Google’s John Mueller Reiterates What the URL Removals Tool Actually Does

Google Search Advocate John Mueller recently addressed a familiar SEO concern — what to do when hacked or spammy URLs stubbornly remain in search results even after they’ve been deleted from a site. His comments serve as a reminder that Google’s URL Removals Tool is designed to hide URLs temporarily, not permanently remove them from the index.

When “Japanese Hack” Pages Linger in Search Results

The conversation began when a site owner fell victim to a Japanese hack attack, a common exploit that floods websites with hundreds of fake pages in Japanese. Although the malicious files were deleted and the site moved to new hosting, those URLs were still visible on Google’s SERPs.

The webmaster asked:

“My site recently got a Japanese attack. … many Japanese URLs have been indexed. So how do I de-index those thousands of URLs from my website?”

This type of lingering index problem highlights an often-overlooked reality: cleaning your server is only half the recovery process. Google must re-crawl and validate that the infected pages are truly gone before removing them from the index — a process that can take time.

What the URL Removals Tool Can and Can’t Do

Mueller recommended using the URL Removals Tool available in Google Search Console, clarifying what it actually does:

• It allows webmasters to hide URLs from appearing in Google’s search results quickly — usually within a day.
• It does not permanently delete URLs from Google’s index.
• Over time, once Google confirms the pages return 404/410 errors, are blocked, or contain noindex tags, they are fully dropped from the index naturally.

To use the tool effectively, at least one of the following must apply:

1. The page returns a 404 (Not Found) or 410 (Gone) status.
2. The page includes a meta noindex tag.
3. The page is blocked by robots.txt to prevent crawling.

“You can use the URL removal tool in Search Console for individual URLs (also if the URLs all start with the same thing). … This doesn’t remove them from the index, but it hides them within a day.” — John Mueller

Essentially, the removals interface is a “fast-hide” switch — not a “delete forever” button.

Best Practices for Using the URL Removals Tool

Here are some expert tips to make the process faster and cleaner:

• 🧭 Focus on high-visibility URLs. Use Search Console’s Performance Report to find the most frequently surfaced spam URLs and remove them first.
• 🔄 Avoid redirecting spam URLs to live pages. Instead, serve a 404 or 410 response so Google knows the content is gone.
• ⚙️ Block crawling only after 404s are live. Robots.txt alone won’t trigger deindexing if Google never sees the 404.
• 🕵️‍♂️ Monitor progress. Check Index Coverage and Impressions weekly to track whether URLs drop out of results.
• 🧹 Be patient. Even with removals requested, complete index cleanup can take several weeks to months.

Why This Matters for SEOs and Site Owners

For SEOs, this distinction between temporary hiding and permanent deletion is critical. Misunderstanding it can lead to frustration or unnecessary repeat submissions.

Mueller’s clarification also underscores Google’s reliance on server-side signals (HTTP status codes and meta directives) rather than manual requests. The URL Removals Tool is useful for urgent situations — for instance, after a hack or leaked private content — but not a substitute for proper site cleanup.

Bold Outlook’s Take

At Bold Outlook, we see this as another gentle nudge from Google for SEOs to stay technically fluent. The URL Removals Tool is a powerful band-aid for visibility issues but not a cure-all.

Long-term success requires a solid technical SEO foundation — consistent 404 management, secure hosting, and monitoring for malicious injections before they spread. If you’re still seeing junk URLs weeks after a hack, you’re not alone — but you are seeing Google’s systems working as intended.