Google dragged SerpApi to court for scraping its Search results.
Now it is offering those results through an official API—but only to companies it approves...
In December 2025, Google sued SerpApi for allegedly bypassing its protections and extracting Search results at scale.
Now Google has documented its own Web Search Service API.
It allows approved partners to search Google’s full web index and retrieve:
→ Titles
→ URLs
→ Snippets
→ Corrected queries
→ Up to 20 results per request
Everything is returned as structured JSON through REST or gRPC.
But you cannot simply create an account and use it.
Every request requires an API key and a client ID connected to a Google partner agreement.
Google has not publicly revealed who qualifies, what access costs or what the limits are.
So Google’s problem may not be companies accessing its Search results.
It may be companies accessing them without Google’s permission.
Google is finally offering official API access to Search—but it still controls who gets through the door.
Is this Google opening Search or tightening its control over the data?
Sources: Google’s Web Search Service API, Reuters on Google v. SerpApi