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Google Search (via Apify)

@retracnMCP server · External

Google web search for AI agents: title, link and snippet in Custom Search JSON API format.

Web searchv1.0.0MIT
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What it does

  1. Reads
  2. Writes
  3. High impact

Not assessed yet.

What it costs

Free

Odel charges nothing per call. The publisher may charge for its own service.

What it asks for at sign-in

Access toReadChange
Full api accessNot stated: full_api_access

From the sign-in at console-backend.apify.com, as the endpoint publishes it. You approve it there.

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README6 min read

Google Custom Search JSON API alternative: same requests, same JSON

Run on Apify

Google Custom Search API Alternative is an Apify Actor that replaces Google's Custom Search JSON API, which Google has closed to new customers and retires on 1 January 2027. It answers the same /customsearch/v1 requests with the same JSON (items with title, link, displayLink and snippet, plus image search), built from live Google results, at $5 per 1,000 searches with no daily cap.

Price: $5 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results ($4 on Gold and above) · Run it: https://apify.com/automationnation/google-custom-search-api · Guide: https://retracn.github.io/automationnation-actors/google-custom-search-api/

Quick facts

  • Drop-in endpoint: replace https://www.googleapis.com/customsearch/v1 with https://automationnation--google-custom-search-api.apify.actor/customsearch/v1 and send your Apify token (token=… or Authorization: Bearer) instead of key=.
  • Same parameters: q, num, start, gl, hl, lr, cr, safe, dateRestrict, siteSearch, exactTerms, excludeTerms, orTerms, fileType and searchType=image with its image filters; cx is accepted and ignored.
  • Open WebUI: pick the External web search engine with URL https://automationnation--google-custom-search-api.apify.actor/search and your Apify token as the key, to keep Google results now that Google PSE is closed to new customers.
  • SearXNG-compatible route for AnythingLLM and other SearXNG clients: https://automationnation--google-custom-search-api.apify.actor/searxng?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN returns Google results in SearXNG's JSON format.
  • Same JSON: kind, queries.request and nextPage, searchInformation and items[] with title, htmlTitle, link, displayLink, snippet, htmlSnippet and formattedUrl (image items add mime and image.contextLink, width, height, byteSize, thumbnailLink).
  • Web searches use Google's "Web" results view: ten plain results per page without the AI Overview, ads or video and forum boxes, close to what the API returned.
  • Differences: it searches the whole web (pass site lists as siteSearch or site: operators), totalResults is a lower bound, there is no pagemap, and a request takes about 4–10 seconds.
  • Price: $5 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results, the price Google charged; searches with no results are free and there is no daily cap.

Use it as a drop-in Custom Search JSON API

Change the endpoint and the key; keep the rest of your code:

BeforeAfter
Endpointhttps://www.googleapis.com/customsearch/v1https://automationnation--google-custom-search-api.apify.actor/customsearch/v1
Authkey=YOUR_GOOGLE_KEY&cx=YOUR_ENGINE_IDtoken=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN or header Authorization: Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN
bash
curl "https://automationnation--google-custom-search-api.apify.actor/customsearch/v1?q=best+crm+for+startups&num=10&token=$APIFY_TOKEN"

Python (examples/cse_requests.py) and JavaScript (examples/cse_fetch.mjs) versions are in examples/. The response is the API's JSON: items[].title, link, displayLink, snippet, queries.nextPage and searchInformation; searchType=image works too.

Example input

json
{
  "queries": [
    "best project management software"
  ],
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 10
}

Run it from code

REST API

bash
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/automationnation~google-custom-search-api/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"queries": ["best project management software"], "maxResultsPerQuery": 10}'

Python — see examples/python_example.py

python
# pip install apify-client
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("automationnation/google-custom-search-api").call(run_input={
  "queries": [
    "best project management software"
  ],
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 10
})
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item.get("title"), item.get("link"), item.get("displayLink"), item.get("snippet"))

JavaScript — see examples/node_example.mjs

js
// npm install apify-client
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN' });
const run = await client.actor('automationnation/google-custom-search-api').call({
  "queries": [
    "best project management software"
  ],
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 10
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
for (const item of items) console.log(item.title, item.link, item.displayLink, item.snippet);

Use it with AI agents (MCP)

Hosted MCP server URL (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and other clients with remote MCP support):

https://mcp.apify.com?tools=automationnation/google-custom-search-api

Local config for Claude Desktop / Cursor — mcp/claude_desktop_config.json:

json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-custom-search-api": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@apify/actors-mcp-server",
        "--tools",
        "automationnation/google-custom-search-api"
      ],
      "env": {
        "APIFY_TOKEN": "YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN"
      }
    }
  }
}

FAQ

When does the Custom Search JSON API stop working? Google closed it to new customers and says existing customers have until 1 January 2027 to move to an alternative.

Do I have to rewrite my code? No. Change the endpoint to https://automationnation--google-custom-search-api.apify.actor/customsearch/v1 and send an Apify API token instead of the Google key; the parameters and the JSON response stay the same.

Can I keep my Programmable Search Engine's site list? Not through cx, which is ignored. Pass one site as siteSearch, or several in the query as site:a.com OR site:b.com.

What does it cost? $5 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results ($4.50 on Silver, $4 on Gold and above), with no daily cap. Google charged $5 per 1,000 after 100 free queries a day; Apify's free plan includes $5 of monthly credit, about 1,000 searches.

More from AutomationNation

This repository holds usage examples. The scraper itself runs on the Apify platform; you need a free Apify account and API token. Examples are MIT licensed.

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