The world's biggest torrent search engine, Torrentz, has shut down operations this week, but its demise doesn't mean the end of torrenting altogether.
Yes, the torrent scene is navigating rough waters and the Torrentz shutdown ads more fuel to the fire. It comes roughly two weeks after the feds seized and closed Kickass Torrents (KAT), the world's largest and most popular torrent site. With Torrentz now off the map too, two of the largest players in the field are now out of the game.
Torrenting, however, will likely keep going even after losing some of its stars. The torrent world did not stop spinning when the Pirate Bay, BTJunkie or others ran into trouble; it kept going. Even the recent KAT demise fueled an increase in traffic for other torrenting sites, as users started looking for alternatives.
When one popular torrenting venue shuts down, others take over and fill its place; users don't stop using torrents because their favorite site closed — they switch to alternatives and use other torrenting sites.
Torrentz, for its part, was pretty much the Google of the torrent market. Instead of accessing individual torrent sites to look for content, you could search on Torrentz and get a list of torrent sites where you could find what you were looking for. Torrentz basically served as a search engine for torrents, not hosting any files itself.
It remains unclear what exactly led to the shutdown, as Torrentz offered no statement or explanation. While KAT's website would no longer load after its demise, the Torrentz website still loads — it just notes what it used to be, and no longer is. This suggests that it was not closed following a formal takedown request.
"Torrentz was a free, fast and powerful meta-search engine combining results from dozens of search engines," reads the message on the Torrentz website.
The search bar is still there, but if you try to search for anything, you will only get a goodbye message: "Torrentz will always love you. Farewell."
While this is sad news for Torrentz fans, it doesn't mean torrenting is dead. Torrentz will no longer be there to direct you to the most relevant torrent sites, but you can still access various torrent sites yourself and get what you're looking for.
Moreover, judging by the dynamic of the torrent scene so far, the void left by Torrentz' demise will likely be filled up shortly. A growing Reddit thread is already listing various torrent site options that could do the trick, as users discuss alternatives for finding reliable sites without Torrentz' help.
In conclusion, seeing Torrentz shutting down after 13 years of activity definitely marks the end of an era, but torrenting is resilient and will most likely live on. A new torrent search engine will pop up soon enough to take Torrentz' place, if it hasn't already. Until then, accessing torrent sites directly without a torrent search engine is not the end of the world.
