In September 2025, the SEO community was shaken when thousands of website owners saw a sudden drop in Google Search Console (GSC) impressions. Some experienced 20%, 40%, or even 60% declines almost overnight.
Was it a Google algorithm update? A sitewide penalty? A technical SEO issue?
Surprisingly, the real answer was simpler and far more revealing.
Google quietly changed how search results are displayed and how impressions are counted, which dramatically reshaped GSC reporting. While it looked alarming, this drop did not necessarily mean a loss in visibility or rankings.
In this article, we’ll break down:
- What exactly happened in September 2025
- The real reason impressions dropped
- How this impacts your SEO reporting
- Practical steps to adapt your strategy
🧭 The Sudden “Impression Cliff”
Between September 10 and 15, SEO forums, LinkedIn groups, and Slack communities lit up with discussions.
Website owners were comparing GSC graphs and noticing a similar pattern:
- 📉 Impressions dropped sharply
- 📈 CTR (Click-Through Rate) improved
- 📊 Average position seemed better
- 🚦 Clicks and traffic remained mostly stable
The hardest hit were long-tail keywords and pages ranking beyond page 1. This pattern was the key to understanding what really changed.
🕵️♂️ The Real Reason: Google Disabled the &num=100 Parameter
For years, SEOs and rank-tracking tools used the &num=100 URL parameter to force Google to show up to 100 results per page instead of the default 10.
This allowed Google Search Console to record impressions for results ranking 11–100, even though very few users ever scrolled that far.
In September 2025, Google quietly disabled this parameter.
- All users (including bots and tools) were limited to 10 results per page or mobile infinite scroll.
- Rankings beyond page 1 no longer count toward GSC impressions.
- CTR appeared to improve because impressions are now only counted where users actually see results.
👉 Your rankings didn’t necessarily change Google just stopped counting “ghost impressions.”
📊 Why CTR & Average Position Look Better Now
- CTR rises because the denominator (total impressions) is now smaller limited to page-1 visibility.
- Average position appears to improve because the dataset only includes top results.
If your clicks and organic sessions remain stable, there’s no real visibility loss.
If clicks dropped along with impressions, you might have been affected by a separate quality or spam update too.
⚡ Other Factors That Added to the Confusion
1. 🧠 Spam & Helpful Content Updates (Late August 2025)
Just weeks before the impressions change, Google rolled out a spam and helpful content update targeting thin, duplicate, or AI-generated low-value content.
If your decline started before September 10 or was accompanied by lower clicks, this update could also be a factor.
2. 🧪 New SERP Layouts and AI Features
Google has been testing AI Overviews, larger People Also Ask boxes, and expanded shopping widgets. These features push traditional organic links further down, sometimes reducing impressions for some queries.
3. 📱 Infinite Scroll on Mobile
Mobile search replaced paginated results with infinite scroll. As Google refines impression logging for infinite feeds, fluctuations in reporting are expected.
📝 Common SEO Patterns Observed
- Desktop impressions dropped more than mobile (mobile already had infinite scroll).
- Long-tail pages suffered the biggest impression losses.
- CTR “improved” and average position rose due to the reporting change, not actual performance gains.
🧭 How to Adapt Your SEO Strategy
1. Recalibrate Your Baselines
Treat September 2025 as a reporting reset point. Don’t compare pre- and post-September impressions directly. Add a clear note when reporting performance trends to clients or stakeholders.
2. Focus on Traffic and Conversions
Impressions are a vanity metric. What matters is organic traffic, engagement, and conversions.
If your sessions and revenue are stable, your SEO performance is fine.
3. Push Key Pages Into the Top 10
Because impressions now only count for page-1 rankings, it’s more important than ever to rank in the top 10 ideally the top 5.
- Refresh and optimize existing content
- Strengthen topical authority
- Improve internal linking and on-page signals
4. Audit Content Quality
If both clicks and impressions have dropped, evaluate your content against Google’s E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) framework.
Remove thin content, add original insights, and ensure strong internal linking.
5. Stay Connected with the SEO Community
This reporting change wasn’t clearly announced. Following SEO forums, Google Search Central updates, and reputable newsletters ensures you won’t get blindsided again.
🌱 Turning This Change Into an Opportunity
This drop actually makes your data cleaner and more meaningful. By removing phantom impressions from deep pages, GSC now reflects real user visibility.
