Google’s Top 100 Results Are Gone: What It Means for Your Website

Google has quietly retired a small but significant feature: the num=100 search parameter. For years, digital marketers and SEO platforms relied on this setting to quickly pull the top 100 organic results for any query. Now it’s gone, and the effects are rippling through the industry.

What looked like stable, trustworthy data is suddenly being revealed as less reliable than many thought. Google Search Console numbers, impression counts, and keyword visibility are shifting, and it’s raising questions about how useful deep ranking data (positions 21–100) ever really was.

Let’s unpack what’s happening and what it means for your SEO strategy moving forward.

What was the “num=100” Parameter?

In the past, Google search results typically defaulted to 10 listings per page. By adding num=100 to the search URL, users and tracking tools could pull the top 100 results in one go.

For keyword trackers and search result page scrapers, this was gold. It allowed them to capture ranking positions efficiently without having to load multiple pages. With this shortcut disabled, anyone wanting to see the top 100 organic search results now has to crawl page after page, which makes the process slower, heavier, and far more expensive.

Why Google Shut It Down

Google’s decision isn’t random. Scraping search results has always been a thorn in its side. Not only does it strain Google’s infrastructure, but it also skews data within Google Search Console.

By removing the option to view the top 100 organic results, Google is tightening the leash on how external tools can harvest rankings. And it’s not just a technical change. Google has even advertised roles for engineers dedicated to analysing search result scraping patterns and developing models to combat them. The message is clear: Google wants tighter control over how its search results are accessed.

The Impact on Search Console Data

After the search giant’s move, impression counts in Google Search Console started dropping noticeably. Impressions measure how often a webpage appears in search results. When the num=100 parameter was live, scraped data gave the illusion of broader visibility, especially for keywords ranking beyond page two. Once it was disabled, that inflated visibility disappeared.

One analysis of hundreds of websites showed:

• 87.7% of sites experienced fewer impressions.
• 77.6% saw a drop in unique queries reported.
• Short-tail and mid-tail keywords showed the biggest declines.

In other words, much of the visibility that many marketers thought they had was never truly there. The data was being artificially padded out by how the results were collected.

Do Rankings Beyond Page Two Really Matter?

This change forces a bigger question: how much should we care about positions 21–100? The honest answer is: not much.

Top 10

This is where the action is. The majority of clicks happen here.

Positions 11–20

This zone is still useful. It signals “near-miss” opportunities, where a page is relevant but not yet strong enough to compete with page-one results.

Positions 21+

Beyond page two, visibility is almost meaningless. Whether you’re in position 25 or 95, the traffic difference is negligible. For most queries, users rarely scroll that far.

This isn’t to say that search rankings below the top 20 have zero value. They confirm that a page is indexed and somewhat relevant. However, they don’t deliver actionable insight. If you’re languishing in those positions, the problem is usually fundamental. The page needs a major boost in quality, authority, or relevance.

Why This Could Be a Positive Shift

For years, SEOs and website owners alike have obsessed over “tracking everything”, including keywords buried deep on page three or four. The num=100 change could be a blessing in disguise.

Here’s why:

1. Cleaner data – without padded impression numbers, Search Console data is now more reflective of reality.
2. Sharper focus – by ignoring the noise of low-value rankings, marketers can concentrate on what actually drives traffic: positions 1–20.
3. Strategic prioritisation – it’s easier to spot which keywords are close to breaking into page one and worth optimising for.

At Springhill Marketing, we believe this shift encourages a healthier mindset in SEO: quality over quantity.

Preparing for the Future of Rank Tracking

If you rely heavily on third-party rank trackers, expect more turbulence. With num=100 gone, tools now need to pull results one page at a time, increasing their workload tenfold. That means higher costs, more restrictions, and potentially less comprehensive data for users.

Marketers and site owners may have to adapt in a few key ways:

• Focus on the top 20 results – track where the traffic is, not the ghost-town rankings.
• Leverage Search Console smarter – accept that its data is closer to the truth now, even if the numbers look “smaller.”
• Invest in user signals – rankings matter, but click-through rates, engagement, and conversions tell the real story.

What this Means for Your SEO Strategy

For UK businesses competing online, this development is a reminder that search is evolving. Chasing vanity metrics such as “we rank on page four for X keyword” is no longer useful. The game is won (or lost) in the top 20 positions.

This means your focus now should be on:

• Content that meets user intent better than competitors.
• Improving site experience to align with what Google rewards.
• Monitoring real performance metrics: impressions, clicks, and conversions.

If your keywords are stuck beyond page two, it’s not a sign you should obsess over tracking them harder. It’s a sign your strategy needs rethinking.

That’s where Springhill Marketing can help. We specialise in cutting through the noise, identifying the keywords and opportunities that truly matter, and building strategies that push your business into the positions that drive real traffic and enquiries. Instead of worrying about disappearing data, we’ll help you focus on the metrics that move the needle: rankings, visibility, and conversions that lead to new customers.

It’s Time to Rethink Your SEO Gameplan

Marketers using the ability to easily view the top 100 organic results on Google marks a turning point. What was once a convenient shortcut for SEO tools has been revealed as a source of distorted visibility data. Yes, it creates challenges for rank tracking, but it also clears the way for a more meaningful approach to SEO. By concentrating on the results that matter (the top 10 for traffic and the top 20 for opportunity), businesses can cut through the noise and build strategies grounded in reality.

For digital marketers and business owners, this isn’t the end of keyword tracking. It’s a reset. And in the long run, it may be exactly what the industry needs.

At Springhill Marketing, we help UK businesses turn rankings into results. Instead of chasing data that doesn’t drive growth, we’ll create a tailored SEO strategy that puts your website in front of the right people at the right time. Get in touch with our team today to see how we can help your business climb the rankings and win more customers.