Google announced today that they have removed a cumbersome and redundant requirement for removing URLs from its index via Google Webmaster Tools.

The search engine will no longer require webmasters to block access to the URL they want to remove first prior to submitting the URL removal request. And the webmasters cheered!

Since webmasters already validated and verified the site, Google felt it redundant to require webmasters/site owners to block the URL to prove once again they are the site owner. According to the post, "You’ve already verified ownership of the site, we can eliminate this requirement to make it easier for you, as the site owner, to remove unwanted pages (e.g. pages accidentally made public) from Google’s search results."

Keep in mind that URL removals are only temporary and last 90-days. To remove URLs and pages permanently from Google, webmasters will need to permanently remove them by 404ing the page or blocking them via robots.txt file or a noindex meta tag.