Serper Search

Search Google programmatically using the Serper.dev API. Returns structured organic results (title, URL, snippet, domain) for any query. Use when you need to search Google for websites, businesses, leads, or any information — especially as part of a lead generation pipeline, competitor research, or content research workflow. Cheaper and faster than SerpApi. Requires SERPER_API_KEY.

Serper.dev Search Skill

Fast, cheap Google Search API. Returns clean JSON. Best choice for lead generation pipelines.

Credentials

Requires SERPER_API_KEY in environment. Get a free key (2,500 searches) at serper.dev.

env

SERPER_API_KEY=your_key_here

Quick Usage

python

import requests, os

def serper_search(query: str, num: int = 10, gl: str = "us") -> list[dict]:
    """
    Search Google via Serper.dev.
    Returns list of: {title, link, snippet, displayedLink, domain}
    """
    headers = {
        "X-API-KEY": os.environ["SERPER_API_KEY"],
        "Content-Type": "application/json"
    }
    payload = {"q": query, "num": num, "gl": gl}
    r = requests.post("https://google.serper.dev/search", headers=headers, json=payload)
    r.raise_for_status()
    
    results = r.json().get("organic", [])
    # Add clean domain extraction
    import tldextract
    for result in results:
        ext = tldextract.extract(result["link"])
        result["domain"] = f"{ext.domain}.{ext.suffix}"
    return results

Lead Generation Usage

python

import tldextract

EXCLUDE_DOMAINS = {
    "yelp.com", "facebook.com", "tripadvisor.com", "houzz.com",
    "thumbtack.com", "homeadvisor.com", "angi.com", "angieslist.com",
    "bbb.org", "yellowpages.com", "manta.com", "bark.com",
    "google.com", "nextdoor.com", "linkedin.com", "instagram.com"
}

def search_business_leads(niche: str, city: str, num_queries: int = 3) -> list[str]:
    """
    Run multiple queries for a niche+city combo.
    Returns deduplicated list of direct business website URLs.
    """
    query_templates = [
        f'"{niche} {city}"',
        f'"{niche} company {city}"',
        f'"{niche} service {city}"',
        f'"{city} {niche} contractor"',
    ]
    
    seen_domains = set()
    urls = []
    
    for template in query_templates[:num_queries]:
        query = template + " -yelp -facebook -tripadvisor -houzz -thumbtack -homeadvisor"
        results = serper_search(query, num=10)
        
        for r in results:
            domain = r["domain"]
            if domain not in EXCLUDE_DOMAINS and domain not in seen_domains:
                seen_domains.add(domain)
                urls.append(r["link"])
    
    return urls

Available Endpoints

Endpoint	URL	Use
Web search	https://google.serper.dev/search	Organic results
News	https://google.serper.dev/news	News articles
Images	https://google.serper.dev/images	Image results
Places	https://google.serper.dev/places	Google Maps results
Shopping	https://google.serper.dev/shopping	Product results

Places Endpoint (Local Business Discovery Alternative)

python

def serper_places(query: str, gl: str = "us") -> list[dict]:
    """
    Search Google Maps / Local Places.
    Returns: {title, address, phone, website, rating, reviews}
    """
    headers = {"X-API-KEY": os.environ["SERPER_API_KEY"], "Content-Type": "application/json"}
    payload = {"q": query, "gl": gl}
    r = requests.post("https://google.serper.dev/places", headers=headers, json=payload)
    return r.json().get("places", [])

# Places returns website URLs + phone numbers directly — great for lead gen!
# usage: results = serper_places("landscaping company Portland OR")
# each result: {title, address, phone, website, rating, ratingCount}

Response Structure

json

{
  "organic": [
    {
      "title": "Green Valley Landscaping | Portland OR",
      "link": "https://www.greenvalleylandscaping.com",
      "snippet": "Professional landscaping services in Portland...",
      "displayedLink": "www.greenvalleylandscaping.com",
      "position": 1
    }
  ],
  "searchParameters": {"q": "landscaping portland OR", "gl": "us", "num": 10}
}

Pricing Reference

Plan	Cost	Searches
Free	$0	2,500 searches
Starter	$50	50,000 searches
Standard	$100	150,000 searches

Rate Limits & Best Practices

• No hard rate limit stated — but be reasonable
• Add 0.5s delay between rapid consecutive calls
• Cache results to avoid re-querying same niche+city
• Use num=10 (default) — max is 100 per request
• gl param controls country: "us", "gb", "au", "ca", etc.

Error Handling

python

def serper_search_safe(query: str, num: int = 10) -> list[dict]:
    try:
        return serper_search(query, num)
    except requests.exceptions.HTTPError as e:
        if e.response.status_code == 429:
            print("Rate limited — waiting 5s")
            import time; time.sleep(5)
            return serper_search(query, num)
        print(f"Serper error: {e}")
        return []
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Unexpected error: {e}")
        return []