Google Play Search, Rank & App Details — No Login

Search Google Play by keyword in one or many countries and get the ranked list of apps for every term, with rating, ratings count, install range, price, genre, age rating, version and last update. Or add package names or Google Play URLs and get the same app details.

No login, no API key and no proxy setup. A typical run (pdf scanner, US, 20 apps) takes about 20 seconds and costs about $0.012.

Table of contents

• What it does
• Quick start
• Use cases
• Input
• Output
• Pricing and limits
• API, export and integrations
• Troubleshooting
• FAQ
• Related Actors
• Support

What it does

The Actor reads public Google Play pages, like a person in a browser who is not signed in. It works in two modes:

• search — for each keyword (term) and country, it runs one Google Play search and returns the apps in the same order as Google shows them. Every row has rank (1, 2, 3…), term and country. By default it also opens each app page and adds installs, ratings count, genre, age rating, version and last update.
• details — for each package name (for example com.whatsapp) or Google Play URL, it opens the app page in every country you choose and returns one row per app and country.

Many terms × many countries go into one run and one dataset. You can also mark your own apps with trackAppIds and see their rank for every term and country in the run summary.

Good fit

• App store optimization (ASO): check which apps rank for your keywords in each country.
• Rank tracking: see where your own apps stand for 10–30 keywords, run after run.
• Competitor research: compare install range, rating, price, in-app purchases and last update of rival apps.
• App catalog enrichment: turn a list of package names into rows with title, developer, genre and age rating.

Not a fit / limits

• No exact install numbers. Google shows a public range such as 10,000,000+. The Actor returns this text in installs and its lower bound in minInstalls. It never estimates an exact count.
• About 30 apps per search. Google's search page shows about 30 apps for a term and has no next page. maxItems is 1–30.
• No reviews, screenshots, permissions, data safety or developer contact details (email, phone, address).
• No top charts, categories or "similar apps" lists.
• Results are what Google shows to a signed-out visitor in that country and language. Personal results on a phone can differ.

Quick start

1. Open the Input tab.
2. Keep Mode = Search by keywords (the default).
3. Keep the prefilled Search terms pdf scanner and Countries us, or add your own.
4. Keep Results per term and country = 20 and click Start.
5. Open the Output tab and the Search results view. Check rank, title, installs and score.

Expected result: 20 rows for pdf scanner in the US, ranks 1–20, each with app page details.

Use cases

Buyer job	Input path	Output entity	Key fields	Next step
Keyword rank research	terms + countries	App row per rank	term, country, rank, appId, title	Export CSV, compare countries
Track my app's rank	terms + trackAppIds	Run summary rankTracking	rank, status (ranked / not_in_results)	Schedule a daily run
Competitor snapshot	mode: details + appIds	App row per app and country	installs, score, ratings, price, updatedAt, version	Google Sheets or API
Fast keyword scan	includeDetails: false	Search row	rank, title, developer, score, price	Pick apps for a details run

Input

Input fields

Field	Plain name	Type	Required	Default / prefill	Allowed values	Effect
mode	Mode	string	no	default search	search, details	Keyword search or app details
terms	Search terms	array of strings	yes in search	prefill ["pdf scanner"]	1–30 terms, up to 100 characters each	One search per term and country
countries	Countries	array of strings	no	default and prefill ["us"]	1–30 two-letter codes (us, gb, de, br…)	Every term or app ID is processed in every country
language	Language	string	no	default en	en, de, pt-BR…	Language of genre, age rating, description; also changes search results
maxItems	Results per term and country	integer	no	default and prefill 20	1–30	How many apps to keep per search
includeDetails	Add app page details	boolean	no	default true	true, false	false = faster, search fields only
trackAppIds	Track my apps' rank	array of strings	no	—	up to 30 package names or URLs	Marks rows with isTracked and adds rankTracking to the run summary
appIds	Package names or Google Play URLs	array of strings	yes in details	—	up to 300	Apps to read in details mode
includeDescription	Include description and what's new	boolean	no	default false	true, false	Adds description and recentChanges; rows get much larger

Duplicate terms are removed without regard to case (PDF Scanner = pdf scanner). Duplicate app IDs are removed too. A package name and its Google Play URL count as the same app.

Interacting settings

When	Input A	Input B	Effective behavior
Search size	terms	countries	terms × countries must be at most 60 searches
Search with details	terms × countries	maxItems	With includeDetails: true, terms × countries × maxItems must be at most 400 app pages
Details size	appIds	countries	appIds × countries must be at most 400
Mode	mode: details	terms, trackAppIds, maxItems, includeDetails	Ignored in details mode; app page details are always read

If a limit is exceeded, the run fails at once with a clear message and nothing is charged except the Actor start.

