# Suppress negative results on Bing and other engines
How to suppress negative results on Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo and Brave: where each engine's results come from and what changes in the plan for each.
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To suppress negative results on Bing, you do what works anywhere: publish accurate, authoritative pages about you and let them outrank the results you cannot remove. What changes is the checking and the sequencing, because Bing says it ranks pages on six published parameters, Yahoo and DuckDuckGo's traditional results lean on Bing, and Brave says it runs its own index.
That means one well-built plan can carry over to three of the four engines, and the fourth needs its own check. This article sets out where each engine's results come from, what each engine says about ranking, and what that changes in a suppression plan.
Every statement about an engine below comes from that engine's own help or policy pages, read for this guide. Where an engine publishes no detail, we say so rather than fill the gap with folklore.
The short version
Yahoo's help page says its results are generated by an algorithm run by Bing, and DuckDuckGo says it largely sources its traditional links and images from Bing. Work that moves a result on Bing is likely to show up on both, but check each one.
Bing lists six ranking parameters in general order of importance: relevance, quality and credibility, user engagement, freshness, location and language, and page load time. It gives no weights.
Brave says it serves results from its own index, so Bing results are not a guide to Brave results. Test it separately.
Neither Bing nor Yahoo lets a site buy a better organic position, so a fee to move a result is not a mechanism either one describes.
Removal, where a legal or policy ground exists, runs through different channels on each engine and is a separate decision from suppression.
Three figures show how differently the engines work.
Sixranking parameters Bing lists in general order of importance, with no weights
Fivedomains a DuckDuckGo user can add to a personal block list
92%Brave's own June 2022 figure for results served from its index, not a current figure
Sources: Microsoft Support, "How Bing delivers search results"; DuckDuckGo Help Pages on blocking sites; Brave's search anniversary post (June 2022). Brave's 92% is its own figure from a post dated June 22, 2022, and is not a current measurement.
## Which engines share results, and which do not
Yahoo and DuckDuckGo draw heavily on Bing, Brave does not, and that single fact decides how much work you do once versus how much you repeat.
[Yahoo's UK help page on how content is ranked](https://uk.help.yahoo.com/kb/SLN35619.html) says the results on Yahoo Search are generated by an algorithm run by Microsoft Bing, and it points site owners to the Bing Webmaster Guidelines to understand ranking. [DuckDuckGo's help page on its sources](https://duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/results/sources/) says it has traditional links and images "which we largely source from Bing," and also says it maintains its own crawler, DuckDuckBot, and many indexes to support results. Brave's help page says Brave Search is built on its own independent search index.
The table sets out what that means for planning. The right-hand column is our reading of the sources, not a claim any engine makes about reputation work.
Engine
Where results come from, per its own pages
What it changes in the plan
Check separately?
Bing
Its own crawler, Bingbot, and its own index
The primary engine to build for and to test on
Yes, it is the reference
Yahoo
An algorithm run by Bing, per Yahoo's UK help page
Expect similar results to Bing, then confirm
Yes, a quick look
DuckDuckGo
Traditional links and images largely from Bing, plus its own crawler and indexes
Mostly follows Bing, with some results from its own sources
Yes, a quick look
Brave
Its own independent index
Separate evidence, separate result, separate removal channel
Yes, in full
The table does not say the results are identical. Each engine adds its own layers, and DuckDuckGo says it uses its own indexes alongside Bing. The rule is simple: build once, then verify on each engine, and never report a result as moved until you have seen it move there.
## How Bing says it ranks results, and what that means for you
[Bing's own support page](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/bing/how-bing-delivers-search-results) lists six ranking parameters, says they are given in general order of importance, and says their relative weight may vary from search to search and evolve over time. Those six are the only firm ground for a Bing plan.
The page describes each one in a sentence or two. Here is what it says and what it means for a person trying to move a negative result.
- **Relevance.** Relevance refers to how closely the content on the landing page matches the intent behind a search query. For a name search, your asset has to be unmistakably about that person, using the name as people write it.
- **Quality and credibility.** Bing describes this as the site's clarity of purpose, usability and presentation, plus its authority. The authority factors it names are reputation, level of discourse, level of distortion, and origination and transparency of ownership. Its example for reputation is that a well-known news site is considered to have a higher reputation than a brand-new blog.
