If you work with search engines, you’re used to changes in algorithms that can impact your website’s visibility. From tightening intent signals to loosening the strict reliance on keywords and exact-match results, the goal of these updates is to improve the searcher’s experience.
While changes in algorithms are expected, changes that impact 3rd party tools are less common and may take us by surprise. In mid-September 2025, Google did just this. The update changed a parameter that impacts third-party tools’ visibility into the first 100 results for a given search query.
What Happened
The Google September 2025 search update took the industry by surprise, with seasoned marketers noticing keyword ranks had disappeared entirely. In short, Google made changes to the &num=100 URL parameter, which it used to return up to 100 organic search results on a single page rather than their default 10 results per page. While users did not notice a difference in their front-end search environment, this update significantly impacted third-party tracking tools that relied on this parameter for visibility into a given site’s ranking between 11-100.
What Has Changed?
In mid-September, marketers began noticing something was up. Previous reports showing the site’s rank between 11-100 were either missing altogether or significantly different. Google began capping the &num=100 URL parameter or ignoring it altogether, showing only 10 results per request or failing in general. Google has confirmed that supporting the parameter is no longer officially supported and, therefore, no longer reliable.
Why Did Google Implement These Changes?
While nothing is officially confirmed, there is speculation as to why the search giant made these changes that have such an impact on how SEO experts gather insights and how these 3rd party tools make revenue.
- Reason 1: Cost-Saving Measures – Returning 100 results on a given query is not free, as there are demands on servers and caching. With search behavior shifting towards AI generative search, Google’s goal likely is to cut costs in this area to allocate to pivoted priorities in the evolution of search.
- Reason 2: Performance Considerations – as mentioned above, returning 100 results for a query is expensive, but in addition to costing monetary resources, it also puts a heavy demand on server resources. By adjusting the parameter to return results 1-10, this lessens the strain on server resources.
- Reason 3: Search Behavior Changes – As AI grows to be a more popular avenue for search, particularly with informational queries and research, other search providers like Google need to pivot their strategy. While Google has invested in AI, this change to the parameter suggests there is more of a product shift on the horizon.
- Reason 4: Corrective Measures – Another theory floating around SEO circles is that some of Google Search Console’s metrics may have been inflated by automated tools sending requests deep into SERPs. When you place restrictions on the number of requests per search, Google can actually self-correct and cut down on the inflated numbers.
How Will It Impact You, and What Will You Notice in Your Reports?
- Missing Keywords from Rank Tracker – Keywords you used to show up for in positions from 11-100 may be missing, or showing a ‘not found’ message. You may also notice that your ranking fluctuations are more dramatic.
- Next Steps: Look for consistent trends over time rather than monitoring day-to-day changes. “Not Found” Messages should be treated as data gaps rather than interpreted as performance drops
- Drop in Impressions, Improvement of Average Positions – You may notice a drop in impressions, but your average positions are improving. This is because fewer low-ranking impressions are being counted.
- Next Steps: Pivot your analysis on clicks and click-through-rate, as these metrics are a more accurate reflection of overall user engagement
- Inconsistent Reporting – You may also notice dramatic swings in your ranks, visually represented by sharp spikes or dips, or gaps in keyword coverage for specific days. This may also cause an inconsistent rank history compared to previous months.
- Next Steps: Shift your reporting list from daily to weekly or monthly analysis. Daily fluctuations are too volatile to be taken seriously.
What This Update Does Not Mean
This is not a ranking algorithm update; your site has not lost search visibility, you’ve lost visibility into how your site ranks, and your reporting lens has shifted. The 11-100 results still exist; they are just not able to pull the requests.
How We See 3rd Party Tools Adapting and Evolving
Just as quickly as Google changes the game, SEOs and 3rd party tools are ready to adjust. Here is just a few ways we are seeing these giants respond to these changes:
- Paginated Fetching – By breaking queries into multiple smaller requests, platforms can retrieve results beyond the first page, allowing them to reconstruct deeper data from SERPs. While this is a workaround, it is a much slower process and more resource-intensive
- Smart Sampling and Aggregation – rather than report on every keyword daily, some 3rd party tools are using sampling to emphasize visibility metrics, rather than raw rank numbers.
- Depth Reduction – Some 3rd party providers are capping their tracking capabilities at 20 or 50, or shifting to a weekly rank update rather than a daily update to maintain as accurate a report as possible.
In Conclusion
This change is the result of the modernization of data collection and reflects just how interconnected and fragile our SEO ecosystem is. One change to data collection can have a significant impact on how we look at data and measure success. As SEOs, it is our job to adapt, adjust, and evolve.
