Case Study: Avatar: Fire and Ash - Reducing Piracy Visibility and Recovering Traffic

Avatar: Fire and Ash had its digital release (purchase/rent) on March 31, 2026.

By the time Piracymeter began protection, demand was already high and piracy had established a strong presence in search results, capturing high-intent traffic before it reached legal platforms.

The project was executed for a VOD platform across Ukraine, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.

Start of protection: April 11 2026
 

The Problem

Piracy was not just present — it was visible where users click.

Piracy visibility:

• Top 20: ~40%
• Top 100: ~28%

This meant that nearly 1 in 3 search results exposed users to piracy — even after prior enforcement efforts.
 

Action

Piracymeter implemented continuous monitoring and enforcement across all four markets:

• high-frequency tracking of high-intent queries
• prioritization of top-ranking piracy links
• continuous removals (not one-time takedowns)
• tracking of reappearing URLs

Focus: reduce piracy visibility in search results to zero
 

Results (Within 7 Days)

Piracy visibility:

• Top 20:  ~40% → 0%
• Top 100: ~28% → 0%

Piracy was fully removed from top search positions across all monitored markets.

Piracy presence is measured across 15 high-intent queries (watch/download) for Avatar: Fire and Ash in each country’s local language. Search checks were performed every 3 hours, tracking the share of pirated links in Top 20 and Top 100 results over time.
 

Impact

With piracy eliminated from top results:

 traffic previously captured by illegal sources shifted to the VOD platform
 

What made the difference

The key difference was not volume of takedowns, but approach:

• focus on search visibility, not just link removal
• continuous enforcement instead of periodic actions
• prioritization of high-impact queries
• control over reappearance of infringing links

This enabled Piracymeter to achieve what previous vendors could not — 0% piracy visibility in top search results.
 

Key takeaway

Piracy impacts revenue at the point of discovery.

For Avatar: Fire and Ash, prior enforcement reduced piracy, but did not remove it from top positions.

By eliminating piracy from high-intent search results across Ukraine, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, Piracymeter turned enforcement into measurable traffic recovery and growth.