The Shrinking Web: How Google’s Update Made Discoverability Harder

Intro

For years, Google’s mission was simple: _organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible. _ But 2025 marked a turning point.

The quiet removal of the &num=100 parameter — once the gateway to viewing every result on a single page — wasn’t only a technical change. It signaled a philosophical one.

Google no longer wants the entire web to be visible at once. And that decision has made discoverability harder than ever.

From “Open Web” to “Curated Results”

Search used to be democratic. Anyone could scroll through ten pages of results, exploring new sources and smaller publishers.

Now, the experience is condensed, curated, and increasingly filtered by AI systems that decide what you should see first — and what you’ll never see at all.

The loss of &num=100 is just one example of this shift. Other changes reinforce the same direction:

• Fewer organic results per page

• More “zero-click” answers

• Expanding AI Overviews that summarize content instead of linking to it

• Heavier personalization that hides the “neutral” SERP

In short: Google is no longer showing us the internet — it’s showing us its interpretation of it.

The Consequences of a Smaller Web

For users, this means convenience. For creators and marketers, it means invisibility.

When the web shrinks, three major problems appear:

1. Lost Opportunity — New sites can’t break through if discovery stops at the top few results.

2. Algorithmic Bias — Fewer visible results mean fewer perspectives.

3. Data Blindness — Without full-depth tracking, SEOs can’t measure true performance or spot early growth.

Even Google Search Console data now reflects this compression — fewer impressions, volatile averages, and missing visibility beyond the first few pages.

AI: The New Gatekeeper of Information

The timing of these changes wasn’t random.

As AI systems like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini began learning from search results, Google tightened control over the very dataset those models relied on.

By removing &num=100, Google effectively:

• Blocked AI crawlers from accessing full SERPs

• Limited how far third-party systems could map ranking patterns

• Protected its proprietary search algorithms from external learning models

In doing so, it also restricted SEO professionals — the very people who help websites be seen.

AI didn’t just change search; it forced Google to hide parts of it.

The Impact on SEO and Content Visibility

With fewer results accessible, the organic ecosystem has changed dramatically:

• **Less Data = Less Strategy

** Marketers can’t see where new pages are emerging, making it harder to track performance accurately.

• **Weaker Competition Mapping

** Competitors who rank on page 4 or 5 vanish from reports, even as they gain momentum.

• **Reduced Diversity

** Large, established sites dominate condensed SERPs, while niche publishers are buried beyond the visible range.

Without complete visibility, SEO becomes guesswork — and marketing decisions lose precision.

Ranktracker’s Mission: Expanding the Web Again

When Google made the web smaller, we decided to make it bigger again.

Ranktracker’s rebuilt infrastructure restores full Top 100 visibility, giving marketers, agencies, and businesses back the view that Google took away.

By tracking every result on all ten pages, we bring transparency back to search. No AI filters, no limited view — just real data, refreshed daily.

Our platform reveals:

• Hidden competitors rising in the lower SERPs

• Long-tail opportunities fueling organic growth

• Early algorithm shifts before they hit page 1

• AI Overview patterns shaping future rankings

In other words, Ranktracker restores the open-web visibility that SEO was built on.

Why Full Visibility Matters in the AI Era

AI doesn’t just summarize the web — it learns from it. And the content it learns from isn’t limited to page 1.

By analyzing full-depth SERPs, marketers can:

• Understand which sources influence AI answers

• Optimize for AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) alongside traditional SEO

• Ensure their brand remains visible in both search and generative summaries

Without Top 100 data, SEOs can’t see how AI-driven rankings evolve — or where their content stands within that ecosystem.

Ranktracker closes that gap.

Reclaiming Discoverability

Google’s direction may be to curate. Our mission is to restore discoverability — to make the full web visible again.

Because innovation doesn’t happen on page 1. It starts on page 5.

Every great website begins buried somewhere in the Top 100. Ranktracker makes sure you can see it — measure it — and help it rise.

Conclusion: The Web Isn’t Smaller — You Just Need Better Tools

Google’s update didn’t destroy discoverability; it concealed it. The web is still vast — but you need the right lens to see it.

Ranktracker’s full Top 100 tracking gives that lens back to the SEO community. Transparency restored. Visibility reclaimed. The open web, visible again — one keyword at a time.

While others stopped at page 3, Ranktracker brought back the rest of the internet.