Link-Busters

Link-Busters is a Dutch anti-piracy service that sends takedown notices to Google and other search engines on behalf of major publishers.

Link-Busters works for major publishers such as Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Simon and Schuster, Hachette, John Wiley & Sons, and Princeton University Press.^[1][2][3] The company was among the top 10 organizations sending takedown notices to Google Search in 2018.^[4] In 2024 it was reported that the company was responsible for over half of all Google takedown requests.^[1] That year it sent over a billion such requests to Google,^[2] and it broke two billion in early 2025,^[1] before reaching three billion that same year.^[5] Its increased activity has been described as a response to the growing popularity of shadow libraries such as Anna's Archive and Z-Library.^[1][2]

The company relies on automation to generate a high number of requests,^[3] some of which have been reported as incorrect.^[6] In 2022 the company was criticized for sending takedown notices regarding a book review website that was not infringing on copyright, and engaging in censorship by copyright.^[7]