How the Google num=100 Removal Affected Impressions and Search Visibility

Google’s decision to disable the &num=100 parameter triggers sharp drops in impressions, rankings, and overall keyword visibility.

Between September 12 and 14, Google made a single technical change that sent shockwaves across the SEO industry. Google quietly disabled the support for the &num=100 parameter from its URLs, restricting the search results per page to the standard 10. Previously, this parameter allowed search results to display up to 100 results per page.

Although it’s a small technical alteration, it has made a disruptive change in how impressions, keyword visibility, and rankings are recorded in Google Search Console (GSC) and across leading rank-tracking platforms. As per some early reports, more than 87.7% lost impressions, and around 76.6% of the websites lost unique keyword visibility.

While the update highly impacted SEO tracking, it has brought some positive clarity, especially for the agencies operating a Pay-For-Performance SEO model, ensuring more accurate visibility metrics and fairer performance-based evaluations.

Why is disabling &num=100 a big deal?

The &num=100 parameter was undocumented by a widely used user modification criterion that allowed Google to display 100 search results on a single page instead of the default 10. For many years, professionals like SEO experts, data analysts, and other third-party tools have relied on this parameter of data collection and analysis.

Why &num=100 mattered?

• Rank tracking: Tools such as Semrush, Ahrefs, AccuRanker, and Moz were able to pull detailed rank data on up to 100 results in a single request.
• Efficiency: Instead of needing to make ten requests (one for each of the ten pages of results), the &num=100 parameter groups all ten pages’ data into one request, saving time and bandwidth.
• Historical benchmarking: It allowed SEOs to follow keyword performance from all positions, and from positions 3 to 100, to give complete search visibility.

Note: Google never authenticated the use of the parameter, but in the Google SEO environment, it was an industry standard. It was quietly built into countless rank-tracking APIs, scrapers, and data pipelines.

If we go by numbers:

Fewer results now appear in the top 3 pages of SERP and beyond, while more surface in the top 3 and on page 1. This means rankings now reflect actual positions without any impact from the &num=100

When and how &num=100 disappeared?

On September 10, 2025, SEO professionals started noting some abnormalities in ranking behavior. It appended that $num=100 no longer returned 100 results. Instead, Google disabled it and set it to only 10 results per page.

It created confusion, and within a span of two days:

• Ranking trackers were completely missing rankings,

• Impressions started to decline suddenly,
• Average positions began to improve (because lower-ranked pages no longer counted)

At first, everyone thought it was a bug. But later, it was confirmed that “Google has disabled or removed the &num=100 parameter”.

This change is having a huge impact on the data collection landscape, majorly impacting rank trackers, search console metrics, and SEO professionals who mainly rely on historical visibility trends.

Technical and Business Implications After The Removal of &num=100

The removal of &num=100 can be called a type of reset of how SEO data is gathered, analyzed, and reported. This change can completely change the SEO data scenario as:

Data collection costs will increase:

For retrieving 100 results, you will now need 10 separate requests. It means higher API costs, maximum server bandwidth, and slow data processing.

Shrinkage of Rank Tracking

SEO tools now have to reduce their visibility range. Many tools will now track only the top 20 or top 30 results instead of 100. It also uses restrictions on how SEOs analyze competitors or measure content depth across the SERP.

Improvement In Data Accuracy

As visibility metrics begin to shrink, it means the data accuracy will likely improve. Google Search Console will now prioritize actual user visibility and not just the inflated scraping impressions.

AI Data Harvesting Controls

Google’s decision is also part of a larger strategy to constrain automated data harvesting for AI. By turning off &num=100, Google limits mass scraping of SERPs by AI platforms that were collecting data to train their AI.

How will this change impact Google Search Console Metrics?

The removal of &num=100 brings various changes in Google Search Console metrics, such as:

• Impressions: Around 70-90% of the websites saw a decline, which clearly reflects the removal of automated impressions.
• Average Position: It began to improve as automated or lower-ranking pages disappeared from tracking.
• Clicks: No direct impacts on the clicks, as this change did not impact user search behavior.
• Click Through Rate: CTR is likely to remain higher because clicks are still stable, only the impressions are being affected.
• Pages and Queries: Both metrics see a decline, especially for the websites that previously ranked beyond position 30.

