Why is my Twitter profile in Google search?

Your Twitter profile shows up in Google searches because Twitter has a high Google search rank. Keep in mind that the words you write in updates may also be indexed and come up in a search for those terms.

Depending on the degree to which this bothers you, you can do several things:

• change your name as it appears in your Profile Settings
• change your username
• protect your Tweets

Why are my Tweets on Google after deleting or protecting them?

Protected Tweets:

• All public Tweets posted before you select the account setting "protect my Tweets" will still be indexed in a public search engine, including twitter.com/search. Once you have saved your account settings to protect your Tweets, the Tweets you post thereafter will be protected.

Deleted Tweets:

• Even if you delete Tweets, Google and other search engines cache search results, which means that occasionally old information is still searchable. Although Twitter changes your settings immediately and deletes Tweets immediately, these changes don't erase old information in Google's search index.
• Any old links appearing in a Google search will lead to Twitter's truth-telling error page: "That page doesn't exist!" The old links still appear because Google and other search engines may not have the current information updated in their search index.
• Until Google updates the new information and indexes your current status, links to the profile or updates posted prior to removal/protection remain online.

How and when to send Google a request to remove the information:

Google will eventually index updated Twitter information, but if you'd like it done sooner, follow the steps below.

1. Copy the URL you'd like removed from the site (for example: twitter.com/#!/[username here]/status/12345678)
2. Navigate to this page.
3. Paste in the Twitter link that you'd like removed
4. Submit your request.