Google removes &num=100 parameter: what does this mean for SEO and rank tracking?

As an SEO specialist, you're probably familiar with the &num=100 parameter in Google search results. For years, this has been a handy trick to get not ten, but a hundred results at the same time. This was ideal for rank trackers and SERP analyses: collecting data faster, fewer requests and clearer reports.

But since September 10, 2025, that option has suddenly disappeared. Not a bug, but a conscious choice by Google. Where you used to get a list of 100 results at once with a simple addition to the URL, you now have to go back to ten per page. And that not only makes SEOs nervous, but also the tools that relied on them.

What does Google say?

Officially, Google sticks to a short statement: “The use of this URL parameter is not something that we formally support.”

That sounds like the parameter was never actually “legitimate”. Nevertheless, he did work for years, even after Google removed the option from the interface in 2018. For many SEOs, it therefore feels like Google has suddenly closed a secret door that we all secretly walked through.

Why the change? Google remains silent about that. But there are different theories in the community:

• Preventing unauthorized scraping (under the terms, you can't just scrape Google results for years).
• Limiting AI tools that massively collect search results to train models.
• Improving Search Console data, which may have been blown up by bot traffic.

The immediate consequences: data chaos

Within days of the change, the posts shot through the SEO community. Tools went haywire, charts went in all directions, and many marketers saw sudden declines in their Search Console data.

What stood out?

• Rank tracking tools were forced to switch. Where 1 request used to get 100 results, 10 requests are now needed. This makes monitoring slower and more expensive.
• Search Console showed a significant decline in desktop impressions from September 10. At the same time, the average position of many sites went up. A strong indication that the previous impressions were partly caused by bots.
• SEO reports suddenly felt less stable. Afterwards, some of the spikes in the data may not have turned out to be “real users” at all, but scrapers.

In other words: Google has not only turned off a parameter, but also slightly revised our view of reality.

What does this mean for your SEO strategy?

For website owners and marketers, this news can be frustrating. But there are also positive aspects to it:

• More reliable data: Chances are that your Search Console is now closer to real user data.
• Better focus: less focus on artificial impressions, more attention to clicks, engagement and conversions.
• Tools in transition: rank trackers are working on solutions, often with alternative methods. In the coming weeks, they will roll out updates.

It is important not to compare reports one-on-one with the months before September 2025. Set a new baseline and also communicate this with customers or colleagues.

SEO community in discussion

In the SEO world, this leads to strong conversations. Some see the change as a logical step by Google to combat scraping and AI abuse. Others are critical: these kinds of changes reduce transparency and make reliable measurements more difficult.

A common theory is that this also influences the discussion about the “Great Decoupling”, the phenomenon where impressions kept rising while clicks were left behind. Perhaps those impressions were partly blown up by bots loading a hundred results at a time. If so, we're only now looking at the real numbers.

Conclusion

The removal of the &num=100 parameter seems like a minor technical change, but has major consequences for SEO tools and data reports. For rank trackers, it means more complexity and costs, and for marketers, a significant shift in Search Console data.

Still, the key message is clear: Google wants reliable data and less scraping. Basically, for us as SEOs, nothing changes: the focus should be on valuable, helpful and reliable content that helps real users move forward. Rankings and data remain important, but interpretation is now even more crucial.