Google’s Subtle Move Just Made Distribution More Important Than Product
Last month, Google made a seemingly minor update to its search experience — one most casual users didn’t even notice. But for founders, creators, and AI companies, it’s seismic.
Google quietly removed the num=100 search parameter, the simple setting that let you view 100 results per page instead of the default 10.
At first glance, this feels like a UI tweak, the kind of housekeeping you’d expect from a 25-year-old search giant. But peel back the layers, and you realize it’s a 90% reduction in accessible search visibility overnight.
Here’s why that matters — and why it’s reshaping the internet you’re building on.
The End of the “Long Tail” of Search
For years, SEO experts, AI researchers, and curious internet users leaned on the num=100 parameter to see more than just the top handful of results. With one click, you could open up the long tail of search — positions 11 through 100, where niche blogs, new startups, and community discussions often lived.
Now? That tail has been chopped off. Google caps you at 10 results. If you want to dig deeper, you need to keep clicking through page after page.
For a human, that’s annoying but not insurmountable. But for large language models (LLMs) and scrapers that rely on search indexing, this is catastrophic.
Why AI Companies Should Care
Models like OpenAI’s GPT, Perplexity, and even specialized agents don’t just crawl the web independently. They often supplement their own data with what’s already been indexed by search engines like Google.
Think of it this way: Google has spent decades crawling, categorizing, and ranking billions of web pages. LLMs piggyback on that infrastructure, because building a comparable index from scratch is prohibitively expensive.
By killing off the ability to see 100 results at once, Google just made it 10x harder for LLMs to tap into the long tail of knowledge.
This means:
- Bias toward incumbents: The already-dominant top 10 results get even more visibility, while the 11–100 spots (where challengers often live) get buried.
- Shallower citations in AI answers: LLMs will increasingly cite the same handful of top sources, leading to homogenized answers.
- Smaller internet for AI: Overnight, LLMs’ effective view of the web shrank by 90%.
The Fallout: Winners and Losers
This isn’t just theory. We’re already seeing real-world consequences.
- 88% of sites lost impressions. According to Search Engine Land, almost 9 in 10 websites saw fewer appearances in search results. For many, this translates directly into lower traffic.
- Reddit got hammered. Reddit often ranks in positions 11–100 for countless long-tail queries. That made it a treasure trove for LLMs, which frequently cited Reddit threads as “human-first” answers. Once those results were buried, Reddit’s citations plummeted. The market noticed: its stock dropped 15%, wiping out roughly $5 billion in market cap.
- Startups lost visibility. For founders, especially in early stages, search was already a tough game. Now it’s tougher. If you weren’t cracking the top 10, you were at least discoverable. Now? You’re invisible.
Why Startups Should Worry
Startups live and die by distribution. You can build the best product in the world, but if no one sees it, it doesn’t matter.
Google’s quiet update effectively raised the walls around distribution. Instead of competing for 100 slots, you’re now competing for 10.
That’s not just a 90% cut — it’s exponential. Because the 10 spots are dominated by entrenched incumbents: Wikipedia, big publishers, large SaaS companies with SEO teams of 50+.
For a new founder trying to get organic discovery, the ladder just got pulled up.
The Bigger Picture: Distribution > Product
We love to romanticize product. Build something people love, and growth will follow — that’s the classic Silicon Valley ethos.
But in the AI-driven, search-constrained ecosystem we now live in, distribution is the true kingmaker.
- LLMs distribute information by deciding what to cite. If your brand doesn’t surface, you don’t exist.
- Search distributes attention by ranking results. With fewer results visible, the bar is higher than ever.
- Social distributes trust by amplifying voices. Communities on X, TikTok, and LinkedIn are now critical visibility engines.
The hard truth: A great product without distribution is invisible. A decent product with strong distribution wins.
What This Means for Founders and Builders
If you’re building in 2025, you can’t afford to treat distribution as an afterthought.
Here are the new rules of the game:
Crack the Top 10 or Die Trying
SEO isn’t dead — it’s just brutally competitive. The long tail was a buffer; now it’s gone. If you’re not in the top 10, assume you’re not seen.
Diversify Beyond Google
Relying on search alone is riskier than ever. You need visibility across:
- Social media (X, LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram)
- Communities (Reddit, Discord, niche forums)
- Partnerships (integrations, collaborations, affiliate programs)
Play the LLM Game
AI assistants are becoming the new default search engines. Optimize for being cited. That means structured data, FAQs, and content that LLMs can parse cleanly.
Build Distribution Into the Product
The best distribution isn’t bolted on later — it’s baked in. Think referral loops, viral mechanics, or community-led growth. Products that spread themselves win.
The Internet Just Got Smaller
Google’s removal of num=100 may seem like a footnote, but it’s a reminder of how fragile digital distribution really is. One small change by a platform giant can ripple into billions in lost market cap, fewer citations in AI models, and the death of long-tail discoverability.
For startups, this is a sobering reality check. Building a product people love is table stakes. Winning distribution is survival.
In today’s ecosystem, the formula has shifted:
Distribution > Product.
And if you don’t crack that code, the best product in the world will never see the light of day.
