On Removing .Gov Press Releases

If you are reading this article, you are likely dealing with one of the most difficult challenges in online reputation management: a government press release that appears prominently when someone searches your name. Maybe it is from Justice.gov announcing charges or a conviction. Maybe it is an SEC.gov enforcement action or an FBI.gov press release. Maybe it is a state attorney general press release or an announcement from a federal regulatory agency. Whatever the source, you have discovered that these press releases seem to rank on page one of Google indefinitely, refusing to budge no matter how much time passes.

We are going to be completely honest with you in this article, and that honesty may not be what you want to hear. Government press releases are among the most difficult content to address on the internet, and the companies or individuals who promise guaranteed removal are almost certainly not being straight with you. What we can offer instead is a clear understanding of why these press releases are so persistent, what options genuinely exist (even if they are limited), and what realistic strategies can meaningfully reduce the visibility of government press releases in search results over time.

The Five Steps to Address Government Press Releases in Search Results

1. Set realistic expectations from the start. Removal of government press releases is extremely difficult, and most will remain online indefinitely. However, suppression is absolutely possible. When handled correctly, we can push government press releases to page four or five of search results, where almost no one will ever find them.
2. Check for factual errors in the press release itself, as documented inaccuracies are one of the few legitimate grounds for requesting correction from the issuing agency.
3. Find the right help at the right price. Online reputation management firms (like us) can absolutely help with suppression work, but this is not something that should cost five figures to achieve. There is no secret sauce in this industry. Be skeptical of any firm charging $20,000 or more for press release "removal" when others can provide the same suppression strategies for a fraction of that cost.
4. Implement a comprehensive suppression strategy by building authoritative positive content that can push the press release to page two or beyond.
5. Address related content like news articles and legal database listings, which may be more amenable to removal or de-indexing than the press release itself.

The rest of this article explains each of these steps in detail, including the specific tactics that work and the costly mistakes to avoid.

What Are Government Press Releases?

Government press releases are official communications issued by federal, state, and local agencies to announce enforcement actions, indictments, convictions, settlements, and other matters of public interest. These releases are published on .gov domains and serve as the authoritative source of information about government actions. The agencies that issue these press releases include the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), state attorneys general offices, district attorneys, and countless other regulatory and law enforcement bodies.

When law enforcement announces charges against an individual, files a civil enforcement action, or secures a conviction, the standard practice is to issue a press release documenting the action. These releases are not editorial content or third-party opinions. They are official government records, and they are treated as such by search engines like Google.

Why Government Press Releases Dominate Search Results

Understanding why .gov press releases rank so persistently in search results helps explain why removal is so difficult. Several factors combine to make these pages extraordinarily authoritative in Google's eyes.

Domain Authority

Google explicitly gives significant weight to government domains (.gov) because they represent official sources of information from verified government entities. The .gov domain itself is restricted and requires formal verification, unlike commercial domains that anyone can register. This built-in trust signal means that content on .gov domains starts with a significant ranking advantage over commercial websites and personal properties.

Backlink Profiles

When a government agency issues a press release about an enforcement action, news organizations across the country pick up the story and link back to the original release as their source. Legal databases archive and link to the content. Other government agencies may reference the release in their own materials. Over time, a single press release can accumulate hundreds or thousands of backlinks from highly authoritative sources, each one reinforcing its ranking power in Google's algorithm.

Public Interest Considerations

Google has stated publicly that certain types of content serve important public interest functions and deserve continued visibility in search results. Government announcements about law enforcement actions fall squarely into this category. The search engine's algorithm is designed to surface this information because Google believes the public has a legitimate interest in knowing about criminal prosecutions, regulatory enforcement, and other government actions, even when the individuals involved would prefer otherwise.

Persistence and Permanence

Unlike news articles that may be updated, corrected, or eventually removed, government press releases are designed to be permanent records. The Department of Justice, for example, typically maintains press releases online for approximately ten years as a matter of policy, and many releases remain accessible indefinitely through government archives even after the original pages are eventually removed. This permanence means that the content you are trying to address has been accumulating authority and backlinks for years, making it exceptionally entrenched in search rankings.

Why Removal Is Nearly Impossible

Let us be direct about something that many reputation management companies will not tell you: legitimate removal of accurate government press releases is extraordinarily rare, and in most cases, it is simply not going to happen regardless of what approaches you try. Here is why.

No Legal Requirement to Remove

Government agencies have no legal obligation to remove accurate press releases about enforcement actions. The First Amendment protects the government's right to publish truthful information about its activities, and courts have consistently held that individuals do not have a right to suppress accurate government records simply because those records are embarrassing or inconvenient. Unlike private companies that might be persuaded by reputational concerns or business considerations, government agencies are not responsive to the same pressures.

