We’re now three weeks into the August 2025 Spam Update, and its effects are still rippling through SEO and site performance. Across forums, tracking tools, and Search Console, SEOs are reporting volatility: ranking swings, traffic drops, indexing delays, and strange shifts in impression and average position metrics. With Google limiting the “results per page” setting, launching new tools like the Store Widget, and Delivering AI enhancements in Chrome and Discover, it’s clear the landscape is changing fast.
This week we’ll unpack how these updates affect reporting, browsing, location visibility, and search strategy more broadly.
Google is currently testing the removal of the “100 results per page” option, and the long-used &num=100 parameter no longer works. Instead, search results are capped at the default 10 (sometimes 20), which has created ripple effects across SEO reporting. Rank-tracking platforms that relied on pulling the top 100 results in one go are showing data gaps, incomplete rankings, and higher costs as they scramble to issue multiple smaller queries. Some tools are even defaulting to only reporting top 10–20 results, reducing visibility into long-tail rankings and deeper SERPs.
Search Console has also been affected. Many SEOs are reporting drops in impressions, shifts in average position, and volatile charts—changes that don’t necessarily reflect true ranking losses, but rather reporting inconsistencies caused by this test. While Google hasn’t confirmed if the change will be permanent, it fits into its broader push to simplify Search results for users, even if it disrupts the workflows of SEOs.
For now, the best move is to re-baseline your metrics, update dashboards, and focus on page-one visibility while monitoring Google’s next steps.
Read our in-depth article on the issue here – Rank Tracking and Reporting Impacted by Google’s Search Results Limit
Google officially stated the &num=100 parameter—long used to load 100 search results per page—is no longer supported. Google clarified that this was not a bug but an intentional change. A Google spokesperson released a statement to Barry Schwartz of SERoundtable/Search Engine Land saying “The use of this URL parameter is not something that we formally support”.
For years, many SEOs and tools relied on this parameter to capture a broader view of rankings, but as of September 2025, it no longer works.
Following the change, rank-tracking platforms that depended on &num=100 have begun showing broken or incomplete data, forcing providers to adjust how they fetch results. Search Console data is showing sharp drops in desktop impressions and shifts in average position metrics. Importantly, these changes don’t necessarily reflect ranking losses; instead, they suggest that data collection methods tied to the old parameter were inflating certain metrics.
Google’s confirmation that the &num=100 parameter is no longer supported has created ripple effects across the SEO industry. Rank-tracking tools are disrupted, Search Console metrics look unstable, and long-tail tracking has become less reliable. This is an intentional shift by Google—and SEOs should adapt by updating tools, resetting expectations, and focusing on what can be measured accurately today.
OpenAI recently rolled out significant improvements to ChatGPT Search that focus on three core areas: factuality, shopping intent detection, and formatting clarity. The goal is to reduce hallucinations (false or misleading responses), make product-related queries more precise, and present answers in cleaner, easier-to-digest formats. These updates were officially listed in the ChatGPT release notes.
In the shopping domain, ChatGPT is now better at recognizing when a user is looking to buy something—not just searchINFO—and surfaces relevant product options with visually rich carousels, added product details, and links to external sites where users can follow through. These product suggestions are not ads; they’re generated based on intent detection and product metadata.
Formatting enhancements mean that answers are delivered in more readable structures—shorter paragraphs, formatting that emphasizes clarity, clean visual layout, less clutter—all helping users understand responses quickly without sacrificing depth.
These updates represent a maturing of ChatGPT’s search interface from casual Q&A toward a more reliable assistant that can handle shopping, research, and comparisons more competently. For SEOs, e-commerce brands, and content creators, this raises the bar: vague or loosely structured product content or generic overview content will increasingly be less visible or less trusted by the model.
Cleaner formatting and better shopping intent detection mean that how you present content (product specs, pricing, reviews, images) matters more now than ever. If metadata is missing or vague, or if your product pages are poorly organized, ChatGPT may skip over them or surface them lower in relevance.
Better factuality reduces the opportunity for content with shallow claims or weak sourcing; the model appears to be smarter at filtering out hallucinations. That aligns strongly with Google’s ongoing emphasis (in updates like the Quality Rater Guidelines) on trust, authority, and verifiable content.
