Your Website's Numbers Are Changing. Don't Panic.
Google recently disabled the URL parameter &num=100,
If your impressions have fallen significantly from this quarter to just 3 months ago, or your position rankings have changed drastically - then you have noticed an algorithm update from Google themselves.
And yeah, it's probably freaking you out a little bit. I get it.
What's Actually Going On
So here's what really happened: Google recently disabled the URL parameter &num=100, which was used to force search results to display 100 listings per page. This was a server-side change by Google, meaning it cannot be manually disabled by individual users or developers.
I know that sounds super technical, but basically Google made a behind-the-scenes change that's affecting how SEO tools collect data. They likely did this to combat excessive bot traffic and data scraping.
What this means for you is that the data you're seeing in your analytics might look weird or inconsistent compared to what you were seeing before. It's not that your site is suddenly performing poorly - it's that the way we're able to measure performance has shifted.
What You Can Expect for Now:
Impressions: A likely decrease in impressions as Google re-evaluates rankings.
Positions: Volatile changes in your average position data.
Reporting: A temporary disruption in our ability to provide a clean historical comparison between this quarter's data and the previous quarter's.
Tools: Potential price increases from third-party SEO tools like SEMrush as they update their services to keep up with the changes.
Here's What I'm Doing About It
I'm not hitting any panic buttons. Instead, I'm doing what I always do during these periods—watching, learning, and staying patient.
I'm checking in with other SEO professionals, reading industry updates about this specific change, and keeping a close eye on patterns across all the sites I manage. The key is understanding that this is a data collection issue, not necessarily a performance issue.
The truth is, if we've been building your site the right way—focusing on genuinely helpful content and good user experience—then your actual performance is likely still solid. It's just harder to measure in the same way we used to.
What You Should Do
Honestly? Nothing dramatic. Keep doing what you're doing. Keep creating valuable content for your audience. Keep your site running smoothly.
I'll be monitoring everything closely and will reach out once I have a clearer picture of how this change affects our ability to track your site's performance. Until then, try not to refresh your analytics every five minutes (I know, easier said than done).
This stuff always feels scary in the moment, but technical changes like this are part of the SEO landscape. We'll adapt our tracking methods and keep moving forward.
Talk soon,