- **User engagement.** Bing looks at whether users clicked through to results for a query and which ones, whether they spent time on those results or quickly returned to Bing, and whether they reformulated the query.
- **Freshness.** The page says Bing generally prefers fresh content, and counts pages that consistently give up-to-date information as fresh.
- **Location and language.** Bing considers the user's country and city, where the page is hosted, the page's language, and the location of its visitors.
- **Page load time.** Slow pages can push visitors away, and Bing treats that as a poor experience.
Two points matter most for suppression. First, the quality and credibility factors reward a clear purpose and transparent ownership, so a thin page on a throwaway domain is the weakest asset you can build and a plain, maintained page with a named owner and real content is the strongest. Second, Bing's own example, a well-known news site rated above a brand-new blog, is a warning about expectations. If the negative result is an article from an established publication, a new personal site will not outrank it on reputation alone. The plan has to give Bing other reasons to prefer your asset: a closer match to the query, fresher and fuller content, stronger engagement and a faster page.
## How to suppress negative results on Bing, step by step
The core of the plan is the same as for any engine: accurate assets, built to be the best answer to a name search, maintained over time. The Bing-specific work is in setup, submission and verification.
The Bing-specific sequence
Record the starting pageSearch the name on Bing with the country and language settings that match your audience, and save the first two pages. Bing says it uses information specific to the individual user, such as search history, location, language and device type, so compare against a second device or a different location before you trust a single view.
Classify each negative resultMark each one as removable on a stated ground, correctable, or neither. Only the last group is a suppression target. Bing's removal grounds are narrow, so most accurate negative results fall into that group.
Build or strengthen the owned assetsMake one canonical page about you with a clear purpose, a stated owner, current facts and fast loading. Add profiles you control that genuinely describe you. Each asset should be a real answer to a name search, not a placeholder.
Register the owned site with Bing Webmaster ToolsBing's support page says its Webmaster Dashboard gives insights into how users interact with your pages, and that Webmaster Tools is where a site removed from the index can appeal.
Notify Bing when pages changeIndexNow is a protocol that lets a site tell participating search engines when URLs are created, updated or deleted. Bing's setup page says it does not promise a page will be crawled or indexed, and advises submitting only URLs that have changed.
Keep the assets freshBecause Bing says it prefers fresh content, a page that is updated when facts change is better placed than one published once and abandoned.
Re-check on each engineRepeat the starting search on Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo and Brave on a fixed schedule, and record what moved.
IndexNow speeds up notification, not ranking. A thin, anonymous or slow page that is found quickly still loses to a stronger page.
## Links and Bing: what Bing says about building and discounting them
The Bing Webmaster blog says Bing can ignore or discount unnatural links, and that link schemes, link buying and link spamming can lead to a site being delisted from the Bing index. That makes paid link building a bad bet on Bing, and it shapes what you should and should not do.
In a [September 2023 post on the Bing Webmaster blog](https://blogs.bing.com/webmaster/2023/9/Bing-Webmaster-Tools-to-Remove-Disavow-Links-Feature-in-October-2023/), Bing announced it would remove the disavow links feature and its API in October 2023. Its stated reason was that its AI understands the context and intent of links and the trustworthiness of their sources, and can differentiate between natural and unnatural links. It said it would keep providing its backlink report.
- **There is no disavow lever on Bing.** Bing's stated position is that it can discount unnatural links by itself, so a flood of poor links pointing at a negative page is not something you need to answer with a Bing disavow routine.
- **Link buying is a risk, not a shortcut.** A suppression asset that is delisted from Bing is worse than no asset.
- **The post does not say links are irrelevant.** It is about unnatural links. Links that exist because others genuinely cite you fit the reputation factor. Earn them through real work: a talk, a published piece, a profile that a third party maintains.
The support page adds a second boundary. Where bad actors manipulate results or exploit data voids, Bing says it may apply additional algorithmic interventions, and that it does not remove such content entirely from its index. A data void is a gap where little reliable content exists. If your name has few strong pages, the remedy is to fill the gap with substantial, honest pages, not thin ones.
## Yahoo: same results in principle, confirmed in practice
Yahoo's help page says its results come from Bing's algorithm, so a Bing-ready asset is a Yahoo-ready asset in principle. The page also says sites cannot improve their algorithmic ranking by paying Yahoo or Microsoft/Bing, and that Bing does not prioritize its own or Yahoo content in algorithmic results.
