If you peeked at your Google Search Console (GSC) any time in the last few weeks, you may have noticed your impressions taking a nosedive while your click-through-rates (CTR) and average position seemed to be climbing.
It’s a strange sight, and you’re not alone: it’s happening to websites everywhere.
But before you assume your SEO strategy has gone completely off the rails, know that there’s a very specific (and perhaps even positive) reason for this shift.
Google has changed the way it reports data, with the changes sending ripple effects through the digital marketing world. According to initial numbers reported by Search Engine Land, as many as 87.7% of sites lost impressions in Google Search Console.
What seems at first glance like a minor tweak is fundamentally altering how data is collected and what it means for you.
So let’s talk about what happened, why your metrics look so different, and what it means for your strategy moving forward.
What Changed in Google Search Console?
The big shift happened on September 10th. On that day, Google made a seemingly small technical change with massive consequences: they effectively retired the &num=100 parameter in their search URLs.
If your line of work exists outside the marketing realm, you might be wondering what that string of code even means. In simple terms, for years, users and, more importantly, automated tools, could add &num=100 to a Google search query URL. This would display 100 search results on a single page instead of the standard 10. It was a handy shortcut for anyone who wanted to see a lot of data at once without clicking through page after page.
Now, Google limits search results to a range of 10 to 50 per page, and the old shortcut no longer works. You’re probably thinking, “Okay, so I have to click a few more times. What’s the big deal?” The real impact isn’t on the average human user, but instead, on how this affects the tools that digital marketers rely on every single day.
Rank tracking tools like Semrush and Ahrefs, along with Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, were built on this functionality. They used the &num=100 parameter to make efficient API calls to gather vast amounts of search engine results page (SERP) data. By fetching 100 results with a single request, they could quickly and cost-effectively map out keyword rankings, analyze competitors, and see who was ranking on page 3, 5, or even 10.
With this parameter gone, these tools now have to make up to 10 separate calls to get the same data they used to get with one. That means more work, more resources, and higher costs. As a result, many of these platforms have had to change how they collect and present data to their users.
The 3 Major Impacts of This Change
This single change has created a domino effect, leading to three significant outcomes that you need to understand.
1. Reduced Visibility Beyond Page One
If you use a rank tracker, you’ve likely noticed that your reports look a lot thinner. Many tools are now only showing keyword ranking data for the first one or two pages of Google’s results. Why? Because they are hesitant to pay for the extra API calls required to fetch data from deeper pages.
Brittney Fred, Senior SEO Manager at Kinetic319, highlights the frustration. "This change is bad for SEO analysts because we have less visibility off of page 1.” She goes on to note that marketers use this data (from pages two and beyond) for so many things, from targeting 'striking distance' keywords to finding the keywords competitors are neglecting.
This makes it much harder to spot opportunities. A keyword ranking at position 25 isn’t getting much traffic, but it’s a prime candidate for a content refresh that could push it to page one. With limited data, these golden opportunities are now much more difficult to find.
2. LLMs Are Now Laser-Focused on Page One
The impact extends beyond traditional SEO tools. When you ask an LLM like ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini a question, it often performs "fan-out queries" to search the web for the most relevant and up-to-date information. Just like the rank trackers, these AI models used to pull from a wide set of results.
Now, they are largely limited to page one data. This means if your website isn't ranking on the first page for a relevant query, your chances of being included as a source in an AI-generated answer have plummeted. Being on page one of Google has always been the goal, but this update makes it more critical than ever: your visibility within these increasingly popular AI tools now depends on it.
3. Cleaner, More Accurate Data in Google Search Console
There is a silver lining here, and it’s a big one. You know those bots we mentioned, the ones used by rank trackers and other tools to scrape search results? They were constantly pinging Google, and every time your site appeared in one of their 100-result searches, it counted as an impression in GSC. This meant your impression numbers were artificially inflated by non-human traffic.
Now, according to Fred, “impressions in Google Search console are down because there are fewer bots inflating the numbers.”
This is important: with the &num=100 parameter gone, bot activity has dropped significantly, and, yes, your impression count in Google Search Console has likely gone down.
But this is actually a good thing! The data you see now is a much more accurate reflection of real humans seeing your website in their search results.
As Fred continues, "Don't panic that your impressions are down. Your data is cleaner, which means your CTR is more accurate, and the average position data in GSC is also more accurate." Because the inflated, low-quality impressions from bots are gone, your CTR and average position metrics now tell a truer story about how actual users are interacting with your site.
What This Means for You
The impact of this update looks quite different across the board, depending on your role.
For SEO analysts and digital marketers, the obvious and immediate challenge is the loss of visibility. The data from pages two and beyond is valuable for comprehensive competitive analysis and identifying long-term opportunities. “Don’t let your rank tracking provider convince you this data is useless,” says Fred, simply because it’s become more expensive for you to acquire.
You have a couple of options. You can push back on your current tool providers and demand they find a way to restore full visibility.
Or you can explore other tools. Some, like SpyFu, have committed to providing the full 100-result dataset despite the changes.
The key is to adapt. If you’re working with limited data, your focus must shift even more intensely to securing and defending page-one rankings.
As a business or website owner, the news is overwhelmingly positive. While seeing a sharp drop in impressions can initially be alarming, rest assured that your core metrics are now more reliable than ever. It may be comforting to think of it as a data cleanup: the noise has been filtered out, leaving you with a clearer signal.
Your CTR is a more genuine measure of how compelling your titles and descriptions are to actual searchers. Your average position is a more stable indicator of your true ranking; you can now make business decisions based on GSC data with greater confidence, knowing it reflects real user behavior and not bot traffic.
How to Stay Informed and Adapt
This is a significant shift in the SEO landscape, and things are still shifting gears daily.
To keep up with the latest developments and discussions, a great starting point is to search online for terms like "num100 change." You’ll find a medley of articles and forum discussions from SEO professionals who are navigating this new reality.
Pay close attention to communications from your rank tracking tool provider. See how they’re responding to the change and what solutions they’re offering. Engage with the SEO community to learn how others are adapting their strategies, and don’t be afraid to ask deeper questions with the SEO experts you work with about what this might mean for you.
Welcoming a New Era of Cleaner Data
The retirement of the &num=100 parameter is a classic example of a small change with a huge impact, as it has created new hurdles for SEO analysts who rely on deep SERP data for their strategic insights. The pressure to rank on page one is now immense, not just for user traffic but for visibility in AI-driven answers.
At the same time, this update has handed website owners a gift: cleaner, more trustworthy data in Google Search Console. You can finally see your performance metrics without the distortion of bot-inflated impressions.
The path forward requires adaptation from everyone.
SEOs need to find new ways to unearth opportunities and advocate for the tools they need. Business owners need to embrace their new, more accurate metrics and use them to make smarter decisions. This change may be disruptive, but it ultimately pushes us all toward a more authentic and user-focused understanding of search performance.
If you’re looking to navigate these changes and build a resilient SEO strategy, the team at Kinetic319 is here to help. We live and breathe this stuff, and we’re ready to turn these industry shifts into your competitive advantage. Get in touch with us today!