PDFs showing up in Google Search

Some of linked PDFs are showing up in Google Searches as static1.squarespace.com linked files. Even though my Squarespace site is behind a password protected wall, people are still able to access these files if they pull up on the search.

I have tried:

• Changing Page Settings > SEO and toggling the 'Hide Page from Search Results'.
• Code Injection - injecting noindex code into the header
• Submitting removal requests on Google Search Console. However, static1 linked documents/images would not apply in this scenario)

These documents contain sensitive information. Is there any other advice you could walk me through to removing these documents/images from the Google Search parameters?

On 2/2/2023 at 10:05 PM, paulineT said:

Some of linked PDFs are showing up in Google Searches as static1.squarespace.com linked files. Even though my Squarespace site is behind a password protected wall, people are still able to access these files if they pull up on the search.

Correct. Although "on-page" content - the text on a Squarespace page - is protected when it is behind a site password or a Member Area login, the same is not true for files that you upload to your site through the Link Editor, like PDFs. These are stored on a global Content Delivery Network (CDN) and not behind the password or login. There isn't currently a way to protect these files.

Note that if you delete the file completely from your site, it can take a further 38 days for it to be removed and may continue to be cached by the (third party) Content Delivery Network (CDN) for a further (indeterminate) period of time. You can request deletion of the file but Squarespace can control or expedite the removal of the URL from the CDN.

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On 2/2/2023 at 4:33 PM, paul2009 said:

Correct. Although "on-page" content - the text on a Squarespace page - is protected when it is behind a site password or a Member Area login, the same is not true for files that you upload to your site, like PDFs. These are stored on a global Content Delivery Network (CDN) and not behind the password or login.

 

Paul - jumping into this thread with a similar issue. Is there anyway to remove PDF files from displaying in google search results?

When attaching a new file to a link I noticed that the old hyperlink to a pdf file I RECENTLY DELETED ON MY SQUARESPACE site still shows up. I don't want the outdated document to show up, so why after I deleted the file is the file still available through the old hyperlink?

The link is just pointing at the document location, if you delete the document you also need to remove the links. 

1 hour ago, Tgrace said:

I've removed these PDF files from Squarespace entirely, but they still show up in Google search results

If the files have actually been completely removed they should eventually fall out of Google's results.

Folks. Please keep in mind that search engines like many internet services are poll based. There is, in many cases, no direct connection between what you do on the internet and what other services on the internet do. The internet works in large part because of polling. Otherwise the internet would collapse.

So in this case eventually Google's crawlers will get around to checking the page where the PDF existed, discover that the PDF is no longer there, and remove it from their search results.

If you want to request that Google remove them sooner, you need to get on board with Google Search Console and use their removal request feature. There are plenty of articles on the web on how to go about this or you can hire a consultant.

I completely removed this file over 7 months ago.

Anyway, for anyone with a similar issue and stumbles upon this thread, here's an article that might be helpful: https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/205812748-Image-and-file-URLs-in-Squarespace?platform=v6&websiteId=6371a73535aaac2541dbeee2

Towards the bottom it has some information about requesting a static URL removal.