Remove Negative Content from Google Search: 10 Different Ways

Nowadays, you can search for nearly anything online. Our fascination with the internet and the online world can offer a plethora of selections. With more than 274 million mobile internet users accounted for in the United States as of 2020, anything published online can be shared, read, and commented on in a matter of minutes. 

Search engine giant, Google has mainly contributed to our constant need to seek out new information. The market leader currently holds a market share of more than 86%, with Bing and Yahoo holding a slim influence in the market. 

Though these figures reveal just how powerful Google has become in just over two decades, completely removing bad press from the search engine can be tricky. Whether it’s a bad review, blog post, comment, photo, or video – there are ways in which businesses and startups can manage negative content. 

The internet has become a primary source of information for billions of users. Companies and entrepreneurs are now leveraging their capabilities to turn ordinary instances into million-dollar ideas. The internet is money. For some, any form of negative content can severely tarnish their reputation and credibility in the public eye. 

Professor John Lazzaro, a former Electrical Engineering and Computing Sciences teacher at the University of California, Berkeley once wrote, “I don’t think society can reach a consensus on what constitutes misinformation, and so trying to automate the removal of misinformation won’t be possible.”

So, where does this tie in with negative content? 

Amid the rapid increase of online users, the internet has been filled with false facts, spam, and misinformation. The growing concerns regarding misinformation have seen the online community looking towards private entities and governments to regulate the spread of misinformation. 

But negative content is not just misinformation. When peeking under the tarp, one will see how negative content can filter into nearly every corner of the internet. The landscape is massive, and finding negative content isn’t easy.

So what can you do?

Why Remove Content from Google?

There are various reasons why companies and individuals would want to remove content from Google. 

Politicians spend years creating a persona that represents trust and credibility to their followers. Harmful content can tarnish their hopes of running for Congress or President one day. 

Perhaps a popular and trustworthy company with a strong global brand has received backlash over false claims, or an inconsiderate ad campaign. 

These are all common takes on why individuals and major corporations, even small-medium enterprises (SMEs) will consider removing content from Google. 

Negative content is not just about the image or public opinion, it boils down to how it is handled. In the past, we’ve seen ample examples of how individuals have struggled to remove negative content that infringes on their rights and privacy. 

It’s a slippery slope to navigate. With our daily lives blasted all over social media, it’s easy for just about any person to infringe on personal privacy. While Google and other major tech giants are looking towards settling the score right, there are solutions available.

That’s where public relations and marketing teams strategize, piecing together a new way in which they can remove negative stories and help rebuild public opinion for a business or individual.

There is no homogeneous environment where removing negative content is available. It takes several attempts, multiple people, and a lot of resources to rebuild credibility and remove these negative insults from the internet. 

Take a look at some of how you can easily remove negative content from Google below. 

Bury Negative Google Search Results

Once you or your PR team have located the negative content, you can endure some of the following. 

Contact the Website Owner

Website owners are hard-skinned, and sometimes ill-mannered when it comes to a removal request for negative reviews from their platforms.

This is the very first place or step you can start with. Directly contacting the website owner to request the removal of negative content can be done through various means. 

Direct Message: Some websites, more business-orientated, have started using embedded messaging platforms that pop up on the home page. These are usually used to answer customer queries. One can also use this to get in contact with the content directors, or perhaps the website owner. 

It might move at a glacial pace, but directly talking to someone who works for the company or platform will already put you a few steps ahead. But, further help might be needed. 

Send them an email: Most websites will have an “about” or “contact us” section. Usually, you can send a message directly to the company or website managers. In other instances, there will be an email address available that you can use to contact them. Once you’ve sent an email, ensure to follow up if no response has been given.

Via Social Media or LinkedIn If the website owner is an affluent and prominent figure, there’s a high chance they’ll have a social media profile or LinkedIn account. Through this, you can directly message them instead of having to wander off the path, emailing anonymous individuals that will most likely turn out to be Artificial Intelligent ChatBots. 

Again, remember to follow up as much as possible. Online reputation management isn’t easy, but you can bury negative search results through other mean,s too. 

Create High-Quality Content

So, contacting the website owner or owner of the content did not work. Sometimes, creating positive, high-quality content might do the trick. 

