Can Google Remove All Search Results For My Name?

This is perhaps one of the most frequently asked questions:

Can Google remove all the search results for my name?

The answer to this question is no, unless you can first remove every page on the web that contains your name!

It doesn’t matter if your name is unique or not, Google is not legally obliged to remove all the search results for your name, so they won’t.

Google’s removal policy is well documented but is best summed up by the following statement:

The best actions for you from our perspective can be one of a couple options. Either contact whoever put up webpage B and convince them to modify or to take the page down. Or if the page is doing something against the law, get a court to agree with you and force webpage B to be removed or changed… -Matt Cutts Senior Google Engineer

Looking to Remove Search Results?

Plenty of people see unpleasant or unwanted search results when they search for their name or business name.

You have a few options:

Get the original web page taken down
Get the site owner to instruct search engines not to index the page
Send a legal request or court order to Google
Google does remove *some* types of content, such as credit card details from search results

Google is a Reflection of the Internet

The search results you see in Google are a reflection of the web and Google will only remove links if you first contact the original website and get the page taken down or blocked from search engines.

Google can be expected to remove credit card details, government ID’s or child porn but the list of exceptions does not stretch to defamation.

Even if you see results that are blatant lies, they will not remove them unless you have a court order or can present a clear legal case for removal based on applicable laws.

So What Now?

First, have a good read of my guide to removing content from Google. It contains a link to a list to all the Google contact forms I am aware of. You will also find tips on how to use the removal tool – Guide to removing content from Google.

This page explains why Google will not remove defamation, it also contains useful links.

Consider engaging in Reputation Management – The process of creating new friendly content that appears high up in the search results, effectively “nudging down” negative links.