- Since September 2025, Google ignores num=100: a SERP now shows only about ten results.
- The only reliable method is pagination, page by page, which also gives the real page of each result.
- A top 100 costs €2.10 per 1,000 keywords, and only pages found are billed.
What changed
In September 2025, Google stopped honoring the num=100 parameter. A SERP now shows about ten organic results per page, whatever parameter is passed. For most rank trackers, which fetched the top 100 in a single request, collecting one keyword became up to ten times heavier.
The visible effect in Search Console: many sites saw their impressions drop and their average position improve at that time, with no real change in traffic. The most common explanation: part of those impressions came from tools loading 100 results at once.
The only reliable method: pagination
To get the first 100 results, you do what a searcher clicking “Next” does: load page 1, then page 2, and so on up to page 10. Each page is a real results page, with its own blocks: ads, related questions, videos.
This method has an upside: you know which page each result really appears on. A site in 11th position may sit at the top of page 2, or stay on page 1 if page 1 holds more results than usual.
How to do it with the API
With the Semscraper Google Search API, the depth parameter sets how many pages to walk through, from 1 (about 10 results) to 10 (about 100 results). Every result returned carries:
rank_type: its rank among results of the same type, e.g. 11th organic result;rank_serp: its rank among every element on the page, in display order;page: the Google page it appears on;pixel: its distance from the top of the page.
If Google returns fewer pages than requested, because the query doesn't have enough results, only pages found are billed: 10 pages requested, 4 found, 4 billed.
What a top 100 costs
| Depth | About this many results | Price per 1,000 keywords |
|---|---|---|
| 1 page | 10 | €0.30 |
| 3 pages | 30 | €0.70 |
| 5 pages | 50 | €1.10 |
| 10 pages | 100 | €2.10 |
The first page costs €0.30 per 1,000, each extra page €0.20 (details on the pricing page). Processing time follows depth: a few seconds for one page, about thirty seconds for ten.
Do you really need the top 100?
Not always. For daily tracking, many teams settle for the top 20 or top 30 and keep the top 100 for a weekly snapshot or a market study. Beyond page 3, a result gets almost no clicks; knowing it is 47th or 63rd mostly helps spot progress.
The right setting depends on the use case: depth 1 to 3 for routine tracking, 10 for audits. It can be set keyword by keyword.
