How to Remove Negative Content from Search Results

William DiAntonio
April 28, 2025

How to Remove Harmful Content from Google

It’s a sinking feeling to search for your name or business in Google, only to find content that is embarrassing, detrimental, or damaging to your reputation.

Whether you made a mistake in the past, or are under attack from someone who has it out for you, your reputation is threatened.

The good news is, there are actions you can take to attempt to remove the content from Google search results swiftly. With the right approach, you can work towards regaining control over your online presence and repairing your reputation.

What You'll Learn In Our Guide:

How to track down and document unwanted content online
The best ways to remove personal info, posts, photos, and videos
How to request content removal from website and social media platforms
When to use Google’s removal tools and DMCA takedowns
What to do if you need legal support or expert reputational help

Get Expert Help to Remove Harmful Content

This involves working directly with website administrators, taking legal action, or deleting content that you control. Follow these steps.

What is Negative Content?
Handling Negative Content
4 Steps to Remove Content from Search Results
Step 1. Contact the Site Owner
Step 2. Use Google Removal Tools
Step 3. Use SEO and Content Creation
Step 4. Take Legal Action

What is Negative Content?

Negative content refers to any online material that harms, damages, or portrays an individual, business or brand in a harmful, unflattering, or unfavorable light.

This can include posts, news articles, comments, and more – whether the information is false, exaggerated, or even based on something true.

In many cases, negative content spreads regardless of who’s at fault. It may involve personal mistakes, misleading claims, or even defamatory or illegal material that violates your rights.

Types of Negative Content

Negative content falls into 5 categories:

Type of Negative Content	Definition	Examples
Mistakes	Content where you are at fault for a mistake, which may negatively impact your reputation, especially if widely shared.	Posting a professional error on social media (e.g., incorrect information about a project). Apologizing for a mistake that goes viral, such as a misstatement in a public interview.
Misinformation	False or inaccurate information spread without malicious intent, but still potentially misleading.	Incorrectly sharing unverified news about a political event. Spreading a rumor that a celebrity is pregnant based on false sources.
Defamatory Content	False or malicious statements that harm an individual’s or organization’s reputation (includes slander or libel).	False claims on social media that a person committed a crime (slander) An article falsely accusing a company of fraud (libel).
Discriminatory Content	Content that promotes harm, division, or prejudice, and often violates platform guidelines or legal regulations.	Posting racist comments or jokes on a public platform. Discriminatory language targeting a specific gender, religion, or sexual orientation.
Illegal Content	Content that violates laws and can lead to criminal charges or legal consequences.	Sharing copyrighted content without permission. Promoting the sale of illegal substances or activities on social media platforms.

Need Unwanted Content Removed from Search Results?

The experts at Reputation911 can help you remove negative or unwanted content from Google search results, quickly.

Handling Negative Content

Negative content can feel overwhelming, but you’re not stuck with it forever. With the right steps, you can remove harmful material and take back control of your online reputation. Stay calm, focus on solutions, and know that it is possible to fix your search results.

Here’s how to manage emotionally while working on solutions:

Don’t panic. Take a breath before reacting. Emotional responses can make things worse.
Talk to someone. A friend, mentor, or therapist can help you feel supported.
You are not the content. One mistake or post doesn’t define you.
Stop “doom-scrolling”. Limit how often you search your name to reduce stress.
Take action. Even small steps, like saving evidence or drafting a removal request, can help you feel more in control.

You can’t fix everything overnight, but this guide will help you take back control.

4 Steps for Removing Negative Content From Search Results

If unwanted or harmful content is impacting your online reputation, there are several steps you can take to address it. Follow these steps to help you manage and potentially remove negative content online.

Step 1. Contact the Site Owner
Step 2. Use Google Removal Tools
Step 3. Use SEO and Content Creation
Step 4. Take Legal Action

Step 1: Contact the Site Owner

Once you’ve found the negative content and where it’s published, your first step is to contact the site owner or webmaster. Ask if they’re willing to remove the page or post directly from their website.

Before reaching out, check the site’s content removal policy or terms of service. Some platforms have clear rules about what can be taken down – and how to request it.

How you approach a website or publication, will depend on the type of negative content in question:

Factual (But Damaging) Content – If the content is accurate but paints you in a harmful or unfair light, explain its impact and request an update or removal for fairness or privacy. Even true info can be misleading—highlight that if relevant.
Misinformation – Clearly present evidence that contradicts the false claims and ask the site owner to correct or remove the content to prevent further harm.
Defamatory Content – Provide documentation proving that the statements are false and harmful, and request the content be taken down to protect your reputation.
Discriminatory Content – Highlight the harmful impact on specific groups and ask for removal based on violations of anti-discrimination policies or laws.
Illegal Content – Inform the site owner of the legal violations involved and request its immediate removal to comply with relevant laws or regulations.

If you’re able to have the site owner successfully remove the content in question, take the precaution of using the Refresh Outdated Content Tool to ensure it is also removed in search results.

While the final three types of content may ultimately lead to a lawsuit (see step four), it is generally advisable to reach out to a website first, to resolve the issue – it is more efficient and less costly.

