Google Receives Influx Of Take-Down Requests

Google has certainly had some experience dealing with take-down requests in the past – primarily dealing with copyright infringing content – but nothing was to prepare it for the overwhelming influx of requests it reportedly received following the ECJ ruling on the subject last week.

Europe's highest court ruled that internet search services are obliged to remove information deemed to be "inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant", and failure to do so could result in fines.

According to the ruling, European citizens can make requests directly to Google and other internet search service providers to remove the offending links, and need not go through local authorities or publishers. Since Google reportedly dominates about 93% of the search engine market in Europe, this burden will clearly weigh most heavily on its shoulders.