Our Google Autocomplete (Autosuggest) removal service cleans up negative suggestions that appear after your name or business name.
I don’t think there is anyone else in the world more knowledgeable about fixing your Autocomplete problem than we are.
Request a quote using the form at right or check out our Autocomplete Pricing.
Google Autocomplete Overview & Video
Updated for 2023
How Google Autocomplete (Autosuggest) Works
When you enter your name into the Google search box, you will begin to see suggestions that help you find what you want faster. If you’ve got an unwanted or controversial suggestion appearing, you know that this can create problems for you personally and for your business.
The real problem with these unwanted suggestions is they influence consumer opinion. Someone may be Googling you just to find out where you went to school or where your business is located, but when they see the negative suggestions, they click on them out of curiousity. And this leads them right to the negative content you don’t want them to see.
You might not even know how much business you are losing because some customers may never contact you as a result of seeing the negative suggestions. If you’re an individual or entrepreneur, you might find yourself constantly having to explain yourself.
You work hard to build your reputation and one or two negative suggestions in Google Autocomplete can strip that away. We push out negative suggestions, so you don’t have to worry about them anymore.
Use the form on this page to get a no nonsense, confidential quote or continue reading to learn more about our methodology and why we’ve become one of the most trusted firms at cleaning up this nagging online reputation management problem.
How We Fix Google Autocomplete Problems
Step 1 – Get Keyword Volume
We use Google’s Keyword Planner to research the approximate number of monthly searches for the negative suggestion. In the example below, you can see that Google reports 20 searches per month for the keyword phrase we want to remove. We consider 20 searches or less per month to be a low volume case and these are usually pretty easy to fix.
Medium to higher volumes of 50 or more monthly searches can be more challenging, especially if suggestions are localized – meaning you see different suggestions in different parts of the country.
Step 2 – Make List Of Positive Suggestions
We research and make a list of 15 positive keyword suggestions we’ll search for you.
If our sample business “abcd group,” was a tax consulting firm, the list might look like this:
abcd group twitter
abcd group location
abcd group linkedin
abcd group promotion
abcd group tax consulting
abcd group consulting services
abcd group careers
abcd group email
abcd group media
abcd group business services
abcd group industries
abcd group auditors
abcd group portfolio
We take care when creating the list of positive keyword phrases for you or your brand. Positive keywords must meet all or most of the following criteria:
- Keyword has relevant online content
- Keyword appears on your website’s main navigation (preferably as the anchor text in a link)
- Keyword is a product/service you offer and appears prominently on your website
- Keyword appears in meta titles and descriptions of Google search results
- Keyword does not cause negative content to appear in page 1 search results
- Keyword is already appearing as a suggestion (and thus we want to strengthen it)
- Keyword is preferred by Google (terms like facebook, twitter, linkedin, careers, location, etc)
You get to approve the list before we begin your campaign.
Step 3 – Create Sustained Search Activity From Real People On Real Computers
A lot of reputation management firms create a lot of content in an effort to change Google autocomplete. We don’t. In our experience, search activity (done correctly) always trumps content as the most important factor that influences the suggestions we see in the search box.
Frankly, this is a big reason why we’re more affordable than corporate reputation management firms – they invest a lot of money into content and in most cases it’s not needed and doesn’t help.
With regard to search activity, most ORM firms do it incorrectly. They create search activity using proxies or they hire people on crowdsource sites. These methods are both easy to implement and they used to work, but they’re far less reliable than they used to be.
In order to change Google autocomplete, your keywords must be properly searched by real people on real computers, who are not part of a crowdsourced platform.
This is our advantage.
We’ve taken the time to build our own private network of people to search for your keywords. This is and continues to be an exhaustive process, as our team members are hired and carefully managed one at a time, to protect the integrity of the work we’re performing.
The good news is we enjoy a very high success rate with our clients who have autocomplete problems. So much so, that several smaller firms are turning to us to solve their clients’ autocomplete problems.
Step 4 – Wait
Autocomplete can be changed in as little as 2-3 months and sometimes it can take 6 months or longer. It’s all based on timing and when Google recognizes the new search activity that’s occuring.
Historically, Google refreshes its suggestions every 2-3 weeks, so once you begin to see the new suggestions come in, it can take a few “refresh” cycles to completely clear up your problem.
It’s important that we be patient and don’t rush this. This is another pitfall that some providers fall into – creating too much search activity too quickly. This looks unnatural and even though it sometimes works for a quick fix, it doesn’t stick.
This is why we work with an appropriate volume of search activity that is at low risk of setting off any red flags with Google and the other search engines. We want your results to be long lasting, so this is the best approach to take.
Step 5 – Maintenance
If/when we’re successful in removing the unwanted suggestions from after your name or business, we’ll recommend monthly maintenance to help guard against the negative(s) returning. By continuing to create search activity for your positive words and phrases, you make it more difficult for the negative suggestions to return.
