# Google Forums Search (`burbn/google-forums-search`) Actor Search discussions and forums across the web using Google Forums tab. Find forum posts from Reddit, Quora, Stack Overflow, Apple Support & more. Filter by time, country & language. Perfect for market research, brand monitoring & community insights. - **URL**: https://apify.com/burbn/google-forums-search.md - **Developed by:** [Kevin](https://apify.com/burbn) (community) - **Categories:** Other, Lead generation, News - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $5.00 / 1,000 results This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage. 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.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.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/platform/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 ## Google Forums Search | Search Discussions & Forum Posts API Search discussions and forums across the web using Google's Forums tab. Find forum posts from Reddit, Quora, Stack Overflow, Apple Support Communities, and thousands of other community forums — all from a single search query. ### ❓ What is Google Forums Search? **Google Forums Search** is a powerful Apify actor that lets you search and find discussions, forum posts, and community threads across the web — using the same results you'd see on Google's **Forums tab**. Whether you're doing market research, tracking brand mentions, or analyzing community sentiment — this actor extracts all the forum results automatically. With this Google Forums Search actor, you can: - 🔍 **Search any topic** — Enter any keyword, question, or phrase to find relevant forum discussions - 🌐 **All major forums covered** — Reddit, Quora, Stack Overflow, Apple Support, MacRumors, AVForums, iFixit & more - ⏰ **Filter by time** — Get results from the past hour, day, week, month, or year - 🌍 **Country & language support** — Search in any country and language using ISO codes - 📊 **Pagination support** — Fetch up to 100 results with automatic pagination - 📊 **Export structured data** — Download results in JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, and RSS formats ### 🎯 What Data Can You Extract? This Google Forums Search actor extracts the following data for each forum result: | Field | Description | |-------|-------------| | `position` | Ranking position in search results | | `title` | Title of the forum post or discussion | | `snippet` | Preview text / snippet of the discussion | | `url` | Direct URL to the forum post | | `source` | Source forum name (Reddit, Quora, Stack Overflow, etc.) | | `searchQuery` | Original search query | | `timeFilter` | Time filter that was applied | | `country` | Country code used for search | | `language` | Language code used for search | ### 🌐 Supported Forum Sources Results come from Google's Forums tab and include posts from: | Source | Example | |--------|---------| | 📱 Reddit | `https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/...` | | 💬 Quora | `https://www.quora.com/...` | | 💻 Stack Overflow | `https://stackoverflow.com/questions/...` | | 🍎 Apple Support | `https://discussions.apple.com/thread/...` | | 📱 MacRumors Forums | `https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/...` | | 🔧 iFixit | `https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/...` | | 📺 AVForums | `https://www.avforums.com/threads/...` | | 📘 Facebook Groups | `https://www.facebook.com/groups/...` | | 📱 GSMArena | `https://m.gsmarena.com/...` | | And many more... | Any forum indexed by Google | ### 🚀 How to Use Google Forums Search #### Step 1: Enter a Search Query Enter a keyword, question, or phrase to search for in forums. E.g., `iPhone 17 battery life`, `best laptop 2025`, `Tesla problems`. #### Step 2: Configure Filters (Optional) | Input | Type | Required | Default | Description | |-------|------|----------|---------|-------------| | `query` | String | ✅ Yes | `iPhone 17` | Keyword or question to search | | `time` | String | ❌ No | `any` | Time filter: `any`, `hour`, `day`, `week`, `month`, `year` | | `country` | String | ❌ No | `us` | Country code (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2) | | `language` | String | ❌ No | `en` | Language code (ISO 639-1 alpha-2) | | `maxResults` | Integer | ❌ No | `10` | Maximum results to return (1-100) | #### Step 3: Run and Download Results Click **Start** to run the Google Forums Search. Results are available in JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, and RSS formats. ### 📋 Example Input ```json { "query": "iPhone 17 battery life", "time": "month", "country": "us", "language": "en", "maxResults": 20 } ```` ### 📋 Example Output ```json { "position": 1, "title": "iPhone 17 Review: No Asterisks! : r/apple - Reddit", "snippet": "Went from a 14 Pro to the 17 Pro and I've been loving it. The battery is super impressive, the camera has noticeable improvements, the AI stuff ...", "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/1nvjxec/iphone_17_review_no_asterisks/", "source": "Reddit", "searchQuery": "iPhone 17 battery life", "timeFilter": "month", "country": "us", "language": "en" } ``` ### 🎨 Dataset Views The Google Forums Search actor provides 2 organized dataset views for easy analysis: | View | Description | |------|-------------| | 📊 **Forum Results Overview** | Position, title, URL, source, and snippet for quick scanning | | 📋 **Full Results** | Complete data with all search metadata and filter info | ### 💡 Use Cases for Google Forums Search - **Market Research** — Find what real users are saying about products, services, or brands in forums - **Brand Monitoring** — Track brand mentions and discussions across community forums - **Competitor Analysis** — Monitor competitor discussions and user feedback - **Product Research** — Find real user reviews and experiences before launching products - **Customer Insights** — Understand customer pain points from forum discussions - **SEO & Content Research** — Discover