The largest torrent meta-search engine in the world Torrentz.eu bid farewell to millions of its users on Aug. 5. The death of the website quietly followed the demise of another popular torrent search engine Kickass Torrent (KAT) that closed down in July 2016.
The search function of the two most relied sources for illegally downloading films, music, television series, games, books online has been disabled. The unexpected shut down of the websites marks the end of an era in the piracy world. According to Torrentfreak, Kickass Torrents domain is now up for sale at a minimum bid of $230.
As for Torrentz, it remains defunct with a message for its users that reads: "Torrentz was a free, fast and powerful meta-search engine combining results from dozens of search engines," is the message displayed on Torrentz homepage."
Another message from Torrentz that displays when users run a search reads: "Torrentz will always love you. Farewell."
Kickass Torrents (KAT) was launched in November 2008. For seven years, the website has provided a directory for torrent files and magnet links allowing users to download the files using BitTorrent protocol.
And Torrentz was launched on 15 July 2003. It was one of the leading torrenting websites for downloaders worldwide. The reason behind its shut down remains unknown.
The shutdown of the two leading torrents search engine left millions of users searching for torrenting alternatives. With Torrentz and Kickass Torrents (KAT) dead, downloaders are relying on ExtraTorrent and The Pirate Bay. According to International Business Times, some other piracy sites are ISOHUNT, EZTV, Monova, Toorgle, Lime Torrent, 1337x.to and RARBG.
Meanwhile, Torrent Freak revealed that after Kickass Torrents' (KAT) demise, the users turned to Pirate Bay, Torrentz, and ExtraTorrent. The websites witnessed a significant surge in the traffic.
"So far we got 200% signup, and 300% traffic increase at ExtraTorrent," ET's SaM told Torrent Freak.
But with Torrentz gone, the remaining two torrents websites are expected to take the lead.
"It is sad to see an iconic site go this way, and it shows how the torrent community is targeted by all means. But, I guess torrenting will prevail and this doesn't mean the death or end of this era," SaM added.
More reports suggest that after the end of Torrentz.eu and Kickass Torrents (KAT), Extratorrent and Pirate Bay could be the next target. These are the two largest remaining torrent sources and their future remains unknown. If these two sites go down, there will be a huge void for downloaders but a victory against piracy.