Maintenance is optional; some clients choose do it and some don’t. When your campaign is completed, we’ll consult with you to give you an honest recommendation of what we think might happen over the long term.
Bing and Yahoo
Bing and Yahoo also provide the autocomplete feature to speed search. Although use of these search engines is far less than Google, negative suggestions appearing after your name or company are still annoying.
We use the same process to fix Bing and Yahoo Autocomplete cases as we do with Google: Create enough natural search activity for positive terms to push out the negative suggestions.
Bing
One nuance of Bing is there are only 8 live suggestions, so the cost to fix Bing Autosuggest problems is slightly less than Google. We’ve fixed a number of autocomplete problems in Bing.com (US), Bing.ca (Canada), and even Bing.se (Sweden). I would suspect that we can fix Bing autocomplete issues in any country. Request a quote to fix your Bing suggestions by completing the form.
Yahoo
We’ve also successfully fixed and maintained Yahoo autocomplete, although Yahoo can often be a bit pesky. Sometimes Yahoo suggestions take longer to fix, but nonetheless, the process is the same as with Google and Bing – sustained monthly search activity for the terms YOU want to see is what helps remove the unwanted suggestions.
Real Search Activity Is What Changes Autocomplete
As I stated at the top, there is NO ONE MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE about Google, Bing, and Yahoo autocomplete than us. Before 2014, anyone could manipulate Autocomplete – it was extremely easy.
But since then, it’s much tougher. Crowdsource sites, bots, and proxy switching services no longer work reliably.
In case after case, we have found that SEARCH ACTIVITY is the most important factor in influencing the live suggestions we see in autocomplete. And not any old search activity created by overseas workers, crowdsource sites, bots or proxy switching. You need search activity that looks natural – from real people on real computers.
Think about this from Google’s perspective:
You’ve created this great feature called Autocomplete. Algorithmically, it helps all of us find what we want faster. After all, that is Google’s mission – to create a great search experience that helps us find what we want quickly.
By doing so, they ensure we’ll use Google over and over again and the more people using Google for search, the more ads they can sell. Get it?
So, back to autocomplete. If you were designing an algorithm to provide users with the most popular search suggestions, wouldn’t you base it on the search activity of other people? Of course you would.
Autocomplete is a popularity contest and search activity BY REAL PEOPLE ON REAL COMPUTERS is the #1 determining factor in the searches we see.
Some online reputation management firms will tell you that you need content development and social media mentions to help change Google Autocomplete and while these things are helpful, they are NOT necessary. For the most part, investing in content and social media is wasted money – they will not decide what suggestions we see.
Autocomplete Suggestions Are Like An Election
Let me give you an analogy.
The suggestions we see in Google, Bing, Yahoo and Amazon are very much like an election – they are based on votes by people. Allow me to explain.
Content and Campaign Signs
Publishing content to influence Google Autocomplete is analagous to putting up campaign signs to determine the outcome of an election.
If content were so important in influencing what we see in autocomplete, then elections would be won by the candidate who put up the most signs.
While content and campaign signs can give the appearance of change, content only has a minor influence on autocomplete just as campaign signs have a minor effect on an election. In the end, its VOTES that count. Do you think Google would allow their algorithm to be manipulated so easily?
Look – putting up fresh internet content is easy. For $50, you could hire a team of overseas workers to create websites, blog posts, blog comments, press releases, and profiles with your positive content in them. But 99% of the time, it’s going to have no impact on autocomplete.
It’s the same with politics. The candidate who puts up the most campaign signs doesn’t win. The votes of the people determine the winner, much like search activity from real people determine what we see in autocomplete.
Social Media Mentions and Polls
The other thing I’ve heard ORM firms say is you need social media mentions of you keywords to get them to appear in Google autocomplete. Bull shit!
Again, you can hire a team of overseas workers for $5/hour and have them tweet, share, and like your content and positive keywords all day long. It’s not going to work.
Much like television chatter, expert opinions, and fabricated polls don’t determine the outcome of an election – social media will does not conclusively decide which suggestions we see when typing in Google, Bing, and Yahoo.
Creating social media “buzz” is easy and cheap to do. Again, do you really think the search engines would allow their autocomplete algorithms to be manipulated so easily? No way!
It’s The Search Activity, Stupid!
Sorry, I couldn’t resist the reference to, “It’s The Economy, Stupid!”
If you want to knock out unwanted suggestions and take control of what people see as they type your name or company in the search box, you need real search activity performed by real people in the United States. That’s what we give you.
We don’t use bots, proxies, or crowdsource sites to create search activity. Each of those methods is flawed and can only provide marginal results for a short period of time – if any at all.
If you want the best chance at long term results to your Google Autocomplete problem, than you need to sustain monthly search activity by real people on a monthly basis. Period.
