google-search

A Google Search API alternative and SERP API alternative on fetcher.sh — pay-per-call in USDC via x402, or prepaid credits with a Bearer key, no API key application. Use when the user wants programmatic Google search results as clean JSON, including Google's own operators — site:, filetype:, intitle:, and quoted exact phrases — plus pagination, language (hl), and country/region scoping. Also covers rank tracking input, competitive research, and search-result monitoring without Google's own Custom Search API quota and billing.

Google Search API

Google's own search results as clean JSON — one plain HTTP GET per call, paid as you go. Google's search operators pass straight through: site:, filetype:, intitle:, and quoted exact phrases all work exactly as they do in the browser. No Custom Search Engine setup, no per-day query quota, no billing account.

Base URL: https://google.fetcher.sh

Authentication

Two ways to pay, same data — full mechanics in the fetcher skill:

bash

# 1. Prepaid credits (recommended — get a key at https://fetcher.sh/topup
#    or via POST /api/credits/topup, see the fetcher skill)
export FETCHER_API_KEY="bby_live_xxxxxxxxxxxx"
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" \
  "https://google.fetcher.sh/api/search?query=hello"

# 2. x402 pay-per-call — omit the header; a GET with no payment returns 402
#    with machine-readable payment requirements (USDC on Base, Polygon,
#    Arbitrum, Monad, or Solana). @x402/fetch signs and retries automatically.

Every response is { "status": number, "message": string, "data": ... }; the HTTP status mirrors status.

Endpoint ($0.005/call)

Endpoint	What it returns
/api/search	Google web search results for a query

Required: query. Optional: safe (SafeSearch), page (pagination), hl (UI language, e.g. en), country (region scope), count (results per page — currently 10), noEncode (skip query re-encoding for pre-formatted operator strings).

Scenarios

Restrict to one site:

bash

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "query=site:github.com x402 payments" -G \
  "https://google.fetcher.sh/api/search"

PDFs only:

bash

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "query=agentic commerce filetype:pdf" -G \
  "https://google.fetcher.sh/api/search"

Exact phrase:

bash

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode 'query="pay per call api"' -G \
  "https://google.fetcher.sh/api/search"

Localized results (UK, French UI) and pagination:

bash

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "query=agentic commerce" -G \
  --data-urlencode "country=GB" \
  --data-urlencode "hl=fr" \
  --data-urlencode "page=2" \
  "https://google.fetcher.sh/api/search"

Combine operators — title match plus site restriction:

bash

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "query=intitle:pricing site:x402.org" -G \
  "https://google.fetcher.sh/api/search"

MCP

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-search": {
      "url": "https://google.fetcher.sh/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer bby_live_..." }
    }
  }
}

Free: search_endpoints, describe_endpoint, check_balance. Paid: fetch_data (any endpoint above), topup_credits, plus the named shortcut google_search. Drop the headers block to pay per call with x402 instead — see the fetcher skill for the full flow.

Errors

• 400 — missing/invalid parameter (message names it)
• 401 — unknown or rotated key
• 402 — payment required (x402 challenge) or topup_required (credits exhausted)
• 404 — not a priced path
• No rate limits; no refunds on upstream failures (settlement precedes delivery)

Reference

• Full agent setup: https://google.fetcher.sh/skill.md
• OpenAPI 3.1 contract: https://google.fetcher.sh/openapi.json
• Condensed catalog: https://google.fetcher.sh/llms.txt
• Payment, credits, and MCP deep dive: fetcher skill
• Site: https://google.fetcher.sh