How can a dataset landing page be removed from Dataset Search?

Definition: Google documents removal of a dataset landing page from Dataset Search by adding a robots noindex directive to the page. Google must crawl the page and see the directive before the change is reflected, and Google says the delay can be days or weeks depending on the crawl schedule.

Key facts

• Google's Dataset structured data documentation directs site owners to use the robots meta tag when a dataset should no longer appear in Dataset Search.
• Google's noindex documentation says that Google drops a page from Google Search after Googlebot crawls it and extracts the noindex tag or header.
• The page carrying the directive must remain accessible to Googlebot. A robots.txt block prevents the crawler from seeing noindex.
• Google documents two equivalent implementations: a robots meta tag for HTML and an X-Robots-Tag HTTP response header for resources such as PDFs, video files, and images.
• A URL Inspection request can prompt a recrawl of a page, subject to Search Console access and Google's crawl timing.

What procedure does Google document?

Google's Dataset page has a section titled “Deleting a dataset from Dataset Search results”. It says to use the robots meta tag to control how the dataset is indexed. For an HTML landing page, the directive belongs in the page's <head> section:

<meta name="robots" content="noindex">

The general noindex documentation describes this rule as a way to prevent indexing by search engines that support it, including Google. Once Googlebot crawls the page and extracts the directive, Google says it drops the page entirely from Google Search results. The Dataset page applies the same indexing control to the Dataset Search removal procedure.

The noindex directive is different from removing the dataset's structured data. Google's documented removal section points to an indexing directive, so deleting Dataset markup alone is not the procedure described for this purpose.

Which directive can a site use?

Google documents a meta tag and an HTTP response header as two ways to implement noindex. The meta tag is appropriate for the HTML landing page. For a non-HTML dataset resource, the documented response header is:

X-Robots-Tag: noindex

Google's noindex page gives PDFs, video files, and image files as examples of resources for which a response header can be used. It also states that putting noindex in robots.txt is not supported by Google.

What should be checked before waiting?

The URL must be crawlable while the change is pending. Google says that a page blocked by robots.txt cannot expose its noindex rule to the crawler, so the directive is ignored until Google can fetch the page. The URL Inspection tool can show the HTML Googlebot received and help test whether the directive is visible.

Google's recrawl documentation allows a site owner to request a crawl for an individual URL through URL Inspection. The requester must be an owner or full user of the Search Console property, and repeated requests for the same URL do not make it crawl faster. Google's Dataset documentation gives the Dataset Search-specific timing as days or weeks depending on the crawl schedule.

Related terms

• Dataset structured data
• noindex
• Structured data
• Can a canonical link replace noindex?

FAQ

Does removing Dataset markup remove a dataset from Dataset Search?

Google's Dataset structured data documentation documents the robots meta tag as the procedure for a dataset that should no longer appear in Dataset Search. It does not describe removal of the markup alone as that procedure.

Can robots.txt carry the noindex rule?

No. Google's noindex documentation says that noindex in robots.txt is not supported, and a robots.txt block prevents Googlebot from seeing a meta tag or response header.

How long can the change take?

Google says in its Dataset documentation that the change can take days or weeks depending on the crawl schedule. Its recrawl documentation says crawling can take from a few days to a few weeks.

Sources

1. Google Search Central, "Dataset Structured Data", 8 September 2026
2. Google Search Central, "Block Search Indexing with noindex", 10 December 2025
3. Google Search Central, "Ask Google to Recrawl Your Website", 10 December 2025

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