Why Are Impressions Dropping in Google Search Console?

What’s Actually Happening Behind the Drop

The undocumented results per page option, which let 100 results to appear on a single page, was no longer supported by Google. That behavior was leveraged by several rank trackers and scraping applications to swiftly gather a lot of SERP data. In Google Search Console, the automated queries were recorded as impressions when they resulted in the same pages being displayed. The phantom impressions disappeared from GSC reports when that channel was stopped, and impressions for the majority of properties dropped precipitously. Right present, this is the primary technical cause of Google Search Console impressions being lost between dashboards.

Why You Don’t Need to Panic

This is a reporting change rather than a business issue if your business metrics, like organic sessions, inquiries, bookings, or revenue have not decreased in analytics or your CRM. While clicks and conversions are constant, many teams experience a significant decline in Search Console impressions. To determine whether actual visibility has changed, use consistent traffic and conversion signals. Speak with an SEO Consultant who will evaluate the statistics to actual conversions. 

How this change impacts rank trackers and keyword measurement 

Rank trackers rely on their ability to read a large number of results fast. With that capacity reduced, trackers are now missing many of the deep page locations they previously captured. Short-term effects for tools include slower data collecting, fewer low-ranking keyword reports, gaps in historical comparisons, and more costs for providers who must utilize more courteous paginated checks. That alters how keyword performance appears, but it does not imply that your site is suddenly invisible to genuine searchers. 

Why an average position might appear better even when impressions drop

Average position is basically a weighted “score” based on where your pages show up in search results and how many times they’re seen. If a lot of low-ranking impressions (like positions 50–100) are removed—say, because they were from bots—the remaining impressions are mostly from higher positions. This makes the average position number go up, even if your actual ranking hasn’t changed.

Example:

• Query A: Position 5, 100 impressions → 5 × 100 = 500

   

• Query B: Position 80, 100 impressions → 80 × 100 = 8000

   

• Total = 8500 position units ÷ 200 impressions = average position 42.5

   

If the low-ranking Query B impressions are deleted, only Query A remains → average position becomes 5.

So, the jump in average position can just be a reporting effect, not a real improvement in rankings.

This Will Aid In More Accuracy Long Term For Reporting 

Cleaner data allows for improved decision-making. With scraper-driven impressions eliminated, Search Console better represents what actual users viewed. This makes click-through rates and average position more important. The disadvantage is that prior comparisons and month-to-month results will appear worse until you rebaseline your dashboards. Consider the current period a new baseline for impressions and visibility.

The Technical aspect behind it

Google used to support an undocumented option that provided up to 100 results on a single page. Tools like scrapers took use of this tendency to read a large number of results faster. Google eliminated such behavior and implemented anti-spam measures around the same time. The practical impact is fewer automatic loads of deep page results, resulting in fewer documented impressions. Google has not given a single thorough blow-by-blow explanation, but industry data suggests that the elimination of the 100 results parameter, as well as spam-related adjustments, are the primary factors. The August 2025 spam update was completed in late September and is part of a larger sequence Google Updates.

What to check first

Analyse your analytics platform for organic sessions, goal completions, and income. If they remain consistent, focus your reporting on clicks, CTR, and conversions rather than impressions alone. For keyword health, utilize your principal trackers and resample long tail keyword lists to avoid comparing to bot-inflated historical data. 

If your Search Console shows a significant drop in clicks and your analytics confirm a decrease in organic sessions, this may indicate a genuine issue rather than a Google Search Console glitch. In such cases, it’s important to review fundamental factors like indexing status, manual actions, crawl efficiency, and overall content quality.

Unfortunately Google’s August Spam Update was causing general volatility around the time of the impression drop, leading to some websites being negatively affected and not realising. Reviewing other data such as organic clicks, sales or leads can be a good way to understand if you have been negatively affected, or you can get an SEO audit.

Refine your targeting strategy by focusing on keywords that regularly bring qualified traffic. Staying up-to-date with Google’s developing AI SEO capabilities and algorithm changes is crucial for maintaining compliance, visibility, and competitiveness in organic search.