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>There’s no verification and just your assertion that you own the copyright is enough to nuke any page from a search listing.

This is by design, and Google is complicit in that design

DMCA was written before Google existed, so it's impossible for Google to have been complicit in its design.

The law might have been written before google, but its interpretation and practical applications are decided by the courts which google has definitely been party to.

I think it's fair to say that google has "designed" how the law has been interpreted and enforced.

They do ask the other side though no? Otherwise I can spider the competitor and their clients and just report all pages?

They don’t ask, they tell. The other side is expected to cease and desist, or file a ”counter DMCA” under perjury and expect to get sued by whomever filed the DMCA.

Not just completely unethical, but also illegal even if unlikely to be prosecuted.