uTorrent Adds Google Powered Torrent Search
Written by Ernesto on February 14, 2009uTorrent – the client of choice for most BitTorrent users – has added a Google powered torrent search engine to its website. This added search capability uses Google’s custom search program and prioritizes BitTorrent sites in the results. With millions of visitors a month, this is likely to bring in some additional revenue for BitTorrent Inc.
Many visitors to the uTorrent website are relatively new to BitTorrent, and a proportion of these are clueless as to where they should start looking for .torrent files. For this group the new torrent search box on the uTorrent homepage might come in handy. On the other hand, for BitTorrent Inc. it will generate some welcome additional revenue in troubling times.
While the added search is not a particular good way to find torrents, its addition to the site is an interesting move by BitTorrent Inc. Not so long ago, uTorrent removed the search boxes to sites like Mininova and isoHunt from their client, as per requests from copyright holders. However, since BitTorrent Inc. closed its video store, there is now no need to please Hollywood and they are free to link to torrent sites again.
Last December we reported that BitTorrent.com added a torrent search engine that works with Ask.com, and uTorrent.com now follows with a Google powered search engine. Neither site hosts any files, they simply act as a meta-search engine. Below is an example of a search for aXXo on uTorrent. Ironically, the Google ad that appears here links to a uTorrent scam site.
aXXo on uTorrent with an ad for a scam
Google-powered search engines are nothing new, though. There are a few dozen sites that use Google’s coop program, such as TorrentScoop. All these sites display ads from Google’s Adsense program, ads that are not allowed on ‘regular’ torrent sites because they would violate Google’s terms of service. In fact, a few weeks ago isoHunt lost their Google ad feed which ran through Ask because some advertisers complained.
Double standard or not, the search engine on uTorrent’s homepage is bound to get some decent traffic. Let’s hope that they will keep an eye on the scammy ads though, we know from experience that it requires continuous attention.
Previously: Music Copyright ‘Pension Extension’ Moves Forward
Next: News from The Pirate Bay Press Conference
29 Responses
utorrent ftw!!!
@1 & 2
Do you guys even read the article?
Google violates its own Terms of Service by linking to files that link to copyrighted stuff, therefore, it should remove all of its ads from their own websites.
It doesn’t appear like they do.
I never was much for the utorrent client. I prefer to use deluge.
now they have to sue google for aiding the illegal distribution of copyrighted material
i think it’s beautiful. They are alway slamming torrent indexing sites like TPB so now instead of indexing torrents directly, allow the power of google to do it for you. it’s genius. How long before they try to sue google. I’d love to see the Google Lawyer Army appear in court and make the anti piracy lobbyists look like poor working class people who can’t afford a good defense.
@#6 Totally agree. Haveing Google on our side has got to be a good thing. Now were talking Heavy Hitter with lots of monitaty resources. I can’t see to many taking on Google head to head.
i use rtorrent why on earth use a client hat is owned operated and controlled by the people that are screwing YOU.
so what the above guys are saying is your want to use bittorent.com’s pay for downloads ?
why should google come and ruin the fun?
google is the most anti freedom, anti privacy search engine in the world
Everything you have ever searched is saved by google…why? So that some day they can sell info/statistics to commercial interests or/and political. It’s pathetic that people rant about microsoft and think they are rebels because they use firefox/google.
“Everything you have ever searched is saved by google…why? So that some day they can sell info/statistics to commercial interests or/and political”
Your a typical paranoid idiot though. Seeing as it’s quite easy to simply turn off logging. No one is forced to use Google and they are very open about what privacy violations they make. Services don’t pay for themselves.
It’s pathetic that you think your a rebel.
… aside from the fact that you must have a Google Account to have Web History enabled. Other than that Google saves as much info as any other search engine. So why don’t you just not use search engines you silly twat
Here is an interesting bit of info.
http://www.websiteoutlook.com/www.google.com
This reason alone is why no one will Fvck with Google.
Does it make you feel big when you call people names? I don’t think I’m a rebel, that was not the point. My point is that Google is business just like Microsoft, and privacy is not Google’s main concern.
another pointless tool to link idiots to shite sites
@12
read
http://www.google-watch.org/cgi-bin/urldemo.htm
http://www.scroogle.org/scget.html
Im not paranoid, Google logs everything and collects data.
enough about uT already!
i want to know why Scientology is on TPB homepage…what did they do now?
i mean, TPB logo is normally reserved for recently leaked movies
https://thepiratebay.org/doodles
To remove adds from google search just use firefox and install “customize google” add-on, which allows you to turn them off.
I use torrent finder engine anyway.
Try ixquick.com they do not log anything.
Google isn’t distributing copyrighted material.
They have providing links to trackers. They aren’t providing the actually material you want to download.
I Agree, uTorrent is going to get a revenue from that since they have a high traffic. Millions of users world wide.
And what is wrong with utorrent making money? They give away their programme for free and it’s by far the best out there. Seems like too many people think that software should be given away for the love of it. One therefore wonders about the sustainability of the entire P2P model….
Website changes . . don’t translate into client changes. In any case, there was recently an update to uTorrent (1.8.2) to incorporate some of the code from the pending 1.9 branch.
I say, go BT, Inc. keep providing your service. And don’t let the FUDders get you down. I can’t wait for the MAFIAA vs. Google court case :D
I know i’m pathetic for thinking i’m a rebel when i’m just a little b1tch that $ucks all the corporate bosses off whilst they ream me with cds full of copyright
ooohhhhh yeeeeaaaaahhh thats it ooooohhhhhh
Good on them, keep speading BT
notice which site never appears in the search results :D
(c) Hollywood.
That is cooooooooool
“Seems like too many people think that software should be given away for the love of it”
You fucking moron, do you know what P2P is about?
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