The Deterrent Function

Press releases about enforcement actions serve an explicit deterrent function. When the Department of Justice announces a prosecution for securities fraud, healthcare fraud, or public corruption, part of the purpose is to send a message to others who might consider similar conduct. Removing these press releases would undermine this deterrent effect, which is one reason agencies are so resistant to removal requests. From the government's perspective, the press release is doing exactly what it was designed to do.

No US "Right to Be Forgotten"

In the European Union, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) establishes a "right to be forgotten" that allows individuals to request removal of personal information from search results under certain circumstances. The United States has no equivalent federal law. American individuals have no legal right to demand that Google remove links to accurate government publications, and government agencies have no obligation to honor such requests even if they are made. Some advocacy groups are working to change this, but as of now, Americans dealing with government press releases have no legal remedy equivalent to what exists in Europe.

The Options That Exist (And Their Limitations)

While removal is extremely difficult, we want to be thorough about the options that technically exist, even if their success rates are low. You should understand what is available before deciding how to spend your time and resources.

Contacting the Issuing Agency Directly

You or your attorney can contact the public affairs office of the agency that issued the press release to request removal or modification. This approach has an extremely low success rate (we estimate less than 1% for accurate press releases), but there are rare circumstances where it may be worth trying. If the press release contains verifiable factual errors, such as incorrect names, wrong charges, or other demonstrable inaccuracies, you have legitimate grounds for requesting a correction. If your case was ultimately dismissed, resulted in acquittal, or the underlying conviction has been overturned on appeal, some agencies may issue updated press releases or add clarifying language, though removal of the original is still unlikely.

Working Through an Attorney

An attorney familiar with the specific agency and type of case may be able to make more effective arguments for correction or removal, particularly if there are legal grounds such as expungement, sealing, or documented errors. However, even experienced attorneys find success rates extremely low for removal of accurate government press releases. An attorney may be more useful focusing on addressing the underlying legal record (through expungement or sealing if available) or on suppression strategies rather than direct removal efforts.

Contacting Elected Officials

Some people attempt to contact their congressional representatives or senators to intervene with federal agencies on their behalf. While congressional offices do sometimes make inquiries to agencies on constituent matters, the success rate for press release removal through this channel is essentially zero. Federal agencies are not obligated to remove accurate public records in response to congressional pressure, and doing so could actually raise concerns about improper political influence over law enforcement communications. Your representative may be more helpful advocating for broader policy changes around federal expungement or right to be forgotten legislation rather than addressing individual press releases.

Pursuing Expungement or Sealing of the Underlying Record

If the underlying criminal case has been expunged or sealed under state law, you have stronger grounds for requesting updated treatment of related press releases. However, federal criminal cases cannot be expunged (there is no general federal expungement statute), and even for state cases where expungement is granted, the government is not necessarily required to remove previously published press releases. That said, expungement documentation can be useful for addressing third-party content like news articles and legal database listings, even if the original press release remains. For more information on this process, see our guide on removing court records from Google.

What Not To Do: Avoiding Expensive Scams

This is critically important: be extremely cautious of any company claiming they can remove government press releases for a fee. The reputation management industry includes legitimate firms doing honest work, but it also includes operators who exploit people's desperation with promises they cannot keep.

We have seen companies charge $10,000, $20,000, even $30,000 or more for "guaranteed" removal of government press releases. These guarantees are almost certainly worthless. Legitimate removal of .gov content is extremely difficult through any commercial service, and what these companies often deliver is suppression work (building positive content to push results down) that any reputable reputation management firm could provide at a fraction of the cost.

Red flags to watch for include:

• Guaranteed removal of government press releases (this cannot be honestly guaranteed)
• Claims of special relationships with government agencies or "insider access"
• Upfront fees of $10,000 or more specifically for press release removal
• Refusal to explain their methodology or vague descriptions of their approach
• Pressure tactics emphasizing urgency or limited-time pricing

If a company promises what sounds too good to be true, it almost certainly is. Legitimate reputation management firms will be honest with you about what is achievable and what is not, even if that honesty means losing your business.

What Actually Works: Suppression Strategies

The most effective realistic approach to addressing government press releases in search results is not removal but suppression. By building authoritative, positive content that ranks for your name, you can push the press release to page two, page three, or beyond in search results where the vast majority of searchers will never see it.