How To Adapt And Execute A Strong Seo  Strategy Post The Removal Of &Num=100?

Google keeps on changing its algorithms, policies, and metrics. The best way to survive under new constraints, especially professionals doing Pay For Performance SEO, is to prioritize precise metrics and performance-driven strategies.

1. Reframe and Re-establish Baselines

• Establish new metric standards from September 2025. Consider only post changes that dont reflect any historical value.
• In reports, clearly mention “pre-num=100” vs “post-num=100” and explain the technical shift.
• Talk to stakeholders and reassure them of drops in raw metrics, not overall performance collapse.

2. Prioritize Metrics That Reflect User Impact

Rather than focusing solely on impressions or ranked keyword counts, look to:

• Clicks (Google Search Console + Analytics) are actual user engagement.
• Conversion metrics: leads, sales, signups, metrics that connect directly to business goals.
• CTR (click-through rate): As impressions decline, CTR may improve, which verifies relevance.
• Behavioral metrics:  bounce rate, time on page, scroll depth, etc, to validate content effectiveness

3. Start Optimizing for Top 10 Visibility

• The first page is now considered a “reportable zone”. Invest more in gaining a spot on the top #1 page of SERP.
• Improve on-page, make a strong topical depth, and focus on improving Core Web Vitals to push for top 20 results.

4. Audit and Update Your Systems Accordingly

• Make sure the ranking systems dont no longer rely on &num=100. Rather, you can use paginated queries (start=0, 10, 20, etc.).
• Adjust dashboards to reflect smaller keyword pools and avoid misleading comparisons.

5. Focus on Meaningful Keywords

Rather than targeting low-impact keyword sets, prioritize top-page keywords reflected mainly in Page #1 of the SERP.  Instead of ranking for 2000 keywords, focus on just 50 high-intent and conversion-oriented terms. The pay-for-performance SEO model rewards rankings that matter, so emphasizing quality rather than volume is driving a more measurable impact.

6. Broaden Keyword Intelligence

As deep-ranking tracking isn’t as easy, broaden keyword research through different tools:

• Combine Search Console data, Google Ads, and third-party APIs.
• Always prioritize intent-driven keywords that have an impact on businesses.

7. Build Strong Content Authority

Over the past year, Google has made many changes to how the content is seen and ranked. The main reason is that it now only rewards high-quality and authoritative content. So, focus more on:

• Original research backed by true stats, facts, and expert opinions.
• In-depth topical coverage.
• Prioritize E-E-A-T experiences (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness)
• Apply proper structured data and schema integration.

Why Google Likely Removed &num=100 Parameter?

Note that Google did not release any official statement regarding this, but there could be three major reasons behind removing the &num=100 parameter.

1. To Prevent Large-Scale Data Scraping

The biggest challenge with the &num=100 parameter was that it enabled bots to crawl instantly and identify thousands of search results. Removing it prevents data scraping and protects the integrity of SERP.

2. Enhancing Report Accuracy

Eliminating inflated impressions means Search Console only prioritizes real-user activity, improving data reliability.

3. Restricting AI Training Data Collection

As AI search becomes a new normal, Google is trying to prevent bulk data access that is likely to be used for competitive training or result simulation.

With this change, Google is clearly focusing more on SERP data protection with various AI restrictions and safe browsing.

Conclusion

The removal of &num=100 is clearly one of the biggest technical changes Google has made in the last few years. From dropping search results from 100 to 10, Google is trying to provide “real” and more accurate rankings for users and SEO tracking. Although it is true that overnight, the way we collect, interpret, and report visibility data has shifted. But, you need to remember that:

With the removal of &num=100, only the rankings and keyword counts are dropped, not the actual rankings or traffic. This change is just an adjustment to how performance tracking actually looks.

Want to achieve measurable success in this changing Google landscape? Choose ResultFirst, your expert Pay for Performance agency that guarantees to align your SEO strategies with Google’s latest updates and best practices. With years of experience in providing professional SEO services, we focus on transparency, accuracy, and performance-driven SEO strategies to maximize your visibility across all search platforms.