With this cleaner data, you can:
✅ Identify which queries truly drive visibility
✅ Allocate resources to high-impact pages
✅ Stop chasing vanity metrics that don’t translate into traffic or revenue
🧭 Future-Proof Your Reporting
Google’s evolving AI-driven search experience means traditional metrics like “average position” and “impressions” will continue to lose significance.
To stay ahead:
- Track organic sessions and branded search growth
- Measure engagement metrics (scroll depth, time on page)
- Correlate traffic with leads or conversions
- Use GSC impressions as directional, not absolute, indicators
🏁 Conclusion
The September 2025 GSC impression drop was not a ranking collapse it was a reporting shift.
If your traffic is stable, don’t panic. Instead, evolve your SEO strategy to focus on page-1 visibility, content quality, and real user engagement.
Google’s metrics are evolving to reflect actual user behavior. By adapting now, you’ll be ahead of the curve while others are still confused by their dashboards.
✅ Key Takeaways
- Google disabled
&num=100 → impressions beyond page 1 disappeared
- CTR and average position look “better” due to smaller datasets
- Impressions ≠ traffic loss (if clicks are stable)
- Focus on ranking in top 10, content quality, and conversions
Final Thoughts
The September 2025 GSC impression drop was a wake-up call, not necessarily a crisis. It forced SEO teams to focus on metrics that actually matter: traffic, user engagement, and conversions. Treat impressions now as a more conservative signal of real visibility (page-one only), and reallocate effort toward moving priority pages into the top 10, improving content quality, and measuring downstream business impact. When you base decisions on user behavior and revenue rather than vanity metrics, you’ll be better positioned for whatever Google changes next.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why did my Google Search Console impressions drop so sharply in September 2025?
Google changed how impressions are counted by disabling the unofficial &num=100 parameter and limiting visible results to the default page-one view (or mobile infinite scroll). As a result, impressions from pages 11–100 stopped being recorded a reporting change rather than (in most cases) a ranking collapse.
2. Does a GSC impressions drop mean my organic traffic dropped too?
Not necessarily. If organic sessions, clicks, and conversions in Google Analytics (or server logs) remain stable, it’s likely only a reporting change. If clicks and sessions also fell, then you may have a separate ranking or quality issue to investigate.
3. Why did my CTR and average position improve after the drop?
Because the denominator (impressions) is now smaller and generally restricted to page-one visibility. When impressions fall while clicks remain steady, CTR increases and average position metrics can look better these are reporting artifacts, not always real performance gains.
4. What is the &num=100 parameter and why was it important?
&num=100 is an undocumented URL parameter that forced Google to show up to 100 results on a single page. Tools and GSC used visibility with that parameter to count impressions for deep-ranking pages. Google disabling it removed those “ghost” impressions from GSC reporting.
5. Which pages/queries were affected most by this change?
Long-tail queries and pages that ranked beyond the first page (positions 11–100) were affected most. Desktop impressions often fell harder than mobile because mobile search had already moved toward infinite scroll in many regions.
6. How should I report performance to clients now?
Treat September 2025 as a reporting break. Don’t directly compare pre- and post-September impression counts. Instead, emphasize organic sessions, conversions, and engagement metrics. Add a clear note in your dashboards explaining the change in GSC counting.
7. What immediate SEO actions should I take?
- Recalibrate reporting baselines.
- Prioritize getting key pages into the top 10 (refresh content, improve on-page SEO, build topical authority).
- Audit content quality using E-E-A-T principles and remove/merge thin pages.
- Monitor organic sessions, click trends, and conversion rates.
8. Could this change mask a real Google quality update?
Yes, Google also ran spam/helpful content updates in late August/early September 2025. If clicks and sessions dropped along with impressions (or you see large ranking changes in rank-tracking tools), investigate content quality, technical SEO, and recent algorithm announcements.
9. Should I change how I use GSC impressions going forward?
Yes. Use impressions as a directional metric to identify page-one visibility only. Rely more on sessions, click data, engagement metrics, and conversion tracking to measure SEO impact.
10. How long will this new counting method affect metrics?
This is a change in Google’s reporting approach, not a temporary anomaly. Treat it as the new baseline for impressions unless Google announces another change. Continue monitoring official Google Search Central communications and the SEO community for future adjustments.