Input examples

Rank of your app for several keywords

{
  "mode": "search",
  "terms": ["pdf scanner", "document scanner"],
  "countries": ["us", "gb"],
  "maxItems": 30,
  "trackAppIds": ["com.intsig.camscanner"]
}

Expected behavior: 4 searches (2 terms × 2 countries), up to 30 apps each, with app page details. Expected output: up to 120 app rows; rows of the tracked app have isTracked: true. The run summary lists the tracked app's rank for each of the 4 searches, or not_in_results.

App details by package name or URL

{
  "mode": "details",
  "appIds": ["com.whatsapp", "https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.intsig.camscanner"],
  "countries": ["us", "de"]
}

Expected behavior: 4 app page lookups (2 apps × 2 countries). Expected output: 4 rows with rank: null. Prices, currency and age rating are for each country.

Output

Each row is one app in one search (or one app in one country in details mode). Every row has the same 46 fields. A field is null when Google does not show the value or when it was not requested.

The dataset has two views: Search results (search columns first) and App details (app page columns first).

Output fields

Field	Meaning	Type	Can be empty?	Example
status	Row type	string	no	complete, partial, not_found, error
term, country, rank	Search term, country, position in Google's list	string, string, integer	rank is null in details mode	pdf scanner, us, 2
isTracked	App is in trackAppIds	boolean	null without trackAppIds	true
appId, title, developer	Package name, app name, developer name	string	no on app rows	com.whatsapp
score	Average rating, 1–5	number	null when nobody rated the app yet	4.877
ratings, reviews	Number of ratings and written reviews	integer	null without app page details	2426697
ratingHistogram	Count of 1–5 star ratings	object	null without details	{"fiveStars": 2274811, …}
installs, minInstalls	Google's public install range and its lower bound	string, integer	null without details	50,000,000+, 50000000
price, free, currency, priceText	Price in the country's currency	number, boolean, string	priceText needs details	0, true, USD, Free
offersIAP, iapRange, adSupported	In-app purchases, their price range, ads	boolean, string	null without details	true, $1.99 per item
genre, contentRating	Category and age rating, in the chosen language	string	null without details	Productivity, Everyone
updatedAt, released, version, androidVersion	Last update (ISO time, UTC), release date, version, minimum Android	string	version is null when Google shows "Varies with device"	2026-09-28T13:34:21.000Z, 1.7.8
url, icon, developerUrl	Links to the app page, icon and developer page	string	no on app rows	https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=…
developerId	The developer ID from the Google Play developer link: a number or a name, as Google uses it	string	null when the page has no developer link	Simple+Design+Ltd.
description, recentChanges	Full description and What's New	string	null unless includeDescription: true	—
queryIds	App IDs a not_found or error row is about	array	null on app rows	["com.example.missing"]
errorCode, errorMessage	Why a row is partial or an error	string	null on complete rows	DETAILS_NOT_FOUND
detailsIncluded, sourceUrl, fetchedAt	Whether the app page was read, the page used, time of reading	boolean, string, string	no	true

Output example

From the Quick start run (pdf scanner, US). Trimmed: some fields are left out.

{
  "status": "complete",
  "mode": "search",
  "term": "pdf scanner",
  "country": "us",
  "rank": 2,
  "appId": "imagetopdf.pdfconverter.jpgtopdf.pdfeditor",
  "title": "Image to PDF - PDF Maker",
  "developer": "Simple Design Ltd.",
  "score": 4.877,
  "ratings": 2426697,
  "installs": "50,000,000+",
  "minInstalls": 50000000,
  "free": true,
  "offersIAP": true,
  "genre": "Productivity",
  "contentRating": "Everyone",
  "updatedAt": "2026-09-28T13:34:21.000Z",
  "version": "1.7.8",
  "description": null,
  "detailsIncluded": true,
  "errorCode": null
}

Output entities and surfaces

Situation	Where	Result	What to do
Normal app	Dataset	status: complete row	Use or export
Search with no apps	Dataset	One not_found row for that term and country	Check the spelling or try another country
App ID not on Google Play in that country	Dataset	A not_found row with the missing IDs in queryIds (one row per country for each group of up to 10 IDs)	Check the package name; some apps exist only in some countries
Invalid app ID or URL	Dataset	One error row with INVALID_IDENTIFIER and the bad values in queryIds	Fix the value
App page failed but the search worked	Dataset	status: partial row with search fields only	Run again later for the details
Run stopped early (Google blocked access, timeout, cost limit)	Dataset + RUN_SUMMARY	Rows already read stay; the rest is listed as NOT_PROCESSED	Read the run status message, then run again

The Run summary (key-value store record RUN_SUMMARY) has the run status (COMPLETE, NO_RESULTS, CAPPED, PARTIAL, ERROR…), counts, one line per search or lookup, and rankTracking for tracked apps. In details mode counts.queries counts groups of up to 10 app IDs per country, while counts.chargedQueries counts single app ID lookups (the paid query events).