Is It Guaranteed To Work?
So, I’ve been tooting our horn pretty loudly in this section, but unfortunately we cannot offer you a guarantee that what we do will fix your problem.
That’s because we do not control Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Minor tweaks to their algorithm could cause our strategy of using real people to be ineffective.
The other thing that could cause us to be ineffective is if Google were to catch on to what we’re doing and who the people are that make up our US team.
This has happened before – we’ve seen results go haywire for a few months – but the fixes we get for clients always seems to come back in the end.
Client Testimonial
“Mike has specifically worked on the Google Auto Suggestion piece of our overall reputation management, which has now spanned a few years, although he knows his stuff on other facets of ORM, too.
Ever so often, he’ll pass along little tips to me in regards to ORM that work very well so I can tell that he is very sharp in all aspects of reputation management.
He is one of the very few people in that space you can actually trust. He’ll tell you like it is and give you the likelihood of whether an idea will actually work or not.
Thanks, Mike. I appreciate all you do for me.”
– Anonymous Google Autocomplete Client
View more testimonials at: http://changegoogleautocomplete.com/case-study/
Using Google Autocomplete For Personal Branding
Most folks who contact us want to push out negative suggestions in Google Autocomplete, but you can also you it for personal branding.
In short, you can control the suggestions people see when they Google you. This is a powerful tool in your online reputation marketing strategy and can be helpful if you’re looking for a job or trying to conduct business. Check out the video below and enjoy the transcription while you watch.
Hi, my name is Mike Munter and I want to show you how you can use Google’s autocomplete function for personal branding.
Google autocomplete – which is also called Google suggest or Google autofill – are the suggestions you see when you type a query into the search box.
The suggestions are based on internet content and the search activity of users like you and me. Everytime you complete a search, Google uses that data to help update future suggestions. When there’s enough search activity for a phrase, the suggestions will change.
So, most of the people who call me have a reputation management problem with Google Autocomplete. They have negative suggestions that follow their name and they want to get rid of and we help them fix it.
But some people are now starting to use Google suggest as a personal branding tool.
Using Google Suggest For Your Online Personal Reputation
Let’s take a look at an example:
Here’s one – that’s me – and you can see that I’ve appended the phrase “google suggest expert” to my name. So anyone who Googles me will see this suggestion. Of course, you can also see “reputation management” and “seo” as suggestions, too. These are my business practices.
The “tattoo” and “nucare” suggestions are not me, and soon they’ll be gone because I’m working on some new terms. Basically, I’m looking to control all ten of the suggestions people see about me in Google when they Google my name.
Benefit Of Using Google Autocomplete For Personal Branding
The nice benefit of using Google autocomplete to brand yourself is you can direct people right to the content that you want them to see, and that’s where this gets really powerful, especially if you’re a business person or an entrepreneur. It’s all about taking charge of your online reputation.
So, who might this benefit?
Well, anyone who’s name IS their brand. This includes job seekers, independent contractors, and business professionals. Anyone who wants to start taking control of their online reputation. If you’re interviewing for jobs, one of the ways a potential employer will check you out is to Google you. Wouldn’t it be great if all ten suggestions were positive keywords about you? You can imagine how that might help you land that job.
- Using Google Suggest for reputation marketing could also benefit entrepreneurs and professionals like lawyers, doctors, realtors. Lots of us will do a little background research before we enter into business deals or before we hire an attorney, or maybe before you hire an SEO or a reputation management individual. Basically, you can influence what people think about you. In many cases, this can help you do more business.
The third set of people who can benefit from reputation marketing (using Google Suggestions) are politicians. Let’s take a look at a pretty big one here. You can see the suggestions for Barack Obama. But even local politicians can really benefit by having positive suggestions follow their name. Politicians are a natural fit for online reputation marketing using Google suggestions. Since most politicians will have a lot of published content on the internet, they can use the suggestions to steer the public toward the content they want them to see. You can imagine how powerful this could be, especially for those people who are on the fence about who to vote for.
So, if you want to take charge of your name, your personal brand in Google by taking over these suggestions, give me a call at 503-890-6663. You’ll be surprise at how affordable this can be. We’d love to speak with you about it. Thanks!
FAQ
All of the questions you see below have come from conversations we’ve had with agencies, SEO firms, and clients over the years.
Why can’t you guarantee a fix?
We don’t control the search engines. Any firm guaranteeing a fix is taking all of the risk and we are not willing to do that.
What happens if I hire the wrong firm to fix my autocomplete problem?
We know for a fact their are firms out there still using crowd source sites, proxy switching, and excessive search activity to try to solve Autocomplete problems. Not only do these rarely work, but they can freeze your keyword, causing your negative suggestions to remain in place no matter what you.
Why don’t crowd source sites work?
