Google recently revealed how long it takes to get a URL removed from search results after submitting a removal request.
Site owners can request to have specific URLs removed from search results using a tool in Google Search Console. Google confirmed the removal process is completed in less than a day.
This generally takes less than a day, but 30 minutes is probably a bit optimistic :-). Hopefully the dev-site is now properly secured!
— Google Webmasters (@googlewmc) June 18, 2018
To be clear, the URL removal tool itself is not new. The tool has been around since 2007, at which time it took around 3 to 5 days to process requests.
Over the years since its introduction, Google has significantly improved the processing time for URL removal requests.
Now, if a site owner submits a URL removal request today, they can expect it to be gone by tomorrow or earlier.
However, it’s important to keep in mind that this is only a temporary measure. It’s the fastest way to get a URL removed from search results, but it’s not permanent.
Any URLs removed via Search Console requests will reappear in 90 days if further action isn’t taken.
Further action would include adding a noindex tag, 404’ing the page, or placing the URLs behind a login.
The benefit of using the Search Console URL removal tool is that action is taken quickly.
Otherwise, if site owners were to use just a noindex tag and do nothing else, they would have to wait until Google recrawled the page for it to be removed from search results. That could end up taking longer than a day.
More Resources
- A Complete Guide to the Google Search Console
- 5 Actionable Reports from the New Google Search Console
- 3 Tools That Make Your Search Console Data Even More Valuable