You therefore do not run a separate Yahoo campaign, and the help page itself sends site owners to the Bing Webmaster Guidelines. You still run the check. The page we read is Yahoo's UK help page, and we did not read an equivalent for every regional edition, so confirm the first page in the regions that matter before reporting a result as moved.
## DuckDuckGo: mostly Bing underneath, and no personal history
DuckDuckGo says it largely sources traditional links and images from Bing, runs its own crawler and many indexes, and has no ability to create a search or browsing history for any individual, so a personal search history is not a factor it describes.
Three details change the plan.
**The Bing dependency.** DuckDuckGo's removal page says the request for a traditional result goes to Bing first. For suppression, that is why a Bing-led plan carries over. A DuckDuckGo check can still differ on some queries, because instant answers draw on other sources, which the sources page names as Sportradar and Wikipedia.
**No personal history.** DuckDuckGo says it has no ability to create a search or browsing history for any individual, and it estimates location from the IP address and then discards the address. That makes it a reasonable cross-check on what a stranger sees, subject to location.
**The block list is not a suppression tool.** A user can block up to five domains from their own results. It changes nothing for anyone else.
## Brave: an independent index that needs its own test
Brave says it serves results from its own index, which means a result you moved on Bing may not have moved on Brave, and Brave's rankings should be treated as separate evidence.
[Brave's June 2022 post](https://brave.com/blog/search-anniversary/) said 92% of results for all users came directly from its own index, up from 87% at launch. It said that when the index is incomplete, especially for long-tail queries, it uses fallback mixing, which anonymously checks Google. These are Brave's own claims, dated to that post.
Three features make Brave different for reputation work.
- **Own discovery.** Brave's Web Discovery Project, in which users anonymously contribute browsing data, is meant to improve the index, and Brave's May 2023 API launch post says it adds millions of new webpages every day. A page can reach Brave by a path unrelated to how Bing found it.
- **Long-tail fallback.** A rare name is a long-tail query, and for those Brave describes a fallback that checks another engine, so a rare-name result may not be fully independent.
- **Goggles.** Brave's Goggles page describes them as a custom re-ranking on top of the Brave search index, open to anyone to create or use. A user who applies one sees a different order, so a Brave position is not a single universal fact.
Brave's help page describes its results as having no editorializing to bias or censor them, and points to community Goggles for alternative rankings. The Brave pages we read publish no list of ranking factors, so we state none. The test is empirical: search the name and variants, record the first page, and repeat after the assets have been live for several weeks.
## A worked scenario across four engines
The scenario below is invented, with generic parties. Nothing in it is a promise of an outcome.
**Assumptions.** A consultant has an uncommon name and no website. Page one on Bing shows a regional news article about a resolved licensing dispute, a complaint-site listing and an old directory entry with a wrong job title. The article is accurate, so it is not a removal case. The directory entry is wrong, so its owner can be asked to correct it.
**Reading.** On Bing, the article is likely to hold its position on reputation, so the targets are the weaker results. Yahoo looks nearly the same and DuckDuckGo similar. Brave shows a different page-one mix, which is why it gets its own record.
**Plan.** Correct the directory entry at its source. Publish one canonical page on a domain the consultant controls and add two maintained profiles. Register the site with Bing Webmaster Tools, use IndexNow when the page changes, and re-check weekly on all four engines.
The sequence below shows a typical pace. These are our working ranges from experience, not Bing's, and they are not promises: they vary with the name, the competing results and the quality of the assets.
A usual 12-week sequence for the scenario
Weeks 1 and 2: audit and correctionsRecord the first two pages on all four engines under stated settings, request the directory correction, and plan the assets.
Weeks 3 and 4: buildPublish the canonical page and the maintained profiles, register the site with Bing Webmaster Tools, and submit the new URLs with IndexNow.
Weeks 5 to 8: first movementNew assets usually start to appear for the name on Bing first. Check Yahoo and DuckDuckGo a few days later, and Brave separately.
Weeks 9 to 12: reinforce and readUpdate the pages with fresh facts, add one genuine third-party mention if it exists, and compare the four engines against the starting record.
If the negative result still holds the top spot at week twelve, the honest conclusion is that the plan needs more time or a stronger asset, not a shortcut.
