Removing it from Google is not the same as removing it from the internet
These are two separate jobs and they need doing in the right order. De-indexing takes a page out of Google’s results while leaving it live on the site that published it. Removal takes it off that site, after which it drops out of Google anyway.
Removal is the stronger outcome, so it is always the first thing we try. De-indexing matters when the publisher will not budge, or when the page is on a site nobody visits directly and Google is the only reason anyone ever sees it. For most people that is exactly the situation: the page has no traffic of its own, it just happens to be the third result for their name.
What Google will remove on request
Google’s own removal policies are narrower than most people expect, and none of them cover “this is unfair”. They do cover specific categories, and if your situation falls into one of them the request is straightforward and free to make.
Google acts on these
- Personal contact details such as your home address or phone number
- Bank account, card and other financial identifiers
- Government ID numbers and medical records
- Non-consensual intimate images, and fake explicit content
- Content ruled defamatory by a court order
- Pages that no longer exist but still show in results
Google will not act on these
- An article you disagree with
- A negative review or complaint post
- Accurate reporting you would rather people did not read
- Old content that is embarrassing but true
- Anything where you have not approached the publisher first
The United States has no right to be forgotten. That rule applies in Europe, and businesses that imply otherwise to US clients are selling something that does not exist here.
The court order route
The one mechanism that reliably moves content Google would otherwise leave alone is a court order finding the material defamatory. Google honours those. It is slower and more expensive than a removal request, and it is not appropriate for content that is merely unflattering, but for genuinely false statements causing real damage it is often the only route that works.
Our legal team assesses whether a case is worth bringing before anyone spends money on it. Sometimes the answer is that it is not, and you are better served by suppression.
What it costs to remove something from Google
It depends entirely on which of the three routes applies. A policy-based removal request is quick work. Getting a publisher to unpublish takes negotiation. A court order is a legal matter with legal costs, and suppression is ongoing.
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We tell you which route applies
Free, and before you spend anything. Sometimes the answer is that you can file the request yourself in ten minutes.
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Nothing up front on removals
Where the work is a removal, you pay once the result is gone.
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Suppression quoted separately
If the honest answer is that this cannot be removed, you get a suppression quote rather than a removal invoice.
How we clear a search result
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We look at the whole first page
Almost nobody has one bad result. We check what actually returns for your name, including image results and the results Google shows on phones, which often differ from desktop.
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We go to the publisher first
Getting the page taken down solves the problem everywhere at once, including on Bing and in any site that scraped it. This is the outcome worth pursuing before anything else.
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We file with Google where a policy fits
Correctly categorised, with the evidence attached. Requests get declined far more often for being filed under the wrong policy than for being unjustified.
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We escalate legally where it is warranted
Where the content is false and damaging, a court order is the route that Google acts on.
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We fill the gap it leaves
When a result disappears, everything below it moves up. If what moves up is another bad result, nothing has been achieved, so the page has to be rebuilt deliberately.
Choosing a search result removal company
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They know Google’s policies specifically
The categories Google will act on are published. A company that cannot tell you which one your case falls under, or that it falls under none, is guessing.
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They do not claim a right to be forgotten
It does not apply in the US. Hearing it offered is a reliable sign the company is repeating European marketing copy.
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They try the publisher first
De-indexing leaves the page live. Anyone who skips straight to Google is choosing the weaker outcome because it is less work.
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They plan what replaces it
Removing one result promotes the next one. Without a plan for the whole first page you can pay for a removal and see no improvement.
When nothing can be removed
Plenty of content is accurate, lawfully published and going nowhere. Suppression is the answer, and it is a real one: search results are ranked, not fixed, and a page with strong signals will outrank an old article. Most people never reach the second page, so moving something from third result to eleventh is functionally close to deleting it.
That work is covered in more detail on our suppression service page.