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Google Search exposes its world-class search index through the Custom Search JSON API (also called the Programmable Search Engine API), letting you embed web, image, video, and news search directly into your application. Whether you’re building a search experience on your own website or querying Google’s index for structured data, the API gives you full control over query parameters, result filtering, localization, and safe-search settings.

Quick Start

Make your first search API call in under five minutes

Authentication

Get an API key and set up your Search Engine ID

API Reference

Explore every endpoint, parameter, and response field

Query Syntax

Master search operators and advanced query techniques

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What You Can Build

The Google Search API powers a broad range of use cases:
  • Site search — Add Google-quality search to your own website or documentation portal
  • Research tools — Programmatically retrieve and analyze web results at scale
  • Content aggregation — Pull news, images, or videos for a specific topic into your application
  • Verification & enrichment — Cross-reference entities using the Knowledge Graph API

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Getting Started

1

Create a Google Cloud project

Sign in to the Google Cloud Console and create a new project (or select an existing one).
2

Enable the Custom Search API

Navigate to APIs & Services → Library, search for Custom Search API, and click Enable.
3

Get an API key

Go to APIs & Services → Credentials, click Create Credentials → API key, and copy your new key.
4

Create a Programmable Search Engine

Visit Programmable Search Engine, create a new engine, and note your Search Engine ID (cx).
5

Make your first request

Combine your API key and Search Engine ID to query the API — see the Quick Start for a working example.

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Key Capabilities

The Custom Search JSON API is rate-limited by default. See Rate Limits & Quotas for details and instructions on requesting higher limits.