Google hit by more than 144,000 'right to be forgotten' requests

European users eager to remove traces of themselves on the Web have kept Google busy with requests to take down links to specific search results.

In its latest Transparency report, Google said Friday that it has received a total of 144,907 "right to be forgotten" requests since the process began May 29. Those requests themselves encompass 497,507 different webpages. Among the nearly 500,000 page links asked to be taken down, the company has so far removed 170,506 (41.8 percent) and declined to remove 237,561 (58.2 percent).

The process that's kept Google busy stems from a May ruling by the European Union Court of Justice that came to be known as the "right to be forgotten." As part of the ruling, Europeans can ask Google and other search engines to remove links to search results if they believe that such results contain information that might affect their privacy or that is simply no longer relevant or valid for some reason.

Google criticized the May decision, calling it a "disappointing ruling for search engines and online publishers in general." But the search giant has been forced to comply, even posting an online form that disgruntled users can fill out to request that certain search result links about themselves be removed. The process has been a challenging one, forcing Google to not only grapple with a huge number of requests but to determine which ones should be granted.

The search giant has approved about 42 percent of the requests, which have been streaming in since May 29.

Google has no control over the actual online content published and posted by third-party sources. As a result, the ruling requires the company to simply remove any search result links to the content. But the content itself remains alive unless removed by the publisher or other third party.