# Question Miner - the questions people type on 4 search engines (`forrestfarm/question-miner-4-engines`) Actor

Give it a topic, get the real questions people type into Google, YouTube, Bing and DuckDuckGo autocomplete, de-duplicated and scored. Keyless public endpoints, no browser.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/forrestfarm/question-miner-4-engines.md
- **Developed by:** [Forrest Scholtes-Dowd](https://apify.com/forrestfarm) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 1,000 questions

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Question Miner - the questions people type on 4 search engines

### Use case

A content team picks a topic and walks away with the real questions people type into Google, YouTube, Bing and DuckDuckGo about it, de-duplicated and scored, ready to become video titles, article headings or FAQ rows.

### Sample output

Input `{"seed": "chicken coop", "max_questions": 100}` -> 100 rows returned, 170 found (run 2026-10-19). 128 of the 170 start with a question word; the rest carry the seed, like "chicken coop ideas".

| question | google | youtube | bing | ddg | score | ladders |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| chicken coop ideas | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| best chicken coop design | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| what chicken coop to buy | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |

Columns: question, google, youtube, bing, ddg, score, ladders, seed. Summary record: engines asked, engines with hits, questions found, questions returned.

### Price

**$0.002 per question** plus **$0.005 per start**. Pay per event only: no plan, no subscription, no platform-usage charge. A run capped at 100 questions costs at most $0.205.

### Input

- `seed` (required) - a short topic, e.g. chicken coop, seed starting, creatine.
- `engines` - any of google, youtube, bing, ddg (default: all four).
- `max_questions` - cap on rows, 1 to 500 (default 100).

### Who uses it

- Content creators picking video and article topics people already search for.
- SEO teams building FAQ and heading lists.
- Product researchers reading what buyers ask before they buy.

### How it works

For each engine we walk nine autocomplete ladders: the seed alone, then how, why, what, when, can, does, is and best in front of it. We keep the suggestions that carry a question word or the seed's last word, merge the four engines, drop duplicates and score each question: one point per Google ladder, one per YouTube ladder, plus one if Bing has it and one if DuckDuckGo has it. Public autocomplete endpoints, no keys, no browser.

### What it does not do

- It does not give search volume. Autocomplete shows popular phrasings, not counts.
- Bing and DuckDuckGo return the same list whatever the prefix, so each adds one point, not a ranking.
- If one engine is down, its column reads 0 and the other three still fill the table; the summary says how many fetches failed.
- A seed no engine knows returns 0 rows, exit 0 and a message. Only the start is charged. YouTube answers a nonsense seed by echoing it back with a digit on the end; those echoes are dropped, so a typo is never billed as questions (checked 2026-10-19: a nonsense seed gave 0 rows).

### Tips

- Keep the seed to two or three words: "chicken coop", not "how to build a chicken coop".
- Lower `max_questions` when you only need the top of the list.

# Actor input Schema

## `seed` (type: `string`):

A short topic, e.g. chicken coop, seed starting, creatine.

## `engines` (type: `array`):

Any of google, youtube, bing, ddg. Default: all four.

## `max_questions` (type: `integer`):

Cap on rows returned (1-500).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "seed": "chicken coop",
  "engines": [
    "google",
    "youtube",
    "bing",
    "ddg"
  ],
  "max_questions": 100
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# 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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "seed": "chicken coop"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("forrestfarm/question-miner-4-engines").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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "seed": "chicken coop" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("forrestfarm/question-miner-4-engines").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "seed": "chicken coop"
}' |
apify call forrestfarm/question-miner-4-engines --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,forrestfarm/question-miner-4-engines"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/Ra2nO04VV9hBjh3En/builds/JFcW7MafmUd4kkVhr/openapi.json