If you’re under 18 and images of you are in Google Search, you can now ask Google to remove them

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A couple of months back, alongside various changes coming to Google Search, it was announced that users under 18 years old would be able to ask the company to have their pictures removed from search results.

Now, according to The Verge, that feature is fully rolling out and will give people the option to file a report with Google to have the picture removed from Search results. It will not be removed from the web page in question, however.

Also, somewhat strangely, if you (or the person you are trying to have removed) is already over 18 then you can’t request the removal. That seems like an odd decision, but possibly it is to help streamline the process. It’s possible this could expand in the future.

If you want to request that an image (or multiple images) be removed, you can start by heading to this Google Support page.

From there, you’ll simply answer some questions about what you want to accomplish, what the images contain, and you’ll need to provide actual image URLs for Google to examine. Google recommends contacting the website owner first, but depending on the nature of the site, that could be extremely difficult.

There are also exceptions for image removal. The main one is that certain pictures will not be removed if, according to Google, they are “cases of compelling public interest or newsworthiness.”

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