theForum » Information on the internet » The Google effect » Applying to have links removed from internet searches » Google Removals Journey

RE: Google Removals Journey

khafka — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 13:53:25 GMT

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[b]Stersco83 - 17 Jun 26 11:43 AM[/b]

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[b]khafka - 17 Jun 26 5:45 AM[/b]

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[b]Stersco83 - 15 Jun 26 9:42 PM[/b]

I didn't get a confirmation email, is that normal? Just a little confirmation page and incident number.

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You should've gotten an initial email too, or at least I did.

But it was just a generic thing saying it's in the queue, here's your reference number so I wouldn't think too much of it if you've gotten a number.

Depending how busy they are and how complex yours might be in terms of reviewing it all you should hopefully hear back in a couple of days. Once you get an email confirming the removals KEEP THAT EMAIL Then moving forward if any new links pops up just reply to that email with the new URL(s) and I've had zero issue with them removing them, usually within 24hours.

Fingers crossed for you!

[/quote]

"Hello,

Thanks for reaching out to us.

We had a look at these URLs:
-
-

We'll delist these URLs from search results for queries related to your name. We'll delist them in your country, and from other European versions of Google Search. It may take a few hours for this to happen.

The content itself will still be online, but you can ask the site's webmaster to take it down. You can learn how to contact a site's webmaster on our Help Center."

I'll wait a bit before checking the outcomes, but if it works I'm elated. The only thread remaining to my punishment is some ugly rumours.
And Bing. The moral of the story is, keep is short and sweet, don't plead or overshare, just lean on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. And a benchmark reached -- jail time from 10 years ago. It might be a nice idea to begin a single long term thread where people share winning pleas/formulations.

Oh God, there's an American dimension to my life and work though :unsure:
I wonder if they meant "queries related to your name [globally], AND deliisted [generally] in Google searches in UK and Europe",

[/quote]

Wooo! That's the exact email I got/get.

That's the one to keep an hold of I mentioned earlier! In my experience they usually disappear within 24hours of that email.

I will get round to trying to Bing again at some point but it's not a huge priority just now.

Google Removals Journey

khafka — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 13:53:25 GMT

Hey folks,

I thought I'd document my second attempt at trying to get search results about me removed in the hopes it may help someone in the future and give a bit of a realistic overview of what actually happens.

So a quick recap of the offence as it may be relevant for some:

Indecent Images Offence
120hrs Community Resolution Order
RSO Rehabilitation Program
Subject to the notification requirements for 3 years

My 3 years on the registry was the final bit holding it all back from being spent (even though it seems that it would still class as being spent regardless) but either way, with that element no longer in the way it should give them even less to push back on.

I have applied in the past and have been removed due to the very vague "public interest" reason that nobody at Google can seem to define for me. ICO have also been completely useless and in the first instance actually caused more issues by accidentally giving my contact details to a vigilante group. But I digress...

As of today (23/01/2024) I have submitted a fresh request and referenced my previous request from ~4 years ago.

I submitted all the links I could find for up to 10 pages on Google (which I felt would be enough), which in the end result in around 10 links in total.
My main reasoning for the link removal was focused around the offence being spent, the rehabilitation of offenders act stating that I have a legal right to move on with my life as if this offence didn't happen (as suggested by NACRO). As well as the links just being generally no longer in the public interest and how I'm not a famous person of interest etc.

I will continue to update this post as and when updates happen.

RE: Google Removals Journey

Stersco83 — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 11:43:29 GMT

[quote]

[b]khafka - 17 Jun 26 5:45 AM[/b]

[quote]

[b]Stersco83 - 15 Jun 26 9:42 PM[/b]

I didn't get a confirmation email, is that normal? Just a little confirmation page and incident number.

[/quote]

"Hello,

Thanks for reaching out to us.

We had a look at these URLs:
-
-

RE: Google Removals Journey

khafka — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 05:45:45 GMT

[quote]

[b]Stersco83 - 15 Jun 26 9:42 PM[/b]

I didn't get a confirmation email, is that normal? Just a little confirmation page and incident number.

[/quote]

RE: Google Removals Journey

Stersco83 — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 21:42:38 GMT

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[b]khafka - 15 Jun 26 9:36 PM[/b]

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[b]Stersco83 - 15 Jun 26 8:35 PM[/b]

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[b]khafka - 25 Jan 24 1:15 PM[/b]

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[b]Jamie7718 - 25 Jan 24 1:01 PM[/b]

I thought there used to be a way of chatting with you in a DM. I was going to ask you for the link or address where you actually asked for help from google. I'm not going to need it for another 2 years though :(

[/quote]

If there is a chat feature it's certainly not something I've ever come across!

Regardless, here you go.

