# The Better Google News Scraper (`betterscrapers/the-better-google-news-scraper`) Actor Affordable, HTTP-only Google News scraper. Extract news articles, headlines, links, publish dates and sources from Google News by keyword, language and country. No proxy, low compute. - **URL**: https://apify.com/betterscrapers/the-better-google-news-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Better Scrapers](https://apify.com/betterscrapers) (community) - **Categories:** News, Developer tools, Automation - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $1.25 / 1,000 news articles This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## The Better Google News Scraper — Fast, Affordable Google News RSS Scraper by Keyword, Language & Country Scrape **Google News** at scale without a browser and without a proxy. **The Better Google News Scraper** turns any keyword or phrase into a clean, structured feed of news articles — extracting **headlines, article links, publish dates, and source outlets** straight from the public **Google News RSS** endpoint. Because it is **HTTP-only** (no headless browser, no residential proxy), it runs in seconds and burns **very few compute units per run**, making it one of the most **affordable and efficient** ways to monitor news, track brands, build media-monitoring dashboards, or feed a news dataset into your app. Search **Google News by keyword, language, and country/region**, cap the number of results, and export to JSON, CSV, or Excel — or pull results straight from the Apify API. ### What it extracts For every matching news story, the actor returns: - **title** — the article headline - **link** — the article URL (Google News redirect link) - **pubDate** — publish date/time as an ISO-8601 timestamp - **pubDateRaw** — the original RFC-822 date string from the feed - **source** — the publishing outlet's name (e.g. the newspaper or site) - **sourceUrl** — the publisher's homepage, when present - **guid** — the feed item's unique identifier - **snippet** — a clean, plain-text summary with all HTML stripped ### Features - **Keyword search** with full support for Google News search operators (`intitle:`, `when:7d`, quoted phrases, `AND`/`OR`, etc.). - **Localized results** — choose any language + country pair (e.g. `en`/`US`, `de`/`DE`, `pt`/`BR`). - **HTTP-only and proxy-free** by default — no browser to boot, no proxy bill. - **Fast and lightweight** — a single RSS request per run, parsed in-memory. - **Structured, deduped output** ready for JSON, CSV, Excel, or the API. - **Configurable result cap** with `maxItems`. - **Robust parsing** — decodes HTML entities and normalizes messy descriptions into clean text. ### Input Configure the run in the Apify Console UI or via JSON. All fields: | Field | Type | Default | Description | |----------------------|---------|---------|-------------| | `query` | string | — | **Required.** Keyword or phrase to search Google News for. Supports search operators, e.g. `"climate policy"`, `intitle:tesla`, `when:7d`. | | `language` | string | `en` | Two-letter ISO 639-1 language code, e.g. `en`, `es`, `de`, `fr`, `pt`. | | `country` | string | `US` | Two-letter ISO 3166-1 country/region code, e.g. `US`, `GB`, `DE`, `IN`, `BR`. | | `maxItems` | integer | `100` | Maximum number of news items to return. | | `proxyConfiguration` | object | `{ "useApifyProxy": false }` | Optional. Not required — the feed is public. Set only if you specifically want to route requests through Apify Proxy. | #### Example input ```json { "query": "artificial intelligence", "language": "en", "country": "US", "maxItems": 50 } ```` ### Output Each result is pushed to the dataset as a JSON object. Example: ```json [ { "title": "OpenAI unveils a faster model & new tools - Reuters", "link": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiabc123", "pubDate": "2025-07-21T08:15:00.000Z", "pubDateRaw": "Mon, 21 Jul 2025 08:15:00 GMT", "source": "Reuters", "sourceUrl": "https://www.reuters.com", "guid": "CBMiabc123", "snippet": "OpenAI unveils a faster model & new tools Reuters" }, { "title": "AI policy update expected this week - The Associated Press", "link": "https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMighi789", "pubDate": "2025-07-19T14:05:00.000Z", "pubDateRaw": "Sat, 19 Jul 2025 14:05:00 GMT", "source": "The Associated Press", "sourceUrl": "https://apnews.com", "guid": "CBMighi789", "snippet": "AI policy update expected this week The Associated Press" } ] ``` You can export the dataset as **JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, or RSS**, or fetch it programmatically via the Apify API. ### Example use cases - **Media monitoring & brand tracking** — watch mentions of your company, product, or competitors across Google News. - **News aggregation** — build a topic-based news feed or newsletter from fresh headlines. - **Market & financial research** — track news around tickers, sectors, or commodities. - **PR & reputation management** — get an early read on coverage and sentiment inputs. - **SEO & content research** — discover trending stories and sources for a keyword. - **Academic & data science** — assemble a news dataset for NLP, classification, or trend analysis. - **Alerting pipelines** — schedule the actor and route new articles into Slack, email, or a database. ### How it works The actor builds a Google News RSS search URL from your `query`, `language`, and `country`: ``` https://news.google.com/rss/search?q={query}&hl={lang}-{COUNTRY}&gl={COUNTRY}&ceid={COUNTRY}:{lang} ``` It fetches that single feed over HTTP using Crawlee's `CheerioCrawler`, then hands the raw RSS/XML to a small, pure parser that extracts each ``, decodes HTML entities, converts dates to ISO-8601, and strips markup from descriptions. Results are pushed to the dataset — no browser, no rendering, no proxy required. ### Why it's efficient & affordable - **No headless browser.** The actor never launches Chromium. It makes a plain HTTP request and parses text, which is dramatically lighter than rendering pages — so it uses **fewer compute units per run**. - **No residential proxy needed.