Running VM 2.0.12b, Joomla 2.5.7, PHP 5.3.3-7
I'm setting up a shop which does not need any 'sort by' or 'search' options in the frontend.
When I deselect all settings on 'Product Order Settings' page the changes will not be saved after pressing the save button, so it is not possible to hide the 'sort by' and 'search' area in the shop by configuration.
I'll just hide those areas using CSS, so it's no big deal for me. Just wanted to mention that issue here.
I would do a template override, and remove this component from your pages, google will then not see this text at the top of your pages
Issue still remains, seems these fields can not all be deselected. The mouse-over help says that is the way to get rid of the "Order by" thing
Remove the orderby from the template view!