Have you ever tried to find a news article that seemed to have magically disappeared from Google? Well maybe it's not a bug or a hallucination, but unfortunately, a deliberate manipulation. It is, in fact, a sneaky practice that is spreading more and more and which consists of improperly dereferencing journalistic articles via false accusations of plagiarism.

It all started with a journalist from Le Canard Enchaîné, Fanny Ruz-Guindos, who last July published an explosive investigation into a cosmetic surgeon, Olivier Gerbault, accused of questionable practices. And a few months later, astonishment: his article simply disappeared from Google search results.

The reason is simple: An obscure site called “ID 2 Santé” claims to be the original author of the content, with a publication backdated to May 16 – a blatant impossibility since the article mentioned facts that occurred after that date, including the delisting of the surgeon on June 19.

And this practice is not an isolated case because as early as 2021, the Swedish NGO Qurium documented how this method had made it possible to stifle an investigation linked to the Panama Papers. More recently, Forbidden Stories also revealed the existence of Eliminalia, a Spanish company specializing in removing online content through the creation of fake sites and backdating posts.

These dereferencing services particularly target investigations into financial scandals, corruption cases, criminal investigations and compromising articles on personalities.

And the price is affordable since it costs up to $1500 per deletion operation. So how can Google, a tech giant with colossal resources, be fooled so easily?

Well, there are several reasons for this. First of all, its “moderation” is based on a automated system carrying out superficial checks of the millions of DMCA complaints they receive. There is therefore a presumption of guilt towards the accused sites and all that is dispute procedures is complex and not very responsive. Thus, the crooks can start their little scheme again and again and Google will systematically fall for it.

Faced with these practices, Le Canard Enchaîné therefore decided to file a complaint for counterfeiting, fraud and forgery and use of forgery. A legal first, therefore, which could create a precedent and force Google to review its procedures.

Now for online media who fear being victims of this type of practice, here are some essential best practices to adopt:

  • Monitor regularly its Google referencing
  • Document precisely publication dates
  • Archive content on third-party platforms
  • React quickly in case of suspicious dereferencing
  • Maintain contacts with Google teams

To explore the subject in more depth, I invite you to consult the excellent investigation by La Revue des Médias which details these worrying practices in depth.


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