situation
Sound familiar?
- an article or mention has been sitting at the top of the search results for your name for years
- the website ignores requests or demands money for removal
- the negative content has spread: it has been reprinted, quoted and indexed
- there are pages in your name that you did not create
Every week of delay means new people who have read it.
complexity
Why “just removing it” doesn’t work
The internet has no “delete” button.
There are four paths: an agreement with the platform, a legal mechanism, work with the search engine — and pushing down what cannot be removed. Which path will work depends on the platform, the jurisdiction, the content of the material and its age. The most common mistake is months of correspondence with a website that is under no obligation to reply, while the material gains weight in the search results.
legal route
When the courts work — and when they don’t
A court refutation of false information is a real tool: a court can order the material to be removed and refuted.
But a court acts selectively — one ruling against one defendant — while search results live a life of their own: reprints, quotes and screenshots remain. That is why for us the legal route is part of the system, not the whole system. Lawsuit for protection of honour and dignity: a breakdown →
A separate case is fake pages and accounts in your name: they are removed through the platforms’ own mechanisms, and this is the fastest part of the work.
process
How we work
01
Inventory
We gather everything: sources, reprints, caches, indexing. We determine what can be removed and what cannot.
02
Removal
We use the available mechanisms: communication with platforms, the right to be forgotten, legal tools — including court refutation where appropriate.
03
Pushing down
What cannot be removed we push off the first pages of search results by systematically creating and promoting credible content.
04
Control
We monitor for materials resurfacing and track how the search results respond. We consolidate the result.
Completely removing information from the internet is not always possible: some materials are removed through requests to platforms or legal mechanisms (including the right to be forgotten and court refutation), while the rest is pushed out of the visible part of the search results. How to remove information about yourself — a full breakdown →
formats
Both formats are customized. The cost depends on the complexity of the search results, the volume of negative content, and the target outcome.
Project
A defined project with a specific outcome: changing search results and resolving a particular issue. Timeline: from a few months.
Ongoing support
Reputation as a managed asset: monitoring, responding, and developing your information landscape. For those whose name works for them every day.
agency
Why SERM.UA
The first reputation management agency in Ukraine.
Since 2011, we have gone from “delete everything” to systematic work with search results — and we know the limits of every tool. More than 500 projects. Private individuals only.
Honestly: most clients come to us asking to “delete everything”. Almost always, the real solution is a combination of removal and pushing down. We will tell you this right away, not after months of paid attempts.
question
Can an article be removed from a media outlet?
Sometimes, yes: through the editorial office, legal mechanisms, or if the material violates the law or standards. More often, the realistic goal is to move the material off the first pages of search results, where people see it.
What is the right to be forgotten, and does it apply in Ukraine?
It is a mechanism for removing links from a search engine’s results. It applies fully in the EU (GDPR); in Ukraine it applies to a limited extent, through personal data protection and court practice.
How long does removal take?
How long does removal take?
Is this legal?
We work exclusively through legal and negotiation mechanisms. No “hacking” methods — they create bigger problems than they solve.
