Negative Search Result Suppression

Why Choose for Suppression instead of Removal 

In most cases negative search result suppression is a better, cheaper and more effective option than removal. Not sure if you should pursue suppression or removal? Contact us for a free consultation over the phone.

Negative Search Result Suppression is cheaper

Even though negative search result suppression takes longer in most cases, it is still often more affordable than legal action. Even if Google de-indexes a page, a new page may appear at a later stage. Especially if you are dealing with a vicious antagonist. If your antagonist notices that the negative article is removed from Google, they may attack again by posting new defaming content and you are back to where you started. That is where suppression is a stronger approach long term. Through suppression services, not only is the negative result pushed down, a reputation buffer is also build to fight against future attacks. Due to building a strong positive presence in Google search results, new negative content will not rank as high in Google as before and therefore will not cause (much) damage.

Suppression is often easier than removal

Please note that this depends on which country you are from.

For USA residents, removal is very difficult and often impossible. Even with a court order, Google is not obliged to remove the result from their search engine. Here you can read the full research from Chris Silver Smith.

Search engines, and various other online websites, are immune in the United States from liability for defamation/libel by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (” CDA”).

However, if you are from a common law country such as Canada, Australia or the UK, we recommend to opt for Google take down. Due to changes in the defamation law for these countries, it is much easier to get Google to remove the negative search result.

How Negative Search Result Suppression Works

Suppression is part of Online Reputation Repair. is done by pushing the negative content to the second page of Google search result or further. By creating and elevating more positive online content above the defaming search result, the negative article is pushed down to page 2 or further. Additionally, it builds a buffer which significantly reduces the damage and protects you from further attacks. This is done through:

Search result optimization

In order for negative search result suppression to be successful, there needs to be enough relevant positive or neutral content for Google to index. In most cases, additional new relevant content has to be published. Google needs to be persuaded that the positive content is more relevant and important than the negative content. Here you can find a list of channels and sites to utilize for search result optimization.

Targeted Back-Linking

Even though Google is getting smarter and smarter, link-building is still an important step in the negative search result suppression process. Link-building is an ongoing effort but well worth it. Targeted back-linking is the strategically targeting of important web pages for rank boosting with high quality, non-spammy link referrals. Be careful that you do not be involved in any black hat SEO. This may get you results faster but often results in total de-indexing by Google.

This focus on algorithmic use and back-linking, the network of links of a website is crucial to gaining attention and traffic from search engines.

Improve Online Reviews

If you have negative and false reviews, persuade the review site owner to see reason and filter out the fake reviews. Google reviews removal if difficult but definitely possible. Especially if you can proof the review is defaming and contains false allegations. And due to recent policy changes, (ex)-employee reviews are no longer allowed and Google will remove those.

If removal is not possible or you want to create a strong positive presence to weaken negative online reviews, you can ask your customers for reviews. Make it as easy as possible for them by giving them a pre-populated 5 star link.