Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Facebook

Hiding Your Facebook Profile from Google and Other Public Search Engines

There are many reasons why you may want to hide your Facebook profile from Google, Yahoo, Bing and other search engines. All Facebook member profiles are available to search engines on the Internet by default. This means that, for example, when a random person enters your name on Google, your Facebook profile is usually the first on the list to appear.The information displayed, if your profile result is clicked on, would usually consist of your profile picture, pictures of some of your randomly selected friends, links to either add you as a friend or send you a message among other things.

Unsurprisingly not everyone thinks that having their profile picture or information available to every Tom, Dick and Harry is such a brilliant idea especially when almost anyone can send you a private message. It is almost the same situation as being tagged in a photo (by a friend) that automatically becomes available for everyone to see after a drunken night-out.

Facebook search settings page

With the new (ever-changing) Facebook navigation design, it has never been easier to control whether or not anyone can see your Facebook profile on the Internet. At the top right hand corner of your homepage is the Account drop down menu. Click on Account and then Privacy settings which is actually listed separately from (General) Account and Application settings. At the bottom of the page is the Search control which takes you to the Search settings page where you can select who can view your Facebook search results and more importantly your public search results. To prevent Google and other search engines from showing your profile, simply un-tick the Allow box next to ‘Public Search Results’.

Facebook search result after hiding profile from search engines

However not everyone would like to hide their profile from public view. Indeed, some of us would rather limit the amount of information available to strangers than totally erase it. In other to hide certain content from specific people, do not un-tick the Allow box as it only permits search engines to access information that you set to Everyone in other Facebook settings. Instead, proceed to Account and Application settings and adjust accordingly. By so doing, Google and others will not include anything you make visible to just Friends, Friends of Friends or Custom.

Talking Point

Are you bothered about your profile’s availability to search engines? Which group do you belong to: the share-all, share-some or share-non group?

Written By

Thanks for reading this article. If you're new here, why don't you subscribe for regular updates via RSS feed or via email. You can also subscribe by following @techsling on Twitter or becoming our fan on Facebook. Thanks for visiting!

14 Comments

14 Comments

  1. Pingback: Free Article Directories For Diy Seo

  2. Pingback: Whitehat Copycat – Beginner’s Way To Make Money Online …

  3. Pingback: Do You Know Where I Can Pay To Post My Ads On Google Adwords And Other Search Engines?

  4. Pingback: Hiding Your Facebook Profile from Google and Other Public Search …

  5. Pingback: Cod 5 glitch/cheat from online mode castle for xbox360 and ps3 : World online games review

  6. Pingback: PSP Downgrading from 3.71 back to 1.50 via Pandora Battery : World online games review

  7. Domain name registration

    March 23, 2010 at 8:41 pm

    Thanks for sharing this information, I am just learning about this for the first time. I will not like my personal information to be display on search engines, I am going to apply it immediately.

  8. mark

    April 13, 2010 at 12:00 pm

    Class! I like your blog too much. It seems that you have done some good research while writing this blog 😉 Today, Facebook is a top most website. I agree to the matter you have posted on your blog. In my opinion, Facebook is a GOLD site. Many webmasters use it to get terrific traffic to their websites. I get near about 15K visitors monthly to my sites only from Facebook. I do not want to spam your blog in any way, I just want to add some more info. The method I am using allows me to make 5000 friends in 7 days and 50000 fans in 30 days only. It brings a lot of traffic to my websites. So, if you are a Facebook user, then you can also use this formula to get tons of visitors to your sites. You can visit my site, to test this class method.

  9. Radolf fuego

    August 20, 2010 at 7:15 am

    There is no wrong in hiding your profile because it is also considered to be a private property. We all have the right to have a confidential life.

  10. dark

    September 23, 2010 at 11:52 am

    I’d prefer not to share my personal information so i changed my settings on facebook accout.

  11. Elma

    September 25, 2010 at 3:02 am

    Nice one! This will really give you a privacy over a social networking site.

  12. spanish language software

    November 8, 2010 at 7:47 pm

    I guess I don’t have any problem with it being like it is. I mean, as long as they give you the option to control whether it’s available or not. I suppose that some users might have a problem with it all being public by default. But as far as “the powers that be” at Facebook are concerned, making it public by default probably makes the most sense.

    It just doesn’t bother me personally. If there’s information that I don’t want people to find about me on Facebook, then I will most likely have changed it to not be accessible to “everyone”. And in my experience, when I search for someone’s name, their facebook profile is NOT something that comes up as the first result or even near the first result.

  13. Internship

    January 21, 2011 at 12:03 pm

    Controlling access to your personal information is getting more difficult. This is a useful post in that respect. I’ll be able to get a little control back for myself.

  14. Marc Rasmussen

    June 10, 2011 at 6:18 pm

    I use both Twitter and Facebook and is more a facebook person but I have still not thought of hiding my profile from either Google or other public search engines. I agree there is no such thing as privacy while using these social networking sites so for all those user who want privacy can always hide their profile.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

You May Also Like

Digital Marketing

Digital Marketing has become an entire industry that has its metrics and tools to measure the progress and performance of a website and increase...

Digital Marketing

It’s no secret that Facebook is a powerful marketing tool. With over 2 billion active users, it’s a great place to reach your target...

Digital Marketing

Blog posts are informative, engaging, and provide high value. Businesses can use blogs to connect with customers and meet their needs. Additionally, blogs act...

Digital Marketing

These days you can find people who don't watch television or listen to FM radios, but it is hard to find people who are...