Google Removal Information
This is just the overview page to tell you what sort of things they remove and all that.
Google Removal Form
This is the actual removal form if you just want to skip all that.

[/quote]

Well I'm finally doing it...I'll let you know how they respond to a spend 18 month sentence.

So those are THE links where the magic happens? No additional facility to speak of?

Here's my concern, going in:
"Click here if your name (or your client's name) is not the search query that produces the result(s) that you wish to have delisted"

Problem is, people google me by the wrong spelling of my name all the time, and get the offending article.

[/quote]

Nope, not other additional facility needed.

It's been a hot minute since I've had to fill out the form but from memory there is an option for alternate spellings. I used it to cover all bases "think like John/Johnathan" etc.

[/quote]

I didn't get a confirmation email, is that normal? Just a little confirmation page and incident number.

RE: Google Removals Journey

khafka — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 21:36:36 GMT

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[b]Stersco83 - 15 Jun 26 8:35 PM[/b]

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[b]khafka - 25 Jan 24 1:15 PM[/b]

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[b]Jamie7718 - 25 Jan 24 1:01 PM[/b]

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RE: Google Removals Journey

Stersco83 — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 20:35:08 GMT

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[b]khafka - 25 Jan 24 1:15 PM[/b]

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[b]Jamie7718 - 25 Jan 24 1:01 PM[/b]

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RE: Google Removals Journey

khafka — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 14:33:40 GMT

[quote]

[b]Stersco83 - 2 Jun 26 2:05 PM[/b]

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[b]khafka - 2 Jun 26 1:50 PM[/b]

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[b]Stersco83 - 2 Jun 26 1:10 PM[/b]

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[b]khafka - 2 Jun 26 1:20 AM[/b]

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[b]Stersco83 - 1 Jun 26 11:55 PM[/b]

Mine is in the same lane as this but 18 months custodial and happened via voyeurism, 2016 conviction but 2007 incident.
Have you seen any succesful removal anecdotes of this nature?

[/quote]

Hey there!

I'm afraid I haven't - That's not say it isn't possible, it's just I haven't seen it!

What I will advise though is if your sentence is spent then Google tend to be fine with removing stuff, it's when you're still 'active' they get a bit funky with it. The avenue I went down with Google was really pushing the 'Rehabilitation of Offenders Act' angle and how the articles were preventing me from moving on and becoming a productive member of society again.

[/quote]

So yeah I'll say I'm 40 with a career now, my conviction is spent, and what you're reading about is some webcam malarkey from 2007 (college days), that really should be behind me.

The crazy thing is, I had already "outgrown" my conviction when it was handed to me in 2016.
I returned from my career in California to my mother's house in Scotland for xmas 2016.
Was there 3 days, when the police came crashing in, in search of jpegs. And I was like "fine whatever", thinking maybe my brother had been bandying around pics of his 16yo GF, and that's what they were after.
But in the house were a bunch of my old hard drives etc with heaps of deleted files on them from 9-10 years ago.
And I assumed they had been discarded anyway.

Apparently the stuff they unearthed was not the stuff that tipped them off. They had simply been tipped off by a dirty meme I had posted to 4Chan in 2014, involving the girl in Jurassic Park getting her tits out to divert the attention of a T-rex. The image component that made the meme possible was an illegal one.

So instead of returning to California, I spent the rest of the xmas period being poked and prodded in a Scottish police cell being spoken to like I was Bart Simpson or some fundamentally unserious character.

And now there are stupid articles talking about me, giving my mature age, citing this immature behaviour etc (the 2007 stuff and the Jurassic Park stuff), defining me utterly in to 2026. My tactic thus far has been to brazen it out totally, and continue to live my life in such a way that nobody could possibly believe I am the person in the article. It seems to work -- people who google me look right past it.

Am I right in thinking it should be short and sweet? Lean on the ROO act etc, mention the crime is old and that I have a career now etc?

[/quote]

Yeah! It is straight forward. I can't remember what page it is on in this thread but I put links and a wee blurb and stuff about what I used.

But essentially stated how the links/articles are harming my rehabilitation and contravene the rehabilitation of offenders act as well as stating how I'm not a famous person/politician etc. so they are no longer of any public relevance and should be removed under GDPR.

Then I got an email back I think a couple of days later saying they'll remove the links. Then ever since then any new links that have popped up I simply reply to that confirmation email with the links and they have removed them without any fuss or issues. Usually within about 24-48hrs too.

[/quote]

Thanks --- I will check out your links earlier in thread -- well my thinking is now.. their default mode would be to remove the links under those circumstances, so I'll make my case as bland and factual as possible, with emphasis on the rehab law.

Do they ask for a photocopy of your blank basic CRB certificate?

