Tips to Remove Negative Content from Google

By Pierre Zarokian of RepEngage

It’s pretty common for someone to do a Google search for your name if they’ve just met you, they want to do business with you or if they want to learn more about you or your company. Google is that first point of contact. Sites like Ripoff Report and TheDirty.com use that to their advantage. Their content is given higher ranking in the search engine, which means that people may see unfavorable content before they see your home page or your business.

Legal Methods

The first method that most people attempt is known as the “DMCA” takedown. This process involves issuing a letter to the webmaster stating the content they posted is owned by you, and that they have no right to post it. This doesn’t work on large sites like Ripoff Report, as they are not the ones posting the content. Legal action is also very costly, and it doesn’t come with a guarantee that anything will be removed. Ripoff Report has been known to fight even default judgments, which are extremely rare to begin with.

Push the Results Lower

If you have an understanding of how search engines work, you can use that knowledge to push content down. You can give your favored Web properties a boost through the creation of reputable social profiles, YouTube channels and blogs. It also helps to purchase domains named after you in the .org, .net and any other designation. Once you have the properties established, drive traffic to those sites and increase their rank through aggressive link building. Not just any links will do either, so it’s important to have an expert in your corner who understands which links will add the most value to your properties.