Spurious copyright claim sees second Press Gazette story removed from Google search - Press Gazette

DMCA claim hides Press Gazette investigation into Clickout Media from Google search results

A Press Gazette article exposing the dubious ‘parasite SEO’ tactics of online marketing company Clickout Media has been removed from Google search results after a spurious anonymous legal challenge.

A mysterious entity called DRF Corp wrote to Google stating Press Gazette had “willfully violated copyright law by copying our entire content word for word, including all images, which are solely owned by our company” even though the content allegedly copied was on an unrelated subject.

It is the second time a fake copyright claim has been used to get Press Gazette reporting about Clickout Media removed from search engine results this year.

According to the Lumen database, the complaint was filed under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

It alleged that the original article was a month-old (now removed) Reddit post headlined: “Casinos Not Gamstop in 2026: The Brutally Honest Truth Before You Deposit."

The Press Gazette article removed by Google from search results, which was published last week, details how Clickout Media has bought three reputable UK sports news websites and introduced AI-generated reporters whose stories are littered with errors and fabrications. It is headlined: "AI reporters churn out error-strewn stories for football websites."

This article no longer appears in Google search results. Any search that would have previously surfaced the story now includes the following disclaimer from Google: “In response to a complaint that we received under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act we have removed results from this page.”

CEO of Axate Dominic Young (who is also one of the founders of the SPUR coalition on AI licensing standards) was among those to condemn the move when Press Gazette shared the news on Linkedin.

He said: “The DMCA (and its variants around the world) were a really terrible legislative mis-step which, as well as spurious and consequence-free takedowns like this, is responsible in large part for the transfer of value from the media to the tech giants over the last few decades.

"By effectively rendering copyright infringement consequence-free, and reserving the right for tech platforms to profit from it, this law created anarchy online and made copyright infringement into a business model – now being exploited by AI companies and a swarm of proxies helping them get whatever they want, regardless of what the owners say.”

Media consultant David Worsfold said: “Yet again a tech giant proves that it can moderate and censor content its friends don’t like but won’t deal with the wide range of highly offensive, vile, outrageously false and manifestly dangerous content they host and promote."

The previous Press Gazette article removed in March revealed how UK-based Clickout Media had bought news websites to exploit their reputations in Google and promote online casinos. That piece was quickly reinstated after Press Gazette contacted Google for a comment.

Press Gazette has again asked Google for a comment.

Topics in this article :<br>Google , Press Gazette

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Dominic Ponsford

@DomPonsford

Dominic Ponsford is the editor in chief of Press Gazette. He founded the British Journalism Awards, Future of Media Awards and Future of Media Technology Conference and changed UK law with the Save Our Sources campaign.

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