[/quote]

Nope, they never asked for anything like that. It was a few years ago but I think it was just a picture of my passport to prove I am me. No DBS or any other documentation was needed.

RE: Google Removals Journey

Stersco83 — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 14:05:49 GMT

[quote]

[b]khafka - 2 Jun 26 1:50 PM[/b]

[quote]

[b]Stersco83 - 2 Jun 26 1:10 PM[/b]

[quote]

[b]khafka - 2 Jun 26 1:20 AM[/b]

[quote]

[b]Stersco83 - 1 Jun 26 11:55 PM[/b]

Mine is in the same lane as this but 18 months custodial and happened via voyeurism, 2016 conviction but 2007 incident.
Have you seen any succesful removal anecdotes of this nature?

[/quote]

RE: Google Removals Journey

khafka — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 13:50:47 GMT

[quote]

[b]Stersco83 - 2 Jun 26 1:10 PM[/b]

[quote]

[b]khafka - 2 Jun 26 1:20 AM[/b]

[quote]

[b]Stersco83 - 1 Jun 26 11:55 PM[/b]

Mine is in the same lane as this but 18 months custodial and happened via voyeurism, 2016 conviction but 2007 incident.
Have you seen any succesful removal anecdotes of this nature?

[/quote]

RE: Google Removals Journey

Stersco83 — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 13:10:28 GMT

[quote]

[b]khafka - 2 Jun 26 1:20 AM[/b]

[quote]

[b]Stersco83 - 1 Jun 26 11:55 PM[/b]

Mine is in the same lane as this but 18 months custodial and happened via voyeurism, 2016 conviction but 2007 incident.
Have you seen any succesful removal anecdotes of this nature?

[/quote]

RE: Google Removals Journey

khafka — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 01:20:00 GMT

[quote]

[b]Stersco83 - 1 Jun 26 11:55 PM[/b]

Mine is in the same lane as this but 18 months custodial and happened via voyeurism, 2016 conviction but 2007 incident.
Have you seen any succesful removal anecdotes of this nature?

[/quote]

RE: Google Removals Journey

Stersco83 — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 23:55:24 GMT

[quote]

[b]khafka - 23 Jan 24 2:26 PM[/b]

Indecent Images Offence
120hrs Community Resolution Order
RSO Rehabilitation Program
Subject to the notification requirements for 3 years

[/quote]

Mine is in the same lane as this but 18 months custodial and happened via voyeurism, 2016 conviction but 2007 incident.
Have you seen any succesful removal anecdotes of this nature?

RE: Google Removals Journey

khafka — Mon, 25 May 2026 22:33:09 GMT

[quote]

[b]Stersco83 - 25 May 26 10:32 AM[/b]

" ICO have also been completely useless and in the first instance actually caused more issues by accidentally giving my contact details to a vigilante group. But I digress..."

That sounds pretty bad actually...what kind of people are these?

[/quote]

Yeah, ICO are supposed to be in charge of data and all this stuff.

What had happened was early in my conviction when I was trying to get links removed, Google refused to remove them at the time. I went to ICO and they advised they had passed my email and details over the webmaster of one of the sites as a request to remove the details so like "John Doe (johndoe@gmail.com) has requested you remove the following link(s) from your website for reasons blah blah blah".

Suffice to say they didn't take down the link from their website and instead hit up their Facebook groups to plaster me even more in a bid to, and I quote, "Make me famous".

RE: Google Removals Journey

Stersco83 — Mon, 25 May 2026 10:32:22 GMT

[quote]

[b]khafka - 23 Jan 24 2:26 PM[/b]

Indecent Images Offence
120hrs Community Resolution Order
RSO Rehabilitation Program
Subject to the notification requirements for 3 years

[/quote]

RE: Google Removals Journey

khafka — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 20:40:23 GMT

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[b]Stersco83 - 22 Mar 26 7:56 PM[/b]

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[b]khafka - 23 Jan 24 4:13 PM[/b]

So an update already! Looks like they're after some of my court documents or something. Here is the response.

[quote]Hello,
Thanks for reaching out to us.
Regarding the following URLs:

[LIST OF LINK URLS]

We need more information in order to process your request. Please reply to this request and provide documentation confirming the length of the sentence and the years during which it took place. This information will allow us to evaluate if Google’s reference to this content is still relevant and in the public interest.

Without the requested documentation attached to your reply, we cannot take further action on your request.

Regards,

The Google Team[/quote]

Promising.. maybe? It's a different response than last time.. I'll see if I can find some stuff to send them.