Step 2: Use Google Removal Tools

Google won’t remove everything, but they do offer tools for taking down certain types of harmful, sensitive, or illegal content.

What Type of Content Will Google Remove?

Personal information that poses a risk if exposed: This includes financial account numbers, government-issues IDs, medical records, login credentials, and other data that could lead to identity theft or fraud.
Copyrighted violations: If someone used your original work without permission, you can submit a DMCA takedown request to ask Google to remove it from search results.
Extortion-based content: If your personal information appears on a site that asks for payment to take it down, Google may remove the page from its index to prevent it from showing up in search.
Non-consentual explicit content: This includes private or intimate images shared without your permission, such as revenge porn, deepfakes, or leaked photos, which Google may remove under its sensitive content policies.
Outdated search results: Sometimes, content that has been removed from a website still appears in Google search. You can request to have these outdated links cleared from search results.

If your content doesn’t fall under one of these types, you will likely not be able to use Google Removal Tools.

Google Removal Tools

Google offers free tools to help remove unwanted content from search results. While they won’t remove the content from the internet entirely, these tools can stop harmful pages from appearing in search results when people search for your name on Google.

To submit a removal request for an individual page that appears in search results, follow these steps.

Click on the three dots to the top-right of the result title. This will pull up a separate menu on the right of the page. Click “Remove Result”.

Next, choose your reason for removal – either personal information, you have a legal removal request, or it’s outdated. Follow the prompts to complete your removal request.

Check out our other blog post to learn how to remove an image from Google search results.

You can also use the following removal tools:

Personal Content Removal Tool: Use this to request the removal of personal information, sexual material, sites with exploitative removal practices, or content depicting minors.
Results About You Tool: Use this to find & remove contact information (e.g., phone number, email address, home address) from Google search results.
Refresh Outdated Content Tool: If a page has already been deleted or updated at the source, but still shows up in search results, use this tool to request a refresh. It’s ideal for clearing cached pages and outdated search snippets.
DMCA Takedown Form: Use this if someone has posted your copyrighted works without permission. This includes stolen images, written content, or videos.

These tools are easy to use and effective for cleaning up your online presence.

Step 3: Use SEO and Content Creation to Suppress Results

If content removal has not worked to this point, the next step to try is search engine suppression.

While this doesn’t remove content entirely, it does involve strategies to push down negative search results off the first page of Google, so people are far less likely to see them. This is done through content creation, which pushes down unwanted results instead of removing them completely from a Google search.

In fact, 91.5% of people never even go to the second page of Google.

This strategy works best for negative content related to past mistakes or misinformation about you – two types of content that (depending on the details) you may not be able to remove from search results with Google’s content removal tools.

Step 4: Take Legal Action

If negative content about you appears in Google search results and efforts to remove it via other methods haven’t worked, you may consider legal action.

Legal action is a strategy that applies to content that is not a mistake that you’re at fault for: defamatory, misinformation, discriminatory, or illegal content.

If content breaches privacy policies—such as doxxing or invasion of privacy—legal steps may be taken. Sharing your private information online without consent could violate your privacy rights.

Type of Content	Legal Action to Take
Defamatory Content	Contact the Platform: Report the content if hosted on a platform. Cease and Desist Letter: Request removal of content. File a Defamation Lawsuit: If content isn’t removed, take legal action.
Misinformation	Contact the Platform: Report false or misleading content. Request Removal or Correction: If it violates platform policies. Legal Action: If misinformation is harmful to reputation and widespread, consider a defamation lawsuit.
Discriminatory Content	Report the Content: Use platform tools to report discriminatory content. Legal Action: File complaints with anti-discrimination authorities if content violates laws. Defamation Lawsuit: If content is false and damaging.
Privacy Violations (ex: Doxxing)	Contact the Platform: Request immediate removal of private information. Cease and Desist: Send a formal letter to the individual or entity. File Privacy Violation Lawsuit: If the content is causing harm.
Hate Speech	Report the Content: Use the platform’s reporting tools to flag hate speech. Report to Authorities: If it violates local hate speech laws. File a Lawsuit: In jurisdictions with strong legal protections against hate speech.
Illegal Content (ex: Child Exploitation, Fraud, Malware)	Report to Authorities: Immediately notify law enforcement or specialized agencies. Content Removal: Authorities will work with platforms to take down the illegal content. Criminal Charges: Perpetrators face criminal prosecution.
Cyberbullying or Harassment	Report the Content: Use platform tools to report harassment or bullying. Cease and Desist: Request the individual stop. File a Harassment Lawsuit: If the harassment is severe and ongoing.

Still Need Help Removing Negative Content? Work With a Professional

If you’re struggling to get content taken down or keep running into dead ends, you’re not alone. Some cases are too complex – or too sensitive – to handle by yourself.

At Reputation911, we specialize in content removal services to remove harmful content and restoring your name across search engines, websites, and social media.

Take back control of your online presence. Call us at 866-697-3791 or request a free consultation to get started.

William DiAntonio

William DiAntonio is the Founder & CEO of Reputation911, a reputation management firm he founded in 2010 that has earned the trust of its clients for over a decade by helping individuals, businesses and brands control their online search results.