Someone has been 404'ing my positive content and backlinking harassing content

thestrokes1313 · Oct 11, 2026

Hello all.

I am, unfortunately -- in the midst of a smear campaign.
I know who is behind this orchestration, but I imagine, I'll never be able to prove it, unfortunately.

So, someone has 404'd 4-5 different websites with positive content associated with my legal name. I imagine, false abuse claims.
I am currently asking each entity to provide copy of the claims, but there's a good chance they won't reproduce them.

Someone has put up the same article on 5 separate domains. They also appear to be backlinking them and other harmful results for my legal name.

Am I a fish in the water here? I've been told Serp is the only option here because they wouldn't be easy to deindex from google given they don't easily meet the criteria of the situations in which they offer support for.

Is there anything I can do, like got a flagged ip to backlink these harmful articles so google will deindex them, or something like that?
I feel as if though SERP/ORM will be much harder to do, as these people appear to be backlinking or using click through on all these links.

hbar19 · Oct 11, 2026

Hire someone a lawyer and file case of copyright dmca

thestrokes1313 · Oct 11, 2026

How would they even be able to identify the firm thats backlinking everything? Sounds very in depth and expensive.

Ayanseo · Oct 11, 2026

Don't point spam links at their pages. It rarely deindexes anything, Google mostly discounts junk links, and it can tie your name to the mess. Not worth it.

Five copies of one article is the weak spot. Google clusters duplicates and usually shows one canonical, so check which domain it picked and work on that one. Same content on five domains often means the same host or registrar too, so abuse and defamation reports to the host go further than Google requests.

The 404s happen because your positive content sits on other people's sites, where one false claim can kill it. Put it on domains you own and file counter notices for any false takedown. Build the suppression on those. A legal name is a low competition query, and their backlinks are mostly spam Google already ignores.

thestrokes1313 · Oct 11, 2026

Really appreciate the advice.

Well, results that come up for my legal name, although they arent related to me that are negative are ranking higher, too. A lot of these results were on page 4-5, and now almost everything is on 1-2.

So, they are actively backlinking, & I'd imagine there's a lot of manpower going into them. That, or they are using click-through.

You're right about the article but it is technically being repeated on separate domains. The stuff that has been 404'd is likely gone, as I've been requesting copies of the takedown requests and they haven't really been provided.

What would you do if you were me? I'm worried competing with ORM might not work well given the context of this situation.

thestrokes1313 · Oct 11, 2026

Rank Advantage said:
Focus on the duplicate article on five domains that's their weak spot. Google clusters duplicates and picks one, so reports to the host or registrar often work better than trying to spam their links.

I already submitted a search engine manipulation complaint to Google and its been sitting with google for 1-2 months. The people that are doing this have $$$$, so this may not go the typical way it normally does, given they are likely using high end agencies, etc.

Nikolaos · Oct 12, 2026

thestrokes1313 said:
Hello all.

I am, unfortunately -- in the midst of a smear campaign.
I know who is behind this orchestration, but I imagine, I'll never be able to prove it, unfortunately.

So, someone has 404'd 4-5 different websites with positive content associated with my legal name. I imagine, false abuse claims.
I am currently asking each entity to provide copy of the claims, but there's a good chance they won't reproduce them.

Someone has put up the same article on 5 separate domains. They also appear to be backlinking them and other harmful results for my legal name.

Am I a fish in the water here? I've been told Serp is the only option here because they wouldn't be easy to deindex from google given they don't easily meet the criteria of the situations in which they offer support for.

Is there anything I can do, like got a flagged ip to backlink these harmful articles so google will deindex them, or something like that?
I feel as if though SERP/ORM will be much harder to do, as these people appear to be backlinking or using click through on all these links.

You need a lawyer ASAP. In this way you can claim the other person liable and you can even fine or jail them.

Someone has been 404'ing my positive content and backlinking harassing content

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