SEO expert, Neil Patel gives thorough digestion of how to craft together killer content that will help increase search rankings and optimize SEO. Some of his most basic guidelines include: 

1. Create Keyword Strong Headlines
2. Make sure to keep introductory paragraphs interesting 
3. Engage with your audience directly
4. Make it interesting 
5. Keep it personal yet professional

Use Credible Sources or Links in Your Content

High-quality content could make or break any negative information available on the internet. Whether you’re going about this alone or making use of a PR and marketing agency – get a clear message across to your audience. 

Keeping it straightforward isn’t going to cut it, you will need to view the content from every angle, and be as creative as possible. 

Removing Negative Search Results with DMCA

DMCA stands for Digital Millennium Copyright Act. 

A section of the United States Copyright Law includes the DMCA which regulates the process for individuals and businesses on how to remove anything from the internet.

The DMCA has been meticulously designed to address copyright infringement on those individuals involved. More so, the DMCA also covers areas of copyright infringement outside of the internet. There are also sectional obligations of the DMCA to address Internet Service Providers (ISP and OSP).

If the website owner has been previously contacted and still refuses to take down any of the negative or infringed content, individuals and companies can directly send off a DMCA notice to either the website owner or the website host. 

Consider a DMCA in regards to bad reviews and identity theft.

Clearly outline the situation and how the harmful online content has made a porr impact on your career, business, or any other parties involved. This is crucial, and it should be clearly stated in the notice. Once the notice has been filed or sent, ensure to conduct regular follow-ups. 

General Data Protection Regulation

Enforced in May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has become a globally recognized movement to protect the processing of personal data and information of European citizens.

Although mainly focused on EU-owned websites and platforms, the GDPR has been designed to focus on websites and platforms infringing on and illegally sourcing personal data of individuals in other countries as well.

An underlying aspect of the GDPR considers the free movement of personal data and information between companies and data analysts. 

Unfortunately, there is nothing quite similar to the GDPR in the U.S. However, federal data privacy regulation acts as a close second. Some states have, in due course, implemented their data privacy regulations. 

Since 1 January 2020, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the Nevada Privacy Law (enforced 1 October 2019) have seen strong support from companies and individuals looking to protect their personal data and review negative content being forcefully and unwillingly shared.

Reviewing privacy laws and regulations can give a better sense of how website owners and platform hosts can remove any harmful content if it infringes on civil liberties.

How to Bump Google Search Results Down

It’s a bittersweet statement, but it’s possible to bump down search results on search engines by making use of third-party websites or social media platforms. 

Optimizing third-party platforms with backlinks or social media profiles is a bit time-consuming but has proven successful. This will help promote positive reviews, comments, and posts directly associated with you or the company.

Build Web 2.0s

This concept was first used back in 1999 and coined by Darcy DiNucci. It refers to the creation and development of user-generated content. This includes social media platforms, forums, blogs, and other forms of media generated by humans to help boost search results on the internet.

Here’s a list of where one can build Web 2.0s. 

1. Weebly
2. Medium
3. Jimdo
4. Livejournal
5. Wix
6. Blogspot
7. About.me
8. Tumblr
9. WordPress
10. Flickr
11. Typepad
12. Digg
13. StumbleUpon

Create New Pages with Target Keywords

Keywords have become the main criteria for creating rich and high-quality content. Depending on how it’s used on social media posts or blogs, strong target keywords are a way to remove negative content from Google search. The search engine might seem like a mammoth to undertake, but creating better search engine optimization with positive content is your best bet.

When negative content is the first thing that pops up when you search an individual or company, finding innovative ways to push down these rankings is through the use of targeted content. The content, which is composed out of strong keywords, has the ability to lower-ranked keywords and older posts. 

Research Keywords: Looking for trending keywords or targeted keywords will help understand what to use and where. Depending on the content being generated, there are nearly endless options when it comes to rich keywords, it’s simply about which you use, and how you use them. 

Post on relative platforms: When new content has been created with the targeted keywords, post on relative social media and blog platforms. Ensure to post at times when online traffic is highest and when you can expect to receive the most interaction on your posts. 

Use keywords in headlines: Using these keywords in headlines is also advisable. After pitching the perfect headline, ensure that the chosen keywords can be used in the headline. This increases the chances of it being ranked higher on search engines and when people are researching specific keywords. 

