[TezzellEnt]

Dr Janice Duffy, the woman in the article, had many false & libelous statements written about her on a website - in this case being RipOffReport. Per Google's Removal Policy[1], the search engine forces you to contact a webmaster to remove the offending material yourself, or supply a valid court order of defamation. RipOffReport itself only gives you a few options: 1) She could've written a rebuttal to these claims, or 2) Paid off RipOffReport to do an "Arbitration" (extortion).[2]

She also could've sued RipOffReport in addition to Google - but like Google/Reddit/et al, they are protected by the Communications Decency Act in the States - not making them liable for anything users post.

In the end, what she should've done was sue the original authors of those posts on RipOffReport - winning the case (burden of proof is on her), and then having Google de-list the search result.[3]

Taking the third route in using a court order is by far the best way to go.

[1] https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/1228138 [2] https://www.ripoffreport.com/Arbitration.aspx [3] https://support.google.com/legal/troubleshooter/1114905?hl=e...