They leave a footprint Google can detect. Watch Video.
Why don’t bots work?
We’ve tested serpify.me and crowdsearch.me and neither worked. We also designed our own custom bot to use proxy switching and it didn’t work. Watch Video.
Why don’t proxies work?
We’ve tested both Hide My Ass and IPVanish. Neither worked. We’ve also tried two “private” proxy services and neither worked. We’ve had outsourcers in the Phillipines use their own US proxies and they do not work. Our guess is Google is aware of the IPS and has blacklisted them, so searches performed on those proxy IPs do not count.
How do you create natural search activity?
We have real people performing searches and following instructions to help signal Google that it’s a real search. Watch Video.
How do you not leave a footprint?
We use Excel, so there’s not an internet footprint left for Google to easily detect. Watch Video.
Are suggestions ranked in order of most searched?
Unfortunately, no. For low volume cases, this doesn’t create a problems, but for higher volume cases, it’s a lot more unpredictable as to which suggestions will show live. This is why for big companies and brands with a lot of suggestions, we need to continue search activity month after month for 12+ months.
What does your setup fee include?
In setup, we create a list of 10-12 or more positive suggestions that have relevant content and which do not show negative search results when searched. Clients get to approve our suggestions before we get started.
What is the monthly charge for?
The monthly fee you pay covers the cost of us getting the appropriate level of search activity completed.
How long will it take to fix my problem?
This varies widely. We’ve fixed Bing and Google problems in less than a month and we’ve had cases drag out longer than 6-12 months. Typically, 3-4 months to get a complete fix is the norm.
Will I need maintenance after its fixed?
We always recommend maintenance because sustained search activity for your positive terms helps (but does not guarantee) that they will remain in place for the long term. We strongly recommend maintenance if your negative term(s) are still queued.
Will it stay fixed?
This is hard to predict. Usually, if the negative suggestions have fallen out of the queue, your situation is much more likely to remain fixed. We also strategize with clients after their case is solved and weigh the pros and cons of maintenance.
Will the suggestions fix themselves naturally?
They might. Google, for one, usually refreshes it’s suggestions about every two weeks, so you can wait and see. Unfortunately, for most clients, once a suggestion is there it is not likely to go away anytime soon.
Does it work on mobile, too?
Yes. Mobile search suggestions sometimes look a bit different, but we believe the algorithms are very similar. Typically, if we get a fix on desktop, if carries to mobile devices, as well.
What makes you such an expert?
We’ve been fixing autocomplete problems since 2012. We were among the first to use Amazon’s Mechanical Turk back in the days when that worked. We’ve had success (and failures) with several different crowd source sites (Microworkers and Crowdflower), proxy switching services, and computerized bots. We were probably the first to decide to recruit, hire and manage our own team and have since invested in Excel programming to help us with distribution, management and payments to our team. We’ve collaborated with other ORM firms and marketing agencies to discuss ‘what works’ and ‘what doesn’t.’ We suffered through the summer of 2014 when Google changed the game entirely, rendering proxies and crowd source sites ineffective. These days, we are committed to constantly recruiting new people for our team to give our clients the widest possible range of United States search activity. We’ve got several online reputation management agencies who trust us and refer us business.
Shop Around, The One Question You Need To Ask
Like I’ve said over and over in this piece, search activity by real people is what gives you the best chance of success for your autocomplete campaign.
Feel free to shop around and when you do, ask them:
“How are you creating natural-looking search activity?”
Hold them to the fire until they explain it, so you can understand it.
Here’s a list of answers you’ll get (and what you should say next):
- “I don’t know.” (You’re talking to a sales person who is only selling a service, ask for a manager and ask again)
- “It’s proprietary.” (No it’s not, if I’m paying you to work on this, I want to know what your strategy is)
- “Bots.” (That won’t work. Hang up the phone.)
- “Proxies.” (That doesn’t work. Hang up the phone.)
- “Crowdsource sites.” (That rarely works. Hang up the phone.)
- “We refer it to our partner, who’s an expert.” (Ah, now we’re getting somewhere! Guess who they’re referring it to?!)
Costs
We’re the most affordable, reliable solution to fixing your autocomplete problem, whether it is in Google, Bing, or Yahoo.
Since no one can guarantee to fix this problem every time (we don’t control the search engines), we price our service in a way that minimizes your financial risk. So, when you work with us, not only are you working with the most experienced online reputation management firms at fixing Autocomplete, you’re also getting affordable pricing.
Besides that, we’re a small firm without corporate overhead. We get the job done and provide outstanding customer service. What more could you want?
Please note that we will need to know what the keyword and negative suggestions are in order to quote your case. We keep this information in the strictest of confidence. Every case is different, so to request a firm quote, use our contact form.
Get Started
Take charge of the suggestions that appear after your name or company in Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Request a quote by filling out the contact form.