For years, SEO professionals relied on a useful trick to speed up their research: by adding &num=100 to the end of a Google search URL, you could view up to 100 results on a single page. 

This made competitor research, data extraction, and SERP analysis much more efficient.

But in September 2025, Google pulled the plug.

From Infinite Scroll to Pagination and Back Again

When Google reintroduced pagination in the search results, the &num=100 parameter continued to offer a way of condensing results. 

It was especially useful for rank trackers like SE Ranking, Advanced Web Ranking and scrapers that needed to collect large volumes of SERP data quickly.

However, last week Barry Schwartz reported that Google is testing, or perhaps permanently rolling out, the removal of support for this parameter.

Early Signs and User Frustration

Questions began surfacing in Google’s help forums as far back as March 2025. Users noticed that no matter how they adjusted the &num=100 setting, search results were stubbornly capped at 10 per page.

As one commenter, Alex Vildrine, recently put it:

“I’ve been faithfully using &num=100 on probably 50 of my minimum 100 daily uses of Google search for as long as I can remember, and it just up and stopped working completely about 10–14 days ago.”

This wasn’t just a minor inconvenience for power users. It signaled a deeper change with big implications for SEO tools and reporting.

What This Means for SEO Data

The impact is already being felt across the industry:

Firstly, Google Search Console (GSC) data looks different.

Many SEOs have noticed a strange pattern; impressions dropping while rankings improved.

The reason?

Scrapers and rank trackers that relied on &num=100 were inflating impression counts. With them sidelined, Search Console data is now less noisy and more reflective of real user searches.

Secondly, ranking tools are breaking.

Many rank trackers depended on the parameter to gather bulk SERP data. Without it, some tools have already stopped functioning or are scrambling to adapt.

The Bigger Picture

This change is more than just a technical tweak. 

It shines a light on how much automated tools were influencing the SEO metrics we all report on. 

The sheer volume of scraping activity was significant enough to distort impression data across countless Google Search Console profiles.

Now, with the &num=100 parameter gone, the numbers we see should be more accurate and closer to what actual users experience in Google Search. 

Although scrapers are already adapting to this new world and will likely offer more limited rank tracking data, at a higher cost to users.

For SEOs, this means less reliance on artificial scale, and more emphasis on understanding search as real people see it.

In short, Google’s retirement of the &num=100 parameter has broken old habits, shaken up rank tracking tools, and forced the industry to recalibrate. 

While it may feel like a loss of convenience, the upside is clearer, more reliable data: something every SEO should welcome!