejected claims made by Rupert Murdoch and News Corp in an open letter to The European Commission that it's a "platform for piracy".

The web firm, which was accused by News Corp of, among other things, ignoring "unlawful and unsavoury content that surfaces after the simplest of searches" and making it hard for people "access information independently and meaningfully", has responded to the accusations in a lengthy blog post entitled "Dear Rupert".

"Google has worked hard to help publishers succeed online - both in terms of generating new audiences and also increasing their digital revenues," reads the post. "Our search products drive over 10 billion clicks a month to 60,000 publishers' websites, and we share billions of dollars annually with advertising publishing partners."

The US web giant claims that rather than being a "platform for piracy" it has done more than any other company to counter online piracy.

"In 2013 we removed 222 million web pages from Google Search due to copyright infringement. The average take-down time is now just six hours. And we downgrade websites that regularly violate copyright in our search rankings," said Google. "We've invested tens of millions of dollars in innovative technology - called ContentID - to tackle piracy on YouTube."

In response to Murdoch's claim that it's "willing to exploit [its] dominant market position to stifle competition", Google argues: "With the internet, people enjoy greater choice than ever before - and because the competition is just one click away online, barriers to switching are very, very low. Google is of course very popular in Europe, but we are not the gatekeeper to the web, as some claim."

Murdoch also claimed that "sudden changes are made to the ranking and display of Google search results, which inevitably maximise income for Google and yet punish small companies that have become dependent on Google for their livelihood".

In its rebuttal, Google says: "Of course we regularly change our algorithms - we make over 500 changes a year. But these changes are all about improving the user experience, not punishing small companies."

News Corp isn't the first organisation to criticise Google's efforts when it comes to combating piracy. Last year, MPs criticised Google for its "continuing promotion of illegal content" and lack of effort when it comes to preventing music and film piracy.