## When removal, not suppression, is the right route on these engines
Suppression is for results that are accurate and cannot be removed. If a result falls within a removal ground, the engine's removal channel is usually the better route, and each engine handles it differently.
Bing's support page says it limits removals to narrow circumstances, among them legal requirements such as copyright notices, nonconsensual intimate imagery including deepfakes, sensitive personal information such as maliciously posted login credentials or card numbers after verification, and spam. Removing a link from displayed results does not take the material off the web. Bing's report-a-concern page adds that reporting a concern will not necessarily result in removal, and advises contacting the website's webmaster.
DuckDuckGo's page on removing results says the request for a traditional result goes to Bing first, and that the change appears in DuckDuckGo results once Bing verifies it. It tells people who have filed with Bing and still see the link to contact DuckDuckGo's privacy team, because the result may come from another source.
Brave has its own channel. Its page on right-to-be-forgotten requests says it is open to individuals whose personal data appears in a result, cites GDPR Article 17 and the right to object under Article 21.1, and describes an emailed request that lists each URL. It says it can take up to 30 days for a request to complete.
Our approach to combining the two in one file is set out on the [suppression service page](/suppress-negative-results).
## Mistakes that cost time on Bing and its partner engines
Most failures on these engines come from four habits.
- **Assuming one engine speaks for the rest.** Google's ranking systems guide names many systems, including link analysis and PageRank, while Bing's page names six parameters. Neither gives weights, so a tactic validated on one engine is a hypothesis on the others.
- **Thin or anonymous assets.** A page with no clear purpose or owner is the opposite of what Bing's quality and credibility description rewards.
- **Fake reviews, fake profiles and paid manipulation.** They break platform rules, risk the interventions Bing describes for manipulation, and create a second story if discovered.
- **Reporting from one view.** Bing uses personal information to adjust results, so a single screenshot proves nothing about what clients, journalists or investors see.
Publishing a rebuttal that repeats the allegation can also raise its visibility. Address the facts on your own page, calmly, once.
## The next step: test your name on four engines
Run the starting search before you change anything, because the plan you need depends on which engine shows the problem.
If this is happening to you now
Search your name on Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo and Brave, save the first two pages of each with the location and settings you used, and note which results are accurate and which are not. Reputation Partners can run that comparison for you in a private audit, in confidence, before you decide on a route. Start with the private audit.
If you prefer to begin by yourself, the free [page one score](/page-one-score) gives a first reading. Keep the dated records either way.
## Questions people ask
### Does Bing rank differently from Google?
Both publish their approach only in outline. Bing's support page lists six parameters in general order of importance, and Google's guide names many systems, including link analysis and PageRank. Neither gives weights, and the lists are not built the same way. Treat any tactic proven on one as a hypothesis on the other, and test it.
### Can I pay Bing or Yahoo to move a negative result down?
No. Bing's support page says it does not allow websites to improve their organic positions through payment, and Yahoo's help page says sites cannot improve their algorithmic ranking by paying Yahoo or Microsoft/Bing. Paid ads are labeled as such. An offer to move an organic result for a fee is not a mechanism either company describes.
### Will suppression on Bing also work on Yahoo and DuckDuckGo?
Usually in large part, because Yahoo says Bing's algorithm generates its results and DuckDuckGo says it largely sources traditional links from Bing. DuckDuckGo also uses its own crawler and indexes, and the Yahoo page we read was a UK page. Check each engine on the same day, under stated settings, before reporting a result as moved.
### Do Bing's AI answers use the same pages?
Bing's support page says its generative AI features cite the source websites they draw on. It does not say how those sources are chosen, so we make no claim about that. In practice, a clear, accurate, plainly owned page about you serves both the blue links and anything an answer cites. Check the answers separately from the links.
### Does DuckDuckGo show different results to different people?
DuckDuckGo says it cannot create a search or browsing history for any individual, and it estimates location from the IP address and then discards it. Results can still differ by location and by which sources feed a feature. A DuckDuckGo check is a reasonable cross-check, but it is not identical for every reader.
### How long until a new page shows up on Bing?
No engine we read gives a time. IndexNow lets a site notify participating engines of changed URLs, and Bing's setup page says it does not promise crawling or indexing. In our experience, a strong new asset usually appears in weeks, and a competing established article can hold position far longer.