[Enigmaman]

Hello

I have been trying to remove some search results within Google Groups - stuff I posted on health boards many years ago and which I never dreamed would get ranked anywhere on a search engine, let alone anything as accessible as Google. They are under my own name, which unfortunately is very unusual.

Getting rid of my own posts is possible with their removal tool, but other peoples' messages which quote my name are more problemmatic. Most of the e-mails to the people in question have bounced.

Therefore I think I have no option but to try to bury the search results under newer more benign ones - the question is, how do I find which newsgroups - and we are talking Google's Groups search sub-section here - will get my messages posted to the top of the search rankings?

Or if anyone else can suggest a solution I would be grateful - even paying if need be, although that is a last resort.

TIA

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The Usenet/Google Groups archive is an important one because it holds millions and millions of posts on pretty much everything that happened anywhere ever. If Frank Smith scratched his bum on April 25th 1987 at 4:52am and told somebody on Usenet that he'd scratched his bum the record is probably in there somewhere.

Okay maybe that was an over exaggeration but the archive is a fascinating historical document nevertheless but by its design you can only remove what you contributed to it, in some cases only if you posted it relatively recently depending on the server used. If somebody quotes your post then its unfortunate but that's it. Many people use Usenet, many fake email addresses for reasons of spam and unfortunately people who've posted on Usenet either leave it, abandon the email addresses used for new ones or even die in real life. Their contributions live on in the Usenet archive and are now a part of social history. If that's the case there's not really a lot you can do about it if they're dead.

Usenet has always been searchable, it was only once Google bought it that the entire saga going back to 1981 became available.
Regarding your dilemma, realistically the archive is so big finding your posts would be like looking for a needle in a haystack so I don't quite understand why you want to remove yourself from what is essentially Internet social history.

[Neil Jones]

The Usenet/Google Groups archive is an important one because it holds millions and millions of posts on pretty much everything that happened anywhere ever. If Frank Smith scratched his bum on April 25th 1987 at 4:52am and told somebody on Usenet that he'd scratched his bum the record is probably in there somewhere.

Okay maybe that was an over exaggeration but the archive is a fascinating historical document nevertheless but by its design you can only remove what you contributed to it, in some cases only if you posted it relatively recently depending on the server used. If somebody quotes your post then its unfortunate but that's it. Many people use Usenet, many fake email addresses for reasons of spam and unfortunately people who've posted on Usenet either leave it, abandon the email addresses used for new ones or even die in real life. Their contributions live on in the Usenet archive and are now a part of social history. If that's the case there's not really a lot you can do about it if they're dead.

Usenet has always been searchable, it was only once Google bought it that the entire saga going back to 1981 became available.
Regarding your dilemma, realistically the archive is so big finding your posts would be like looking for a needle in a haystack so I don't quite understand why you want to remove yourself from what is essentially Internet social history.

[Enigmaman]

I want to remove results because sensitive medical information is sjowqing up at the top of search results.

With respect, your answer only tells me what I already know.

Does anyone else have any ideas?

[Johanna]

In that case, I hope you have a common name.

[Enigmaman]

Unfortunately I believe my name is entirely unique.