If you’re an anime lover, you’ve probably heard of Zoro.to, the world’s largest pirate site with over 205 million visits per month. However, if you’ve tried to access the site recently, you’ve likely noticed that it no longer exists and instead redirects you to a different domain. So, what happened to Zoro.to? Was it shut down? Are there any alternatives? Let’s dive into the mystery surrounding Zoro.to’s unexpected disappearance.
Zoro.to was a free website that streamed and watched anime series online. Despite its popularity among millions of anime lovers, the site was illegal and suddenly “acquired” by a new team and rebranded. Twitch has had similar problems with streamers of casino and betting sites. The new site, now under the domain name Aniwatch.to, has a new look and feel, but the transition is seamless via a redirect. Visitors to the Zoro.to domain are currently redirected to Aniwatch.to. Zoro.to did not store any files on its server; it only linked to media hosted on 3rd party services.
UPDATE: It’s just been revealed that Aniwatch.to has now been taken down due to copyright infringement, so the whole site is now gone, which means that you’re going to have to find an alternative site to watch your favourite anime. The site now redirects to another site called alliance4creativity.com.
What Zoro.to Officials Say About Rebranding?
Credit: Zoro.to
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When you try to open Zoro.to in your web browser, you are taken to Aniwatch.to instead. This sudden change has led to a lot of speculation and confusion among users. However, according to a statement from the Zoro.to team, the site was acquired by a new development team who will now handle the website and social network accounts. They assured users that all the data would remain the same and the old staff would continue supporting the server.
Why Did Zoro.to Rebrand?
Credit: Zoro.to
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Pirate sites are known for moving to new domains for various reasons. Domain seizures or suspensions often play a part in sudden changes, but domain jumping has served two additional purposes more recently. Anti-piracy groups have spoken of the difficulties domain jumping can cause during investigations. Receiving too many DMCA notices can cause Google to derank sites from search results.
In the case of Zoro.to, it appears that the domain hadn’t yet reached the threshold. At the time of writing, Google reports the removal of around 43,700 URLs and it’s rumoured that 50,000 may be the limit. A new domain may have been required shortly anyway, but the reasons for today’s switch are reportedly different.
The Transition to Aniwatch.to
Credit: Zoro.to
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The transition from Zoro.to to Aniwatch.to was seamless, and the new site maintains a familiar design, albeit with a new colour scheme. Old logins appear to work on the new domain, and apart from the new colour scheme, the design is very familiar. However, the sudden change has caused some confusion among users, with many taking to social media to express their concerns and seek answers.
Zoro.to alternatives
Credit: Crunchyroll
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If you’re looking for alternatives to Zoro.to (now Aniwatch.to), there are several other websites available that offer a vast library of anime content. One such site is Crunchyroll, a legal streaming site that offers a wide variety of anime series, including popular titles like Naruto, Attack on Titan, and One Piece. While Crunchyroll does offer a premium subscription for ad-free viewing and access to new episodes immediately after they air in Japan, it also provides a substantial amount of free content for non-subscribers.
Other alternatives include 9anime, Kissanime, and AnimeHeaven, which are free but come with the caveat of being pirate sites, much like Zoro.to was. As always, it’s important to remember that while these sites offer free access to anime, they operate in a legal grey area and may be subject to shutdowns or domain changes.
Final Thoughts on Zoro.to disappearing and rebranding
Credit: Crunchyroll
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In conclusion, Zoro.to, the world’s largest pirate site, has been rebranded to Aniwatch.to. The transition was smooth, and the new site maintains a similar design and functionality. While the sudden change has caused some confusion among users, the Zoro.to team has assured users that all data will remain the same and the old staff will continue supporting the server. So, for those wondering what happened to Zoro.to, it seems it has simply undergone a rebranding and continues to operate under a new name.
What do you make of this news? Are you at all surprised by what happened to Zoro.to? Let us know your thoughts on this whole matter in the comments below. We’d love to hear from you.
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I just wanna say that Zoro is my favourite character in One Piece