Suppression works on a straightforward principle: the first page of Google can only display ten organic results. If you can build enough authoritative properties that outrank the government press release, it gets pushed further and further back. With comprehensive suppression work, we regularly push government press releases to page four, five, or beyond where virtually no one will ever find them. Studies consistently show that approximately 90% of all search clicks happen on the first page of results, and almost no one goes past page three.

The Components of Effective Suppression

A comprehensive suppression strategy typically includes:

• A professional personal website optimized for your name, ideally on a domain like yourname.com, featuring your biography, professional accomplishments, and current activities
• Optimized LinkedIn profile with complete information, connections, activity, and engagement that signals authority to search engines
• Profiles on professional directories relevant to your industry or expertise, which often rank well for individual names
• Social media presence on platforms like Twitter/X, Medium, and others where you can establish an active, authoritative presence
• Published content such as articles, interviews, podcast appearances, or speaking engagements that create additional positive pages ranking for your name
• Crunchbase, Bloomberg, or similar business profiles if you have a business or investment background

Timelines for Suppression

Because government press releases have such strong authority signals, suppression campaigns typically take longer than for other types of negative content. For moderately competitive name searches, expect the following timeline:

• Months 1-3: Building and optimizing properties, establishing initial indexing
• Months 3-6: Properties begin ranking, initial movement visible in results
• Months 6-9: Meaningful progress, press release moving toward page two for many queries
• Months 9-12: Optimal results for most cases, press release on page two or beyond

For common names, results may come faster because there is more content naturally competing for rankings. For unusual names where the press release has little competition, the effort may require more sustained work to build enough authoritative content to displace an entrenched .gov page.

Addressing Related Content

While the government press release itself may be effectively immovable, the ecosystem of content around it may be more addressable. News articles, legal database listings, and other third-party content that covered your case may be more amenable to removal, de-indexing, or suppression.

News Articles

News organizations have editorial discretion that government agencies do not. Some publications will update or add editor's notes to articles when the underlying case has been resolved favorably, charges were dropped, or the person was acquitted. Some may add noindex tags to prevent articles from appearing in search results, particularly for older cases where continued visibility seems disproportionate to public interest. Success rates vary widely by publication, and major national outlets are generally less responsive than local news organizations, but it is worth pursuing.

Legal Databases

Sites like CourtListener, Justia, UniCourt, and similar platforms often honor de-indexing requests because their purpose is legal research rather than reputation damage. Removing your case information from these databases will not affect the government press release, but it can reduce the overall volume of negative content ranking for your name. For detailed guidance on this process, see our article on removing court records from Google.

Data Broker and People-Search Sites

If your personal information (address, phone number, family members) appears on people-search sites alongside references to your case, removing that information is both achievable and valuable for your overall online presence. These sites generally have opt-out processes that, while time-consuming, are free and effective. For guidance on this process, see our article on removing personally identifiable information from the internet.

When Professional Help Makes Sense

Many people can implement basic suppression strategies on their own by building personal websites, optimizing LinkedIn profiles, and creating content that ranks for their names. However, there are situations where professional reputation management makes sense for government press release challenges.

Professional help is typically valuable when:

• The press release ranks extremely strongly and requires sophisticated suppression tactics
• Multiple negative pages from different sources are competing for page one
• You have a unique name with little competing content, making suppression more challenging
• You lack the time or expertise to execute a sustained suppression campaign
• The stakes are high enough that speed and thoroughness justify professional investment

When evaluating firms, look for transparency about methodology, realistic assessments of what is achievable, and clear communication about timelines and pricing. Be wary of any firm that promises guaranteed removal of government press releases, as we have discussed.

Setting Realistic Expectations

We believe strongly in being honest about what is actually possible rather than selling false hope. Here is what you need to understand about addressing government press releases in search results.

What is not achievable: Complete removal of accurate government press releases from the internet is extraordinarily rare. The press release will likely remain on the .gov domain for years, possibly indefinitely. Determined investigators, background check companies, and thorough searchers will still be able to find it if they look hard enough. There is no service, at any price, that can guarantee the press release will disappear entirely.

What is achievable: With sustained effort and the right strategy, you can push government press releases to page four, five, or beyond in search results where almost no one will ever see them. You can build a first page of Google results that reflects your current accomplishments and activities rather than being dominated by past challenges. You can reach a point where a typical search of your name by an employer, business partner, or potential relationship surfaces your professional presence rather than old government announcements.

The goal is not perfection or erasure of history. The goal is reaching a place where your search results accurately reflect who you are today, not just who you were during the most difficult chapter of your past. That outcome is achievable for most people willing to invest the time and effort in a sustained suppression strategy.

Frequently Asked Questions