Find a URL to use for demotion or removal requests

This document shows how to find the correct URLs when requesting a removal or demotion of web pages or images. It also explains what to do when you discover multiple URLs pointing to the same content.

Find URLs for webpages 

When requesting removal of a URL, it's important to enter the exact URL that's appearing in search results. Small variations in URLs—such as www.example.com/dragon vs. www.example.com/Dragon—may not look significant, but these are actually two different URLs (and, on some servers, can point to different content). In order for Google to remove or demote the content you want, you must enter the exact URL that you found in our search results.

To find the correct URL:

  1. Hover over the blue link in search results. Do NOT copy the text of the displayed link. Do NOT click the link and copy the URL from the page in your browser.
    Search result with the URL and title highlighted
  2. Right-click, then select "Copy Link Address" in the popup menu to copy the link URL.
  3. Find any additional URLs for the same page.

Find URLs for images

Here’s how to find the exact URL of an image:

  1. Use Google Chrome browser to find the image on Google Images.
  2. Click the image in image search results.
  3. Right-click the image and select “Copy Image Address”.
  4. Paste the URL into a file or document, so it’s available when you use the URL removal tool.
  5. Find any additional URLs for the same image following the instructions below.

Find any additional URLs for your page or image

It's common for the same content to appear in multiple URLs. For example, all the following blog post URLs all point to the same page:

http://www.example.com/forum/thread/123
http://www.example.com/forum/post/456
http://www.example.com/forum/thread/123?post=456
http://www.example.com/forum/thread/123?post=456&sessionid=12837460

Even if you successfully request removal or demotion of one URL, the content you're trying to remove may also appear in our search results under other URLs. If this is the case, you can simply submit additional removal requests—one for each URL that displays this content.

If one of your removal requests has been marked as 'Removed' but you still see that content in our search results, double-check whether the URL that's appearing in our search results is exactly the same as the one you submitted for removal (including capitalization). If not, you should request removal of the additional URL(s) that still appear in search results.

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