How to Remove Illegal Content from Google Search Results

Have you ever come across content in Google search results that appears to be illegal or improper? You might have found competitors copying your website's content or noticed websites that violate the laws in your country. You might not know how to remove such content from Google search or other Google products. What should you do?

Fortunately, Google provides a troubleshooting tool where you can easily report all illegal content on all its platforms. Follow this step-by-step guide on how to remove illegal content from Google search results.

Access the Tool

Visit g.co/legal to find an easy-to-use troubleshooting tool. From there, you will be able to access a list of Google products.

Select the Product

Choose the product where you want the content removed. For example, select Google search, then choose the reason for removal. For instance, violation of intellectual property rights such as copyright. However, only report copyright infringement if you are genuinely the copyright owner. Otherwise, your request will be dismissed.

Provide Detailed Information

To increase the success rate of your request, provide all the necessary information. Here are some tips to guide you:

• Generally, you own the copyright to the content you create. For instance, a photo's copyright belongs to the photographer and not the subject. Therefore, you might not be the copyright owner even if you appear in the photo.
• Provide information on the specific content on the webpage that belongs to you.
• Send the URL of the specific webpage instead of the entire website.

Submit the Request

When you submit the form, Google's team will review your request. You will receive a link to a dashboard or a confirmation email with a unique case number. Depending on the nature of the request, it might take some time for Google to respond.

Wait for the Response

Google's expert team handles content moderation worldwide and thoroughly checks and processes all requests. Keep checking your email because Google might send you further requests for necessary information.

When your request is approved, you will receive a confirmation notification through the dashboard or email.

Limitations

If you want to remove the content itself from the website, you need to contact the website owner. You can use the Legal Help Center link in the video description to find more information.

For more information on request types, you can check out the Google Transparency Report.

With this guide, you can effectively report any illegal content found on Google search results and other Google products.