trending topics and questions people are asking - **Technical Support** — Find solutions and troubleshooting tips from community forums - **Sentiment Analysis** — Analyze community sentiment around specific topics - **Trend Tracking** — Monitor emerging trends by filtering forums by time - **Community Engagement** — Find active communities discussing topics relevant to your brand ### 🔧 Tips for Best Results 1. **Use specific queries** — "iPhone 17 battery drain" works better than just "iPhone" 2. **Filter by time** — Use `week` or `month` to get the most recent discussions 3. **Try different countries** — Set `country` to `gb`, `in`, `de` etc. for localized results 4. **Increase maxResults** — Set `maxResults` to 50 or 100 for comprehensive research 5. **Export in your preferred format** — Download forum data in JSON, CSV, or Excel ### 🏷️ Tags `google forums search` `forum search` `discussion search` `reddit search` `quora search` `stack overflow search` `community forums` `forum scraper` `discussion scraper` `google search` `forum posts` `community discussions` `brand monitoring` `market research` `sentiment analysis` `product research` `customer insights` `forum api` `discussion api` `google forums api` `forum results` `community search` ### 🎁 Get $5 Free Apify Credits New to Apify? [Sign up using this link](https://apify.com?fpr=free-credits) and get **$5 free credits** to start searching forums right away! No credit card required. ### 📞 Support For questions, feedback, or issues with this Google Forums Search actor, please contact us through Apify or open an issue. *** **Happy searching! 💬✨** # Actor input Schema ## `query` (type: `string`): Enter a keyword, question, or phrase to search for in discussions and forums. E.g., "iPhone 17 battery life", "best programming language 2025", "Tesla Model Y problems". ## `time` (type: `string`): Filter results by publication time. Use 'any' for all time, or filter by hour, day, week, month, or year. ## `country` (type: `string`): The country/region for search results (Google's gl parameter). Use 2-letter ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code. E.g., 'us', 'gb', 'in', 'de'. ## `language` (type: `string`): The language for search results (Google's hl parameter). Use 2-letter ISO 639-1 alpha-2 language code. E.g., 'en', 'es', 'fr', 'de', 'hi'. ## `maxResults` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of forum results to return. The actor will paginate automatically. Set to 10 for quick searches or up to 100 for comprehensive results. ## Actor input object example ```json { "query": "iPhone 17", "time": "any", "country": "us", "language": "en", "maxResults": 10 } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `overview` (type: `string`): View all found forum results with position, title, URL, source, and snippet. ## `details` (type: `string`): View complete search results with all metadata including search query, time filter, country, and language. # 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": "iPhone 17", "time": "any", "country": "us", "language": "en", "maxResults": 10 }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("burbn/google-forums-search").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": "iPhone 17", "time": "any", "country": "us", "language": "en", "maxResults": 10, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("burbn/google-forums-search").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": "iPhone 17", "time": "any", "country": "us", "language": "en", "maxResults": 10 }' | apify call burbn/google-forums-search --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=burbn/google-forums-search", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Google Forums Search", "description": "Search discussions and forums across the web using Google Forums tab. Find forum posts from Reddit, Quora, Stack Overflow, Apple Support & more. Filter by time, country & language. Perfect for market research, brand monitoring & community insights.", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "OIOn8md8wjvQax4oL" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/burbn~google-forums-search/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-burbn-google-forums-search", "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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/burbn~google-forums-search/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-burbn-google-forums-search", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/burbn~google-forums-search/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-burbn-google-forums-search", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": "Enter a keyword, question, or phrase to search for in discussions and forums. E.g., \"iPhone 17 battery life\", \"best programming language 2025\", \"Tesla Model Y problems\".", "default": "iPhone 17" }, "time": { "title": "⏰ Time Filter", "enum": [ "any", "hour", "day", "week", "month", "year" ], "type": "string", "description": "Filter results by publication time. Use 'any' for all time, or filter by hour, day, week, month, or year.", "default": "any" }, "country": { "title": "🌍 Country", "type": "string", "description": "The country/region for search results (Google's gl parameter). Use 2-letter ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code. E.g., 'us', 'gb', 'in', 'de'.", "default": "us" }, "language": { "title": "🗣️ Language", "type": "string", "description": "The language for search results (Google's hl parameter). Use 2-letter ISO 639-1 alpha-2 language code. E.g., 'en', 'es', 'fr', 'de', 'hi'.", "default": "en" }, "maxResults": { "title": "📊 Max Results", "minimum": 10, "maximum": 100, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of forum results to return. The actor will paginate automatically. Set to 10 for quick searches or up to 100 for comprehensive results.", "default": 10 } } }, "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```