Why Did Google Search Console Impressions Drop in September 2025?
Around mid-September 2025, web publishers and search engine optimizers saw impressions drop rapidly across the Google search engine. This has been a widespread issue across many industries, causing a lot of debate in the SEO world, with many people attributing it to GSC reporting updates, algorithm updates, and many changes in search behavior. This article looks into the major causes of this issue, offers a troubleshooting process to now look at it, and offers some ways to lessen the impact of this issue so your site can remain competitive in search results. Major Causes of Google Search Console Impression Drops. GSC Reporting Transitioning to Filter Bot and Automated Traffic. Main Factors for Decline in Google Search Console Impressions 1. GSC Reporting has changed to a filter bot and automated traffic. Google also made important backend changes to Google Search Console data collection on or about September 10-12, 2025. These backend enhancements have been made to improve impressions that were being artificially created from bots, scrapers, and other automated methods (ex., SEO software that used query parameters like num=100 to trigger long search results). The non-human impressions had artificially inflated GSC impressions by 20-50% across various sites, depending on their niche and traffic patterns. This means that impressions on Google Search Console are now more accurately represented by human search behavior, and the result is a drastic, sometimes overnight, reduction in reported impressions. In sites with active automated usage, as is often common in competitive industries such as technology or e-commerce, this filtering may result in a significant drop in impressions without impacting actual user traffic. As an example, a site that once had 100,000 impressions could now have 50,000-70,000 impressions, even with no change in clicks or rankings. This is the number one reason behind the noted drop in performance, and this applies to all sites, no matter how good the content or how well they perform in search. 2. Removal of the num=100 Parameter The impact on GSC data is immense, with Google deciding to discontinue the num=100 search parameter that allowed search engines to fetch only 100 search results at a time per query. The tool was traditionally a parameter that search engine tools and crawlers used to help extract deeper search results, boosting impressions on keywords that placed lower than the first page. Since its removal, lower-ranking or long-tail impressions have dropped dramatically, and some reports show a 77 percent reduction in impressions of affected sites. The change is especially relevant to websites that utilize a long-tail search or could have content in the 11-100 position, since these pages will be less likely to record an impression with the updated GSC. An example: With a mixed portfolio of keywords, a site may experience a disproportionate loss in impressions to secondary or tertiary terms, even though primary keywords may continue to perform well. This technical change in the way Google processes search queries is a key contributor to the impression drop in September 2025. 3. 2025 Core Algorithm Update (Sept) The underlying changes coincided with the changes in reporting as Google implemented a core algorithm update between September 12 and September 26, 2025. This revision focused on the quality of content and user experience and compatibility with Google E-E-A-T principles (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness). Although it is not the biggest factor behind the decline, the update has affected those sites featuring thin, outdated, or undervalued content, making them less visible in search results. Interestingly, SEO data show that impressions have declined, but clicks on many websites have either stayed the same or slightly grown, indicating that the update has enhanced the average position of some pages as high-quality content is prioritized. In the case of websites that are victims of this update, the impression reduction might be on low-performing pages and not on the entire site. This is especially applicable to sites whose content has not been updated or refined to suit the present user purpose. 4. Seasonal Fluctuations and Query Shifts Trends may naturally fall into seasonal patterns, and early in the fall search patterns may change because of things like back-to-school or post-summer lulls. In September 2025, the search demand in some industries declined, especially in non-branded or informational searches. Moreover, branded or navigational searches (where people search targeting a certain website or service) may lower the number of impressions of more general keywords because this kind of search is more focused and yields fewer impressions (often). The input text is mostly clear, but there are some redundancies and awkward phrasing that could be improved for better clarity and flow. Here’s a revised version: “In competitive niches, this trend can exacerbate the perception of a decline in impressions when analyzed in isolation using GSC.” 5. In August 2025, the worst outcome is expected to occur after the Spam Update. The spam update from Google, which began in August and concluded on September 22, 2025, targeted low-quality content and unethical SEO practices. Most of the sites bounced back, but certain ones might still be suffering some of the backlash, especially those that were manually acted against or that were reported on as spammy. The only way to exclude this factor is by checking GSC during manual operations or reviewing pages against Google’s spam rules. Are Impressions Here to Stay? In the majority of web pages, the decrease in Google Search Console impressions is a reporting illusion rather than an actual loss of search visibility. Filtering of bot traffic and elimination of the num=100 parameter should be permanent, so GSC impression counts will probably stay below pre-September levels. But it does not always mean a reduction in the number of visitors or reduced rankings. It is important to cross-reference GSC data with Google Analytics or other traffic tracking tools to determine whether or not actual organic traffic has decreased. This is an international challenge, as industry reports of September 11-13, 2025, indicate, and most sites show no consistent relationship with traffic loss. Measures to Be Taken