Pricing and limits

Pricing unit

This Actor uses pay-per-event pricing. You pay for:

Event	When	Price
Actor start	Once per run (per GB of memory; default 1 GB)	$0.003
Google Play query answered	One search (term × country) or one app ID lookup (app ID × country) that Google answered	$0.0001
App row	One complete app row stored in the dataset	$0.00045 (Free plan), $0.00042 (Bronze), $0.0004 (Silver), $0.00038 (Gold and higher)

partial, not_found and error rows are free. A search with no apps costs only its query ($0.0001). Failed or skipped queries are free. Platform usage (compute, traffic) is included in these prices.

To cap the cost, set Max total charge in run options. When the limit is reached, the run stops, keeps all rows it already stored and reports CAPPED.

Cost examples

Event counts from our test runs, priced at Free plan prices:

Scenario	Input scope	Charged events	Cost
One app	pdf scanner, US, maxItems: 1	start + 1 query + 1 app	$0.0036
Typical	pdf scanner, US, maxItems: 20	start + 1 query + 20 apps	$0.0121
No apps found	one nonsense term, US	start + 1 query	$0.0031
Many keywords	20 terms × 2 countries × 10 apps, with details	start + 40 queries + 399 apps	about $0.19

Limits per run

• Up to 60 searches (terms × countries) and up to 30 apps per search.
• With app page details: up to 400 app pages per run (for example 20 terms × 2 countries × 10 apps). Such a run takes about 3.5 minutes.
• Without details: up to 60 × 30 = 1,800 rows, in under a minute.
• Details mode: up to 300 app IDs and 400 lookups (app IDs × countries).

For more, split the work into several runs.

API, export and integrations

• API: start the Actor with the Apify API and the same JSON input as above. Read rows from the run's dataset and the run summary from the RUN_SUMMARY record.
• Export: download the dataset as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML or HTML from the Output tab or the API.
• Scheduling: create a task with your terms and trackAppIds and add a schedule (for example daily) to collect a rank history.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

• Apify MCP server URL with only this Actor: https://mcp.apify.com?tools=cliqtomedia/google-play-apps-search
• Smallest useful input: {"terms": ["pdf scanner"], "countries": ["us"], "maxItems": 20}
• Key output fields: rank (position in Google Play search), appId (package name), title, installs (public install range), score (average rating).
• A typical call takes about 20 seconds and costs about $0.012. Limits: 60 searches, 30 apps per search, 400 app pages per run.

Troubleshooting

The run shows SOURCE_BLOCKED

Symptom: the status message says Google blocked access, and some searches are NOT_PROCESSED. Likely reason: Google showed a consent or CAPTCHA page. The Actor does not try to get around it. Action: rows read before the block stay in the dataset. Run the missing terms again later.

A search returned a not_found row

Symptom: one row with status: not_found for a term and country. Likely reason: Google returned no apps for this term in this country and language. Action: check the spelling, try language: en, or try another country. This row is free.

My tracked app shows not_in_results

Symptom: in RUN_SUMMARY.rankTracking, the app has status: not_in_results. Likely reason: the app is not in the first ~30 apps Google shows for that term and country. Action: this is a real result, not an error. Check the package name in trackAppIds.

The run failed at once with INVALID_INPUT

Symptom: the run ends in a few seconds with a message about a limit. Likely reason: too many searches or app pages for one run (see Limits per run). Action: lower maxItems, turn off includeDetails or split the terms into several runs.

FAQ

Do I need a Google account or API key?

No. The Actor reads public Google Play pages without login.

Why don't I get the exact number of installs?

Google Play shows only a range, such as 10,000,000+. Other numbers you may see elsewhere are estimates. This Actor returns only what Google shows: installs and its lower bound minInstalls.

Why is score null for some apps?

Nobody has rated the app yet. In that case ratings is 0 and score is null, not 0.

Why is version null?

Many large apps show "Varies with device" instead of a version number. The Actor returns null instead of a wrong value.

Are the results the same as on my phone?

Not always. The Actor sees what a signed-out visitor in the chosen country and language sees. Google can personalize results for signed-in users and change the order during the day.

How fresh is the data?

Every run reads Google Play live. fetchedAt shows when each row was read.

Related Actors

• App Store Search, Rank & App Details — the same keyword rank and app details for the Apple App Store, to compare both stores.

Support

For a bug, question or feature request, open an issue in the Issues tab of this Actor. Include the run ID, the mode and the error message. Never send tokens or passwords.