Google’s &num=100 Deprecation: SEO Impact & Workarounds
The recent deprecation of Google’s `&num=100` search parameter, though seemingly minor, has profoundly impacted the SEO industry. This parameter allowed users to force Google to display 100 search results per page, a significant departure from the default 10. For SEO professionals and tools, this functionality was invaluable, fundamentally streamlining various critical tasks.
Its primary benefit lay in vastly improving the efficiency of large-scale data extraction. SEO agencies and tools could quickly gather extensive SERP data for competitive analysis, keyword rank tracking, and site audits. This allowed them to monitor thousands of keywords, identify rich snippet opportunities, and assess competitor visibility across a wider range of results without the laborious process of clicking through multiple pages. The `&num=100` parameter saved considerable time and computational resources, enabling more comprehensive and timely insights into search engine performance.
Google likely deprecated this feature for several reasons. It could be an effort to reduce server load by discouraging mass, automated data extraction, thereby standardizing the user experience and maintaining greater control over how its search data is accessed. By removing this easy method for large-scale data collection, Google encourages reliance on official APIs or more controlled data acquisition methods, potentially mitigating scraping that might violate its terms of service.
The deprecation forces SEO tools and professionals to adapt significantly. Instead of a single query yielding 100 results, tools must now paginate through ten separate 10-result pages, dramatically increasing the number of requests, processing time, and operational costs. Workarounds include implementing more complex sequential scraping methods, leveraging official Google APIs where feasible, or strategically re-evaluating data collection priorities. This change underscores Google’s ongoing influence on data accessibility, pushing the SEO industry to innovate and find new, compliant methods for gathering essential search performance insights.
(Source: https://moz.com/blog/why-does-google-parameter-num-matter-whiteboard-friday)
