Deleted reddit post (which still has 25 comments) still ranking in google

There has to be some type of penalization for this in Google? Yes, the comments are still there but OP deleted the actual post.

It's still on top of all the search results,

any ideas or tips on how to get it lower ?

Google doesn’t really “penalize” a page just because the OP deleted the main post. As long as the page itself is still live, indexable, and has engagement (comments, internal links, backlinks, traffic signals), Google treats it as valuable content.

Reddit especially has insane domain authority, so even a half empty page can outrank full articles on weaker sites.

If you want to push it down, you basically have two options:

1. Out-rank it → publish optimized content on your own site or medium/high DA platforms, build links, and target the same keywords.
2. Bury it → flood SERPs with other content (guest posts, Quora, Medium, YouTube videos, etc.) so the Reddit thread gets pushed down naturally.

It’s less about “removing” the Reddit post and more about overwhelming it with stronger or more diverse content.

I’ve seen deleted threads stay in top 10 for over a year before disappearing.

washington2010 said:

There has to be some type of penalization for this in Google? Yes, the comments are still there but OP deleted the actual post.

It's still on top of all the search results,

any ideas or tips on how to get it lower ?

Click to expand...

google often keeps a cached version even after a post is deleted, so it can still appear in search. the quickest way is to use google’s remove outdated content tool, and over time, posting fresh content and building backlinks can help push it down naturally.

If there are no better alternatives, Google serves whatever is available right now.