The recent update to ChatGPT Search isn’t just about more visual polish—it’s a shift toward precision, relevance, and trust. Brands that lean into structured data, clear formatting, accurate product info, and genuine value will benefit most. For everyone else, there’s a risk of slipping visibility as AI tools for search become smarter and stricter.
Google has introduced a new feature called the Store Widget in Search, designed to help businesses display store information directly in search results—things like hours, location(s), whether an item is in stock—and connect shoppers more quickly to their nearest physical store or local availability. It’s part of Google’s push to make search results more useful and actionable for shoppers.
How It Works & Where It Shows Up
Why Google Introduced It
Google’s motivations seem two-fold: enhance the shopper experience and reward businesses that maintain accurate local inventory and store info. The Store Widget helps Google surface local options more readily, which aligns with broader trends like local search, “near me” queries, and hybrid commerce (online + offline). It also fits with Google’s strategy of providing more interactive, actionable search result elements without sending users away from the SERP.
What SEOs & Site Owners Should Do
Bottom Line
The Store Widget is another signal that Google is elevating local store presence in search results—making it easier for shoppers to see if a product is available nearby and bridge the online-offline gap. It rewards businesses with accurate local inventory and well-maintained business listings. For SEOs, this is a chance: ensuring local accuracy and optimizing for store visibility can make a real difference in conversions and visibility for searches with local or shopping intent.
Google has announced they are adding several AI-powered features directly into Chrome, including embedding Gemini—its generative AI assistant—into the browser, and expanding AI Mode in the Omnibox (Chrome’s address/search bar). Users will be able to ask more complex questions, get contextual search suggestions, and receive AI Overviews of content on the page they’re viewing.
Some of these AI tools will also help with everyday tasks—like blocking scams, managing passwords, surfacing past tabs, summarizing webpages, and finding information across multiple open tabs. The goal is to make browsing more intelligent, helpful, and safer.
The rollout starts in the U.S. for desktop users in English, with mobile support (Android, iOS) and additional languages & countries coming soon. This aligns with Google’s broader strategy to bring AI deeper into core user experiences rather than keeping it experimental.
Chrome is stepping forward into a more AI-augmented browsing experience. Rather than separating search from browsing, Google is weaving AI into how people consume content in their browser. For content creators and SEOs, this means that high-quality, well-structured content, trustworthiness, and being understandable at a glance are more important than ever.
Google has rolled out a set of updates to Discover that aim to make it easier for users to find, follow, and engage with content from their favorite creators and publishers. These changes expand the types of content that appear in the feed while also giving users more control over what they see.
One of the biggest updates is the ability to follow publishers or creators directly within Discover. Once a user follows a source, content from that creator is more likely to appear in their feed. Before hitting “follow,” users can also preview the types of content a creator shares—whether that’s articles, social posts, or videos—so they know what to expect.
Discover is also broadening the formats it supports. Alongside standard articles, the feed will now highlight social media posts from platforms like X and Instagram, as well as YouTube Shorts. The goal is to create a richer, more dynamic content mix that reflects the variety of media people engage with daily.
Why This Matters
Best Practices for Publishers & SEOs
Bottom Line
This September update shifts Discover closer to a socialized, creator-centric feed. Users get more control and variety, and publishers/creators stand to benefit from being followed. If your content strategy is still article-first and platform siloed, now is the time to rethink multi-format content, identity, and how you build an audience in Discover—not just chase rankings.
The disabling of the “100 results per page” setting and &num=100 parameter has caused a serious shake-up in rank tracking and reporting—data gaps, skewed metrics, and confusing shifts in Search Console have made visibility harder to measure than ever. That, combined with all the new changes we’ve covered this week—such as Chrome’s AI Mode, Discover updates, and OpenAI’s improved search formats—reminds us that we’re in a phase of acceleration, not stability. For SEOs and site owners, the only safe move is to adapt: rebaseline metrics, get your tools aligned, focus harder on fundamentals like page-one visibility, E-E-A-T, and well structured content. Expect more change ahead, and make readiness and adaptability your strategy.
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