Last year, Libgen also told users that it’s primarily funded through Google advertising. In the video, Libgen was warning users that while admins are difficult to unmask, “Google gets informed of every download, and if a user has ever registered with Google, then Google knows exactly who they are, what they’ve downloaded, and when they downloaded it.”

If Google cuts off Libgen’s advertising, the site could potentially struggle to afford to continue operating.

Wouldn’t Google know who owns the accounts the ad money goes to? I assume shell companies, but still.