Google makes it easier to remove search results about you

Google is making it easy to remove and update search results including your personal information. The company's "Results about you" feature, which detects personal information like addresses and phone numbers that show in Search, has been modified to make it "easier than ever" for consumers to sign up and request removals directly from the Search page.

The Results About You tool can assist people in proactively monitoring what sensitive information appears in search results for anyone to find. You register by providing Google with the names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses you want it to search for. When your data is detected, you will be contacted and given the option to request its removal.

The feature was previously hidden unless you used the Google app; on mobile, browser, and desktop, it was buried deep beneath the History settings under Google user accounts. It is presently only available to users in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, France, Sweden, Thailand, India, and Indonesia, but will be expanded to other countries in the future.

Clicking on the three-dot menu next to results in Google Search now displays a "remove this result" option, allowing users to more quickly request removal and understand what types of content are eligible for deletion. Once accessed, three request options will appear: personal information, which includes the doxxing content described on Google's help page; legal removals, which flag illegal content such as copyright infringement and child abuse; and requests to refresh outdated Search results.

The latter is a new feature for circumstances in which users' information has been updated, changed, or removed from a website but the search results have not reflected the changes. When selected, Google will be required to re-crawl the page that links to the Search result and update its information.