How to Remove News Articles from Google and the Internet 

How to Remove Negative Newspaper Articles from the Internet

So while it might not be easy, it is possible to have articles entirely removed from online newspaper publications. In fact, complete removal of the damaging news article should be the first thing you attempt to do to get rid of the negative publicity online.  Below we've outlined possible ways to combat negative news site articles on search engines like Google.  

Contact the News Site to Remove the Negative Article 

Contact the Owners/Editors of the Online News Publication

Google and other search engines recommend that you attempt to get in contact with the administrator of the news websites that have published the negative article about you or your company and request that they delete the derogatory story.  Because the administrator's of online news publications can be difficult to find and get a hold of, and because even if you do successfully get in touch with an admin of the news sites in question, they're typically reluctant, if not downright unwilling, to accommodate request to remove content, this option seldom produces the desirable results.  In most cases, the attempt to identify and contact website administrators of online news publications results in a wild goose-chase or a disappointing denial to remove the negative article.

Make a Legal Removal Request to get the Negative Article Removed

Another common approach to removing defamatory news articles from Google Search and the internet is to consult with an attorney.  Seeking legal counsel to remove news articles only works if at least one of the following is applicable: 

1. The news article contains statements that are demonstrably false and defamatory 

2. The news article copied from a source that is the rightful copyright owner of the content contained in the article.  

If (1) applies to your situation, click here to learn more about submitting a legal content removal request to Google.  If (2) is applicable, click here to learn how to use a DMCA takedown request to remove news from a website.

In most cases, for people trying to remove negative news, neither (1) nor (2) apply, leaving the victim of the negative news publication with no legal recourse to take to get the story removed.  This leads us to a third option: use the services of a third-party online reputation management or content removal service.

Use Online Reputation Management

The last option is the most effective to get rid of negative newspaper articles on the internet.  Online reputation management (ORM) services allow individuals to enlist expert help. In many instances of negative news publications, ORM companies have worked with the websites from which you would like to remove the negative article and have contacts in the news site's editorial department that can facilitate the de-indexation of your article, resulting in the article being removed from search engines. 

When reputation management companies are unable to remove or de-index an article they can suppress the negative link so that it no longer appears on the first few pages of Google Search.  Because most people don't look beyond the 2nd or 3rd page of search results, this is normally the best way to hide negative information (that can't be removed or de-indexed) on the internet.

Suppressing Negative Articles on Search Results

How to Bury Online Articles on Google Search

A handful of Online Reputation Management companies offer effective solutions to push down negative news articles on Google Search, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo and other major search engines.   This ORM strategy of burying negative items on search engines is commonly referred to as Search Engine Suppression or Reverse SEO.  What follows is only a very brief explanation of how Reverse SEO works to bury negative news articles on search engines like Google.  For our current purposes however, it should suffice.  

By pushing old news articles down on search engine results pages (SERPs), such companies are able to hide harmful content published by major news sites and by doing so greatly reduce the online visibility of negative news stories on Google Search.  Because only a very small (less than 10%) of people go past Page 2 of search results when performing a query on Google or another Search Engine, burying negative articles with the search engine reputation management tactics adopted by these firms is often sufficient to repair an internet reputation that's been tarnished by an old newspaper publication showing up on the web.

If you're interested in learning more about how Reverse SEO is used in online reputation management for internet reputation repair via search engine suppression this article does a good job of explaining what Reverse SEO, search engine suppression and online reputation management are and how they can help you combat negative newspaper articles and other bad press on internet searches.

Search Result Suppression Services

A handful of reputable online reputation services offer solutions to deal with negative online news stories.  Depending on the situation, these companies can help remove newspaper articles from news sites, get articles removed from search engines like Google and Bing and/or hide negative news links on search engines using search engine suppression or Reverse SEO, as mentioned above.  

Defamation Defenders is one noteworthy ORM firms that specializes in helping individuals and organizations handle bad press and remove negative news articles from internet search results.

Need help removing a negative article? 

Call  (844) 272-0280  to talk to a US-based online reputation advisor now!