It seems various things have changed recently with Google judging from both old and new posts:

1) Multiple variations of search term

Previously (e.g. 4 years ago) people on here were saying that when an article about them on Google is delisted, it is only delisted for their name as a specific search term. E.g. "John Smith" but not "John Smith of Trumpton".

That seems to have changed? Whereas previously I was always on page 1 on Google, under most things with my name, I got my self delisted last week, just giving my first and last name as a reference, and now I can google:

John Smith Edinburgh
John Smith Info
John Smith 28 [my age cited in article]
John Smith [quote words used by judge]
Etc etc,

All clear! I even switch to the "News" section at the bar at the top, and type "John Smith 28 Edinburgh court judge", and I get an obscure fluffy nice story about me (pre-conviction), but not the criminal episode.

In fact, in order to find the news article again, I have to omit my name entirely and type a unique phrase from the article.

2) USA listings of old tabloid stories

Using Issearchfrom and selecting North America, I have to work very hard to discover UK citizens whose reputations are comprehensively trashed in the UK Google. For some people only 1 in 10 articles remain. Whereas previously I was on page 1 of USA also (unique name, tabloid story)

3) Cooperation

It seems Google defaults more to ushering through takedown requests, rather than refusing them?