How can I remove my full name as a top search suggestion?

[Chunkypears]

Hello. I am writing this as a continuation from the Microsoft Support Community, in which someone directed my attention to this place.

I have been using Bing via the incognito mode for a good amount of time to check and see if there was anything I should remove from the internet that was connected to my full name. Unfortunately, this created a new problem. Because I frequently used Bing to check and find that stuff, my full name now appears as a top search suggestion if you enter “Firstname firstletter/firsttwolettersolastname.” For the first letter, it is the eighth result. For the first two letters, it is the first result. 

I want to get it removed, but I’m having a hard time doing so. I tried reporting a concern to Bing about this, but they refused to help me. I contacted them twice and no luck.

What can I do to get my full name removed as a top search suggestion regarding the certain keywords and such?

[#2]

hello @Chunkypears 

hello others

my first language is not English so excuse me for any errors in my writing.

Also I am not trying to hijack your question but I rather want to bring extra attention to it because I think this is really an important privacy issue and Microsoft should be able to offer a solution.

I am having the almost the exact same issue you are describing. I wanted to remove my personal information as much as possible from the internet and searched my own full name a lot of times in different search engines. Bing actually has been showing lots of outdated results with sites wherefrom the info was already removed.

I have a very uncommon name and now if you enter my first name into the bing search bar everybody can see my full name as the second highest suggestion. 
One of my main goals was actually to have people not find out my full name if they happen to know my first.

[#3]

@Chunkypears 

Hi, does a Bing suggestion lead to your website?

Is this another problem that I don't understand?

Please explain in more detail.

[#4]

No, this search suggestion in question does not lead to any websites in particular. I am not sure what you mean by "problem you don't understand." If you want to know what it is, I will need to private message you about it.

[#5]

Thanks for stepping in and offering your side of this problem. Yes, this is indeed a privacy related issue and Microsoft should be able to address concerns like these properly. Bing has been showing tons of outdated results that were either weblinks or images that were connected to pages that have been long deleted. I find it odd how Bing doesn't update automatically like other search engines, you pretty much need to tell them yourself about it.

My first name is uncommon too, so there aren't many people out there who share my first and last name possibly.

[#6]

@Chunkypears 

I'm not expecting a private message -> please just an official discussion that anyone can join, as this is a Public Forum.

In my opinion, you should not worry - this is a very helpful feature and does not violate privacy - all operating systems use this feature , so Microsoft has to implement it , because users need it.

And searching Bing for outdated information is a separate topic

[#7]

I’m confused on what you’re talking about. Are you referring to this forum being a feature? I came here to increase my chances of finding someone who can help me out with my issue.

[#8]

@Chunkypears 

"I came here to increase my chances of finding someone who can help me out with my issue."

Please note that the keyword suggestion feature (for you it's a problem) for others is a helpful feature!

Removing only your distinctive name is not feasible (it's a waste of time)

If someone wants to remove it using a script - it will be a scammer and beware of such solutions!

Good luck

[#9]

Yes, the keyword suggestion feature is a given for search engines, but I just want my full name as a top search suggestion removed.

To be fair, trying to contact Bing’s support team doesn’t work because they’ll just tell you that it’s all part of some algorithm. So I was hoping to find someone who can actually help me here.

One solution I did try was searching similar sounding keywords as many times as possible, but I think that is a waste of time myself. I think if I can find someone who actually works for Microsoft/Bing’s support team here, it’d be the easiest solution as opposed to get automated messages.

Also, thanks for the tip of potential scammers. Because I got dealt with a scammer myself months ago.

[#10]

@Chunkypears 

Thank you for your answer, now I understand better your concerns, , just your computer suggests the best suggestions, but they are personalized -> only for you as a user (certainly not for all who enter the first 2 letters will show your full name) I can assure you of this and reassure you.

When I type the same liters (Bing will show completely different keywords)

I'm glad you're in MTC - here users help or try to help.

Good luck.

[#11]

Are you sure it’s just my device in question? Because I’ve been using incognito across my computer and my phone, and because of that all that caches and whatever I should’ve cleared when I was done are left floating around in the algorithm I think. Not to mention the usage of other search engines that Bing powers. I also checked using a computer that I do not own, and my full name still popped up if I entered in the specific keywords/letters.

Also thanks, I am unsure if there could be someone who does work for Microsoft can come in and assist me here, as this place mostly focuses on user to user interaction.

[#12]

@A1 

hello sorry to hop in again but I am also following this discussion. 

I do believe the autosuggest in this case ( surely it is not in my case ) is not linked to one user. 

I have tested to search my first name in Bing, duckduckgo, ecosia and yahoo search engines on personal laptop, work laptop, mobile phone.. on personal wifi, wifi at work, public wifi, 4g and with vpn enabled based in different countries + changed search settings in Bing to worldwide or specific countries that I am not living in nor have ever visited + tested on a fresh reinstall of windows 11 and searched in edge browser and ALL of the time my second name comes up as first/second suggestion after typing my first name. 

The autosuggest function is and can be useful for many cases but this is not one of them. This is personal info and is only useful for ID theft / stalking. Which is why this is so important for me, as I had to deal with scammers already.

I am speaking for myself and can not speak for chunkypears but my full name has been removed almost everywhere possible on the internet and I will continue to remove it completely. 

ATM most links popping up in bing results are outdated (even though I used the removal tool uncountable times already). So again little use for autosuggest to show my second name.
In my opinion it is MY name and if I want it not to show up as a suggestion that should be my right period. 

@Chunkypears if you live in Europe, there is a “right to be forgotten law” for Europeans so I am going to try this official request as well, also for the results that are still there even after been removed.

Request Form to Block Search Results in Europe

https://www.bing.com/webmaster/tools/eu-privacy-request 

[#13]

Hi ,@nollie 

Thank you for your answer, I have never analyzed it in detail, but it is an interesting topic that every user can encounter!

The possibility of being forgotten seems like a very complicated task - additional AI integration, it may simply not be feasible, but if you find an extension please publish it will be helpful for everyone!

Best regards

[#14]

@nollie 

I have an important question, because I opened this form and I would not want other users to think that this is development, or the same form you intend to fill out for other browsers?

Now I have analyzed it and I do not recommend such a step, because removing only the name not associated with specific offensive content , really does not make sense - unfortunately.

I ask others to comment and join such a fundamental discussion.

[#15]

@Chunkypears 

Thank you very much for this message, which should be a tip for other users:

"Yeah, I really kind of made this a bigger problem for myself then it should’ve been. I apologize if I have been stressing about this too much. Besides, I’ve been more of a Google user in my life compared to Bing and I’ve had much better success in removing things from that search engine (no offens..."