Negative SEO Campaign via Fake DMCA Complaints

[JTK]

It appears that a substantial negative SEO campaign is currently in progress, targeting affiliate sites by submitting a large number of fake DMCA complaints.

My site received over 100 DMCA complaints in the last month, and from what I can see on GPWA, others are experiencing the same thing.

Unfortunately, it is having impact. Around ten of my pages were taken down as a result, though most were re-indexed within a day of me filing a counter-notice. I've read that others have received a notification; this has not happened in my case.

You can search for site:yoursite.com and navigate to the very last page of results. Any pages that have been taken down will be listed there, along with links to lumendatabase.org entries.

If pages have been wrongfully removed, you can file a counter-notice with Google here:
https://reportcontent.google.com/forms/counter_notice?web-redirect=f&product=websearch

 

[Kadabra]

did you find a way to get fast the urls removed?
i see i need each time to get one time code and it blocks new attempts for like an hour each time.
also you think you can submit all urls at ones or one by one?

 

[JTK]

did you find a way to get fast the urls removed?
i see i need each time to get one time code and it blocks new attempts for like an hour each time.
also you think you can submit all urls at ones or one by one?

I don't have that many pages, so I did it manually. I copied the source code of the sites I searched for on Google (site : ), and asked Claude.ai to compare them to the links in my sitemap. Any other non-DMCA'd but unindexed pages will be returned as well.

For large sites, this could probably be easily automated with Python, but a search API would be needed to avoid triggering captchas.

I submitted each one separately. Edit: I resubmitted multiple pages at once and it worked in the same way.

 

[Alkis]

Yes @JTK you are correct.. i heard about it like 3 days ago.. the funny part is that the sender does NOT have to provide any proof.. not even his/her name!!!! This is ridiculous for a giant like Google....

So it goes like this: anyone can do it, state that the content is theirs and google removes your pages..

 

[JTK]

I've heard that AI is overseeing all the notices, but it's not doing a very good job. So, if a large number of notices are submitted, some will eventually be accepted, even though the claim is completely invalid.

Under the usual process involving a counter-notice, the page should be re-indexed within 10 days, unless the sender files a lawsuit. However, all of the replies that I received stated that the DMCA take-down request was invalid and that access would be restored instantly. Why was it removed in the first place due to such requests? Google's handling of this is a complete mess.

 

[CasinoDotReview]

We got one aswell, someone needs a good spanking..

 

[Alkis]

Meanwhile there is not one for AskGamblers or CasinoGuru.. strange wont you say?

 

[JTK]

Meanwhile there is not one for AskGamblers or CasinoGuru.. strange wont you say?

AskGamblers has 10,000 fake complaints; that's the maximum the site shows. They probably have lawyers on retainer dealing with this; that's why Google doesn't remove their pages. Are there any copyright lawyers in the chat?

 

[Jops]

This is a complete shitshow. It's mindboggling how easy it is to take advantage of this system. Google doesn't do shit because they are useless as always. It's easier for them to just put the responsibility on the parties involved and say that the ecosystem will self-correct through counter-notices. How can it be possible for some fucking bot to spam these claims. At the very least, why is there no identity verification required?

Literally all affiliate sites I have checked are being hit with these countless bogus DMCA claims daily. It does seem like Google is actually ignoring most of them but I know sites that have been hit badly and had all their money pages deindexed.

 

[Jops]

How do you know if you have been successfully targeted? I mean if Google actually acted and took down the url? Apparently GSC does not always inform users and Lumen is slow and useless, especially as there are countless fake DMCA claims added daily.

I don't mean just being targeted, I mean actually verifying that particular urls have been taken down without having a clue what to look for.

 

[Jops]

Using this method "site:yoursite.com" is it reliable? If a url is deindexed due to DMCA claim, is it deindexed on all of Google or specific countries? if just specific countries, you need a VPN and check all countries in the world lol. Also, some takwdowns may be legitimate due to government requests but I also heard government requests can be faked too, making this a real headache.

 

[JTK]

If you receive a high volume of DMCA notices in a short space of time, it's a sign that your site is being targeted. I have no idea on what basis Google acts on these.

All of my complaints were from different countries targeting different jurisdictions, with no relation to the site's language or region. They all appeared to have been generated randomly by bots. I believe that DMCA removals are de-indexed globally.

 

[JTK]

Using this method "site:yoursite.com" is it reliable?

I'm unsure how reliable it is, but I can't work with the lumen site because it just breaks so often.

If you are bombarded with these at a high rate, it will take a lot of time to read through them and find legitimate complaints. So, it's a mess.

 

[Jops]

Checking my site on Lumen, there are tons of these bogus DMCA claims coming in daily (like with everyone elses affiliate site I am checking), but it seems Google has not acted on it because I have no message in GSC and I see no take-downs when I do the wide Google search on my domain. However, I am unsure if this tells the whole picture.

 

[JTK]

Using this method "site:yoursite.com" is it reliable?

Returning to this, unfortunately, it is not always accurate. I have confirmed this with a site that has multiple pages taken down (confirmed when checking pages individually), and the Google query for the site shows a single removal.

Checking the 'trending down' pages in GSC should indicate any potential issues.

 

[JTK]

Posted today: https://support.google.com/webmaste...-negative-seo-attack-on-official-brand-domain

The operator is being hit with B2B partner impersonation takedowns while, at the same time, the same operator is being impersonated to take down affiliate sites in its name.

 

[Alkis]

Posted today: https://support.google.com/webmaste...-negative-seo-attack-on-official-brand-domain

The operator is being hit with B2B partner impersonation takedowns while, at the same time, the same operator is being impersonated to take down affiliate sites in its name.

Nice catch.... so it seems Google is now having a major problem.. the search results in some cases do not give back any relative result! All of them are removed in some cases.. won't say the keyword since it's not important..
By this rate, soon all affiliate websites and all casinos won't rank for any keyword anyway....