Add keywords on website pages: Additionally, one can also make use of these keywords on website pages and blog posts. Be sure to include it in the tagline or perhaps in the heading. This will help boost website SEO, and rankability.

Target keywords are essential to not just helping bump down negative content on Google, or any other search engine. It’s also considerably important to create rich and high-quality website pages that will help boost rankings.

Create Social Profiles

Social media has made a stark impression on the global internet community. With billions of active users every day, social media has become the best way to share information and news. 

Today, nearly all companies have some form of social media account. This helps them to stay connected with their market, share upcoming products or services, and monitor any negative content. 

Using social media to track and remove negative content from Google and other search engines is extremely simple, as so many of us already have access to the tools and settings housed on these platforms. 

Facebook

Track any negative comments that have been made on a recent post or video. Users can easily engage with the person/s and perhaps remove the comment. Facebook Messenger for Business is also available, and users can be messaged securely and privately.

Twitter

Twitter is more popular for news and media, and when negative content persists, users can share posts with targeted keywords with their audiences. Easily engage with journalists, and clarify statements that are false, or contain misinformation. 

Youtube

Perhaps create a video to express the severity of the situation and where you currently stand in the process. You don’t have to talk about the situation or try to remove the content, video can help put a human element to an online post. 

Pinterest

This might seem a bit far-fetched, but Pinterest rankings have climbed in recent years. 

For example, searching for a recipe, or new food item on Google, there’s a high chance a Pinterest post will pop up as the first few results. Thousands of users follow Pinterest accounts, so consider branching out into new ventures when negative content persists. 

Instagram

Instagram has changed a lot since its inception in late 2010. Since then, the photo-sharing app has transformed into becoming a business-centric platform and video app. Now, millions of users interact with businesses and influential individuals every day on Instagram. 

Creating posts that contain target keywords and hashtags helps both Google and Instagram. More so, individuals or companies can react to harmful content by starting an online campaign. This will allow other users to get involved and spike the search rankings.

Linkedin

While LinkedIn is now one of the world’s largest professional networking platforms, consider creating a few posts on LinkedIn that would help reduce the ranking of negative content. Additionally, you can link with fellow employees, or organizations and companies. 

Add direct backlinks in posts on LinkedIn, or embedded outbound links in blog posts, or any other social media posts.

Social media is a strong force. And there are various creative ways in which you can use these platforms and apps to your best advantage. Negative comments and reviews will likely persist for some time being, as removing this can influence the credibility of the business. 

But, these platforms make it a lot easier and more convenient to interact with users, customers, businesses, or perhaps those who have been sharing or posting negative content. 

Increase Your Websites Authority/Reputation to Outrank Them

By now you would’ve heard of domain or site authority. Simply put, Domain Authority (DA) predicts the ranking of a website on search engine results. The scores for DA are ranked 1 to 100. Higher-scored websites are more likely to have a better ranking and authority on search engines.

To improve ranking and authority, one can:

• Ensure the website contains high-quality and credible content (i.e. information, photos, videos, or quotes).
• Create better internal links that are either linked to your website, social media platforms, or other noteworthy websites. This works on a vis-a-vis basis.
• Create a platform that loads fast, and is mobile-friendly. 

These are some of the basic requirements to increase DA or website authority. 

Press Release

Additionally, breaking news press releases can help with link-building and website authority. A noteworthy piece of material published by a credible news source is a simple yet effective way to help stabilize the playing field. 

More so, press releases can be quick and easy to write, and sometimes, when they’re linked to an influential journalist or writer, it can boost rankings even more. Some journalists or media sources will share these press releases on their sites or even their social media profiles. Allowing for more readers and better engagement. 

FAQs

Final Thoughts

There will always be negative content on Google. How to remove it relies heavily on the severity of the content and the person or persons looking to remove it. It is a painstakingly tedious process to remove negative content from Google, but there are a few possibilities available. 

Ultimately, consider the fact that negative content can remain longer, even after multiple attempts of removing it. There are, however, ways around the situation, but those looking to remove it should consider the legal and privacy regulations associated with it. 

Track and effectively communicate with those who are involved to inform them about the situation. Be persistent, and do not restrain from backlash or ill-mannered responses. There are ways to remove content, it simply takes a bit of creativity and innovation.

Walid Al-Hajj