How to Use the New Negative‑Search Removal Data to Protect Your Brand

Search Engine Journal just released a sponsor‑backed analysis of 22,620 negative links submitted to Erase.com between January 1 and September 21, 2026. The study breaks down removal success by source, showing that Google reviews and republished court records are the most tractable, while Yelp reviews, Reddit threads and news stories are far tougher.

For any brand that sees harmful content appearing in search results, the data gives a clear roadmap: focus first on the sources that move quickly, and plan alternative tactics for the stubborn ones. That can help you protect brand reputation and improve the quality of traffic you earn.

What the data tells us

• Google reviews accounted for roughly half of the links and were removed more reliably than any other type.
• Republished court records, mugshots and people‑search listings had the fastest median removal time—under two weeks.
• Yelp, Trustpilot, Indeed, BBB and Glassdoor reviews rarely came down.
• Reddit threads and news stories were the hardest to remove.

Set realistic expectations

The SEJ analysis notes that a successful removal could mean a full takedown, de‑indexing, or removal of a name or photo. Median overall removal time was 18 days, with 71 % confirmed within 30 days and 91 % within 90 days. Those figures describe how long successful outcomes took, not the probability that any given link will be removed. Use them to set client expectations and budget timelines.

Prioritise removal by source

Step 1 is to group every negative link by its host. Start with the categories that historically see quick wins:

• Google reviews – check Google’s prohibited and restricted content policy, then file a removal request via the Reviews Management Tool. If rejected, appeal with supporting details.
• Republished court records – locate copies on sites such as Trellis, UniCourt, Justia, CaseMine, vLex or CourtListener and request host removal or de‑indexing.

After you’ve tackled the easy wins, shift to the tougher categories. For Yelp or other review platforms, a factual public reply often mitigates damage more effectively than a removal request. For Reddit threads and news articles, focus on SEO tactics that push the negative page down—optimise your own brand pages, earn positive backlinks, and consider structured data to enhance your owned results.

Legal and policy considerations

Before filing any removal request, verify that the content actually violates the platform’s policy. The FTC’s Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule, effective October 2024, bars businesses from using threats, intimidation or false accusations to get a review removed. Ensure your request is factual and supported by evidence, especially for Google reviews that do not clearly breach the prohibited content list.

How SEO services can help

Our SEO Services are built around owning the searches that actually convert. Using the removal data, we can:

• Audit your SERPs to identify which negative links appear and classify them by source.
• Create a removal action plan that follows the source‑specific steps outlined above.
• Implement on‑page and off‑page optimisation to outrank remaining harmful results.
• Monitor de‑indexing signals and adjust the strategy as Google updates its index.

What to do now

1. Pull a quick SERP report for your brand name and key product terms. 2. Tag each negative result by its host (Google review, court‑record site, Yelp, Reddit, news outlet, etc.). 3. Start removal requests for Google reviews and any republished court records you control. 4. Draft concise, factual replies for review‑site posts that can’t be removed. 5. Engage an SEO partner to push your positive assets higher, reducing visibility of the stubborn links. 6. Set a monitoring cadence—weekly for the first month, then monthly—to track removal progress and SERP shifts.

Sources

• Search Engine Journal — Data Shows Which Negative Search Results Can Actually Be Removed