Google search is a powerful tool, but sometimes it can happen that unwanted content suddenly appears in the search results.
It may be outdated information, personal data or even legally problematic content: In any case, it is important to know how to quickly remove unwanted website content from Google’s so-called “index” and what to look out for when doing so.
What is the Google Index?
The Google index is a collection of all URLs from various websites recognized and indexed by Google. It is a dynamic directory that is constantly updated and contains all the information about the websites that the Google crawler finds during its exploration of the Internet. The index serves as the basis for Google’s search results, allowing users to see relevant websites when they search. The Google index contains a wide range of information about the indexed pages, with Google’s algorithms determining the relevance and positioning of these URLs in the search results.
Removing URLs from the Google index
1. use Google’s “removal tool” (temporary solution)
If you want to temporarily remove unwanted URLs from your website from the Google index, you can simply use Google’s URL Removal Tool. To do this, you need a Google account and access to Google’s Search Console. Under the menu items “Index” and “Remove”, you can then request the deletion of your entire website or just certain content.
As soon as Google complies with your request, the corresponding URL will be temporarily removed from the index for around six months. If the URL is not permanently deleted or excluded from indexing, it will be included in the Google directory again after the six months have expired.
2. exclude content from indexing by Google
To permanently exclude the content of your website from Google search results, you should delete the affected page completely from your web server or remove the content from the content management system or prevent the Google crawler from indexing the URL using the “noindex” meta tag via .htaccess. We will be happy to support you or carry out the necessary work for you.
3. report content to Google
A special Google form is available for the deletion of URLs for which you are not the owner (e.g. unlawful copies of your content on third-party websites, copyright infringements, removal of personal data, etc.):
Conclusion
In principle, it is not difficult to remove content from a website from Google. However, it is important to note that this can take time. Google updates its search results regularly, but it can take a few days or even weeks for the changes to take effect.
In addition, projects such as the “Wayback Machine” save their own directories from previous website versions. These directories are not automatically deleted, even if you successfully remove a URL from the Google index. This also applies to other search engines such as Bing or Yahoo, which have their own systems and forms for such queries. The only universal measure is exclusion from indexing, which applies to all search engine providers.