is removing a website from google search results still worth the effort?

Your own site or someone else's? If it's yours, it's quick: add noindex to the pages (or the whole site) and use the Removals tool in Search Console to hide them while Google catches up. The removal on its own is temporary, roughly six months, so the noindex is what makes it stick. Someone else's site you can't get removed unless it breaks the law or Google's policies - exposed personal info, copyright, that sort of thing.