[/quote]

"We need more information in order to process your request. Please reply to this request and provide documentation confirming the length of the sentence and the years during which it took place. This information will allow us to evaluate if Google’s reference to this content is still relevant and in the public interest. need more information in order to process your request. Please reply to this request and provide documentation confirming the length of the sentence and the years during which it took place. This information will allow us to evaluate if Google’s reference to this content is still relevant and in the public interest."

I don't understand this. Surely the news story itself reveals the dates and sentence length. Why are they asking for court documents etc which corroborates the news story?

Surely we all agree already --- the news story is somewhere between false and true-but-embarassing.

-Ian

[/quote]

It's hard to say without knowing what you've told them or what your offence is etc..

I had to send some court documents to begin with, I can't honestly remember what they were specifically, I think it was just the main sentencing stuff which obviously has the dates etc.

Then just a wee blurb like:

"I was convicted of [OFFENCE] and sentenced on [DATE]. As of [DATE] my sentence has now become spent and under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act I am to be treated as any regular citizen. These/this article is preventing me from moving forward with my life and going back to being a productive member of society. I am not a celebrity, politician, or a high-profile individual so there is absolutely no longer any public interest in these links still being available."

Just something along those lines will do it.

If you go back to the very first page of this post you can see my steps I went through.

RE: Google Removals Journey

Stersco83 — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 19:56:23 GMT

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[b]khafka - 23 Jan 24 4:13 PM[/b]

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RE: Google Removals Journey

Aradia — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 12:54:22 GMT

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[b]khafka - 3 Mar 26 11:53 AM[/b]

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[b]Aradia - 3 Mar 26 11:13 AM[/b]

Mine is showing up again. Because of this reindexing thing. Do you think the website done this on purpose? Just to make it harder to get on with our lives?

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Is it just a different ID on the end like I showed? If it is the case then as annoying as it is I wouldn't worry about it, just keep on top of the links and they'll go away eventually.

As for doing it on purpose? Seeing the state of the websites I'd very, very surprised if the creator actually possesses the knowledge and skill to achieve it on purpose, this is more of a "happy" accident on their part.

[/quote]

Yeah same issue as you had. I will just keep on top of it. Thanks for all your help

RE: Google Removals Journey

khafka — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 11:53:26 GMT

[quote]

[b]Aradia - 3 Mar 26 11:13 AM[/b]

Mine is showing up again. Because of this reindexing thing. Do you think the website done this on purpose? Just to make it harder to get on with our lives?

[/quote]

RE: Google Removals Journey

Aradia — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 11:13:04 GMT

Mine is showing up again. Because of this reindexing thing. Do you think the website done this on purpose? Just to make it harder to get on with our lives?

RE: Google Removals Journey

khafka — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 11:50:37 GMT

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[b]AB2014 - 2 Mar 26 9:12 AM[/b]

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[b]khafka - 1 Mar 26 2:12 PM[/b]

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[b]AB2014 - 26 Feb 26 9:18 AM[/b]

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[b]Aradia - 25 Feb 26 4:16 PM[/b]

Found another website today that had reposted the information. When it happend. UK database. I don't see google having an issue removing the search result. I can't ever see these websites being shut down. No doubt they have done their research and not breaking any "rules" Just something I have to live with for the rest of my life. It never ends.

[/quote]

Just to remind everyone, you don't need to keep Googling yourself to find links. If you set a Google alert for your name, Google will do the hard work for you and provide the links. You can then copy and paste them and spend the time you've saved doing something more pleasant.

[/quote]

I couldn't get that to work when you posted about it before.

There's every chance I just didn't set it up right but I've so far received 0 alerts yet I found a few articles when manually checking at the time.

[/quote]

I've just taken a closer look, and once you enter something in the search box, you can click "Show options" to set how often, which sources, which regions and so on. Then enter your email address and click "Create alert". That should do it, but there are no guarantees you won't get false negatives.

[/quote]

I'll take a wee look.

Thankfully I've not really had anything pop-up for a while now so fingers crossed I'm basically clean for the most part. I tend to do a manual check every couple of weeks or so and still coming up with nothing.

RE: Google Removals Journey

AB2014 — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 09:12:17 GMT

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[b]khafka - 1 Mar 26 2:12 PM[/b]

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[b]AB2014 - 26 Feb 26 9:18 AM[/b]

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[b]Aradia - 25 Feb 26 4:16 PM[/b]

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RE: Google Removals Journey

khafka — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 14:12:23 GMT

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[b]AB2014 - 26 Feb 26 9:18 AM[/b]

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[b]Aradia - 25 Feb 26 4:16 PM[/b]

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RE: Google Removals Journey

AB2014 — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 09:18:41 GMT

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[b]Aradia - 25 Feb 26 4:16 PM[/b]

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RE: Google Removals Journey

Aradia — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 16:16:47 GMT