Removing Court Case from Google Search

[susannaCO]

Google has "personalized" search results since 2009. Your search results can vary from that of another based on your search history.

If I search "susannaCO," my search results may come up with links to Facebook and LinkedIn and the like, while susannaCO's search results on her own name may come up with the court case from 34 years ago that my search of her name never shows. If I locate susannaCO's court case, however, and click on it, then that becomes part of my computer's personalized history and it is apt to show up on page one in any subsequent search that I do of her name.

The history of your searches kept by Google is supposedly a time-limited one and should self-delete after a certain number of days (180 days?), but Google also has an opt-out feature so that your search history is not personalized.

Quincy, this is my understanding, as well. But, I wonder...is the personalized search tied to a specific IP address? Because when my husband googles my name from his computer with the same IP addy, the court case comes up in the same position (as my computer) on the front page. When he googles his name (because he's referenced in court case), nothing comes up until page 6.

Also, even though I have not clicked on the court case since March 2015, it's still commanding a prominent place on page one, despite moving down to page 2 for several weeks. Why would that happen when you'd expect Google to self-delete within a certain period of time?

 

[quincy]

One could also delete their cookies periodically...and not sign in to Google.

Right. I delete my search history on a regular basis (and I eat the cookies ).

 

[quincy]

Quincy, this is my understanding, as well. But, I wonder...is the personalized search tied to a specific IP address? Because when my husband googles my name from his computer with the same IP addy, the court case comes up in the same position (as my computer) on the front page. When he googles his name (because he's referenced in court case), nothing comes up until page 6.

Also, even though I have not clicked on the court case since March 2015, it's still commanding a prominent place on page one, despite moving down to page 2 for several weeks. Why would that happen when you'd expect Google to self-delete within a certain period of time?

I am not really the person to ask about the "whys" of Google, susannaCO. What they do and how they do it is a puzzle to me.

 

[STEPHAN]

Because when my husband googles my name from his computer with the same IP addy, the court case comes up in the same position (as my computer) on the front page.

I am very sure Google knows that the computers are "close". Even if the IP changes later on. Try it from a different computer at a friend or in a library or so.

 

[single317dad]

when my husband googles my name from his computer with the same IP addy, the court case comes up in the same position (as my computer) on the front page. When he googles his name (because he's referenced in court case), nothing comes up until page 6.

Having a more or less common name can affect where particular results appear. John Smith will produce vastly different results than Zachariah Haberdasher. Your husband, or someone with the same name, may be more "famous" than you. Perhaps he's more or longer established in business. If the mayor of Bakersfield has the same name as you, your personal Google results will be diminished.

There are all kinds of services that seed false information into Google for various purposes. Some do it to hide a person's true contact information (seeding valid names, addresses, and phone numbers, but with invalid combinations, as an opt-in service). Others do it to fill the internet with fluff and hide someone's true history.

Facebook profile; LinkedIn profile; YouTube channel; Google+ profile: if you have all four of these, their superior SEO will drop your court case result to #5 at an absolute minimum. Find 6 more like that and you're bumped to page 2 under default settings. I set my results to 50 per page, so you'll probably never make it to page two for advanced users.

 

[quincy]

I am very sure Google knows that the computers are "close". Even if the IP changes later on. Try it from a different computer at a friend or in a library or so.

I sometimes fear Google knows everything about us.

I suspect the personalized searches are related to log-ins and not IPs.

 

[Zigner]

Having a more or less common name can affect where particular results appear. John Smith will produce vastly different results than Zachariah Haberdasher.

897,000,000 results as opposed to 42,600 results

 

[cbg]

My husband's name is not a household word, unless you happen to work in his primary field, in which case he is (or at least was) a very big name indeed.

There is another man, living close to a thousand miles and several states away, who in HIS field had a very great success (which made national news a few years ago) with the same name.

The two fields are marginally related. Not closely, but if you squint you can see a relationship.

For a few months there, we had a good time every couple of weeks Googling their name to see which one of them came up first that week. Never quite made it to a good parlour game but it amused us.

 

[single317dad]

My husband's name is not a household word, unless you happen to work in his primary field, in which case he is (or at least was) a very big name indeed.

There is another man, living close to a thousand miles and several states away, who in HIS field had a very great success (which made national news a few years ago) with the same name.

The two fields are marginally related. Not closely, but if you squint you can see a relationship.

For a few months there, we had a good time every couple of weeks Googling their name to see which one of them came up first that week. Never quite made it to a good parlour game but it amused us.

Well, then, there's your answer in a nutshell.

As an aside, imagine you were born in the 1930s and your parents named you Adolf Hitler/Heidler. Bad enough, right? Now imagine social media and the massive information sharing of today existed, and as you reached your teenage years, World War II raged across the entire eastern hemisphere. What's in a name? Indeed.

 

[quincy]

... As an aside, imagine you were born in the 1930s and your parents named you Adolf Hitler/Heidler ...

I mentioned in an earlier post, and then thought better of it and deleted, that I have a couple of friends who work at Google. They have been tolerant of my questions in the past. If anyone REALLY wants to know more than what has been said here - and I think enough has probably already been said (although maybe not so much that Hitler needed to make an appearance ) - I suppose I could make a call.

 

[single317dad]

I mentioned in an earlier post, and then thought better of it and deleted, that I have a couple of friends who work at Google. They have been tolerant of my questions in the past. If anyone REALLY wants to know more than what has been said here - and I think enough has probably already been said (although maybe not so much that Hitler needed to make an appearance ) - I suppose I could make a call.

Hey, I made it all the way to post #39 before invoking Godwin's Law. Counting the multiple posts that were removed, I'd say I held out pretty well

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law

 

[Just Blue]

Hey, I made it all the way to post #39 before invoking Susanna's Law. Counting the multiple posts that were removed, I'd say I held out pretty well

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law

Fixed that for ya...

 

[xylene]

quincy and someone kissin ina tree.

S E O i n g

 

[quincy]

quincy and someone kissin ina tree.

S E O i n g

I have no idea what your post means, xylene, but I don't do a lot of tree-climbing any more.

And, for those who are interested, I have no illusions about this thread.

 

[susannaCO]

I mentioned in an earlier post, and then thought better of it and deleted, that I have a couple of friends who work at Google. They have been tolerant of my questions in the past. If anyone REALLY wants to know more than what has been said here - and I think enough has probably already been said (although maybe not so much that Hitler needed to make an appearance ) - I suppose I could make a call.

Raises hand!

Thanks to everyone who weighed in with SEO advice. One of my challenges is that in a Google search, no one else has my name--it's unique because it's a hyphenation of two uncommon last names.

Appreciate all the great help here.