** The Google News RSS feed is public, so the default configuration sends requests directly. **No proxy means no proxy cost.** - **One request per run.** A keyword search maps to a single RSS fetch, keeping runs quick and memory light. - **Lean parsing.** The core parser is pure JavaScript with zero heavy dependencies, so cold starts and memory footprint stay small. Together these keep runs **cheap, fast, and predictable** — ideal for frequent, scheduled monitoring. ### FAQ **Do I need an API key or login to scrape Google News?** No. This actor uses the public Google News RSS feed, so no key, account, or login is required. **Do I need a proxy to run the Google News scraper?** No. The feed is public and the actor works proxy-free by default, which is a big part of why it's so affordable. You can optionally enable Apify Proxy if your own network requires it. **Can I search Google News in other languages and countries?** Yes. Set the `language` (ISO 639-1) and `country` (ISO 3166-1) fields — for example `de` + `DE` for German news from Germany, or `pt` + `BR` for Brazilian Portuguese. **How many articles can it return per query?** The Google News RSS feed returns up to roughly 100 recent items per search. Use `maxItems` to cap results, and vary your `query` (keywords, operators like `when:7d`) to widen or narrow coverage. **Can I schedule it to monitor news automatically?** Yes. Use Apify Schedules to run it on any cadence and route fresh articles into your webhook, database, or notification channel. ### Legal & ethical note This actor collects **publicly available** news metadata from the Google News RSS feed. Please scrape responsibly: respect Google's Terms of Service and `robots.txt`, use reasonable request volumes, and comply with applicable laws (including copyright and data-protection rules) when storing or republishing content. Article headlines and links belong to their respective publishers — use the extracted data in line with those publishers' terms. # Actor input Schema ## `query` (type: `string`): Keyword or phrase to search Google News for. Supports Google News search operators, for example: "climate policy", intitle:tesla, when:7d. ## `language` (type: `string`): Two-letter ISO 639-1 language code used for the feed, e.g. en, es, de, fr, pt. ## `country` (type: `string`): Two-letter ISO 3166-1 country code used for the feed, e.g. US, GB, DE, IN, BR. ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of news items to return from the feed. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Optional. This actor does NOT need a proxy — the Google News RSS feed is public and works without one. Configure Apify Proxy only if you specifically want to route requests through it. ## Actor input object example ```json { "query": "artificial intelligence", "language": "en", "country": "US", "maxItems": 100, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": false } } ``` # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "query": "artificial intelligence", "language": "en", "country": "US", "maxItems": 100, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": false } }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("betterscrapers/the-better-google-news-scraper").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "query": "artificial intelligence", "language": "en", "country": "US", "maxItems": 100, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": False }, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("betterscrapers/the-better-google-news-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "query": "artificial intelligence", "language": "en", "country": "US", "maxItems": 100, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": false } }' | apify call betterscrapers/the-better-google-news-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=betterscrapers/the-better-google-news-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "The Better Google News Scraper", "description": "Affordable, HTTP-only Google News scraper. Extract news articles, headlines, links, publish dates and sources from Google News by keyword, language and country. No proxy, low compute.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "mUlL3Cdja7FYNg4wZ" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/betterscrapers~the-better-google-news-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-betterscrapers-the-better-google-news-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/betterscrapers~the-better-google-news-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-betterscrapers-the-better-google-news-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/betterscrapers~the-better-google-news-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-betterscrapers-the-better-google-news-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "query" ], "properties": { "query": { "title": "Search query", "type": "string", "description": "Keyword or phrase to search Google News for. Supports Google News search operators, for example: \"climate policy\", intitle:tesla, when:7d." }, "language": { "title": "Language", "type": "string", "description": "Two-letter ISO 639-1 language code used for the feed, e.g. en, es, de, fr, pt.", "default": "en" }, "country": { "title": "Country / region", "type": "string", "description": "Two-letter ISO 3166-1 country code used for the feed, e.g. US, GB, DE, IN, BR.", "default": "US" }, "maxItems": { "title": "Maximum items", "minimum": 1, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of news items to return from the feed.", "default": 100 }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy configuration (optional)", "type": "object", "description": "Optional. This actor does NOT need a proxy — the Google News RSS feed is public and works without one. Configure Apify Proxy only if you specifically want to route requests through it.", "default": { "useApifyProxy": false } } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```