On September 10, 2025, Google dropped the “100 search results parameter”. This was used by rank trackers to check rankings. These searches resulted in impressions, not clicks.
The discovery was made by black hat SEO user TehSEOwner and documented in more detail on Search Engine Roundtable.
Because rank trackers can no longer make it past the first 10 search results, Law firms and other webmasters everywhere saw a huge drop in impressions in Google Search Console.
Here’s the impression drop as seen on a personal injury law firm site:
TehSEOwner suspects Google implemented this change to make life more difficult for LLMs and scrapers.
For some reason there was also a small reduction in CTR visible as well.
If you notice a huge drop in impressions in GSC around September 10 or September 11, 2025, this is why.
