Google Forums Search Scraper

Search the public discussion threads that Google returns in its Forums tab. Give the Actor a query such as best CRM for a small team or React Server Components caching issue; it returns one structured dataset row per public forum thread Google finds.

This Actor works well for broad, public conversation discovery across communities. Once a workflow selects one community, pair the saved thread URL with a source-specific collector for that focused follow-up.

What you get

Each dataset row is one public Google Forums result:

• Original query and Google ranking position
• Thread title, public URL, display URL, and domain
• Google-provided source, date text, snippet, and labels
• Optional public answer previews when Google supplies them
• Country, language, device, Google Forums URL, provider provenance, and fetch time

It preserves the Google-returned date text and public metadata, while OUTPUT reports VALID_EMPTY whenever a completed query has no public matches.

Quick start

{
  "queries": ["best project management software", "how to learn javascript"],
  "countryCode": "us",
  "languageCode": "en",
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 20,
  "dateRange": "month"
}

Focused standalone workflow: from conversation discovery to source follow-up

A product researcher starts with "project management software frustrations", selects the United States, and limits the search to the last month. The Actor first requests Google's Forums page, then saves the public thread links, snippets, sources, and Google labels as rows. Next, the researcher groups results by source or recurring problem and continues with a source-specific workflow for the selected community. This Actor works as a focused standalone workflow when broad forum discovery is the job.

Inputs

Input	Default	What it controls
queries	Required	1–50 distinct phrases sent to Google's Forums tab.
countryCode	us	Google gl localization; use a two-letter lowercase code.
languageCode	en	Google hl language; use a two-letter lowercase code.
device	desktop	desktop, mobile, or tablet Google layout.
maxResultsPerQuery	20	1–100 saved public forum threads per query. Only necessary pages are requested.
dateRange	anytime	hour, day, week, month, or year limits Google results by recency.
includeAnswerPreviews	true	Saves public answer snippets only when Google exposes them under a result.
includeDomains	[]	Up to 20 bare domains to include with Google site: routing, such as reddit.com.
excludeDomains	[]	Up to 20 bare domains to exclude with Google -site: routing.

Example output

{
  "query": "best project management software",
  "effectiveQuery": "best project management software",
  "position": 1,
  "title": "What project management tool do you actually use?",
  "url": "https://www.example-forum.com/threads/project-management-tool.123/",
  "displayedUrl": "example-forum.com › threads › project-management-tool",
  "domain": "example-forum.com",
  "source": "Example Forum",
  "date": "2 weeks ago",
  "snippet": "I am comparing tools for a small remote team…",
  "extensions": ["18 replies"],
  "answers": [
    {
      "snippet": "We settled on a simple kanban workflow.",
      "url": "https://www.example-forum.com/threads/project-management-tool.123/#post-456",
      "extensions": ["Top answer"]
    }
  ],
  "countryCode": "us",
  "languageCode": "en",
  "device": "desktop",
  "googleForumsUrl": "https://www.google.com/search?q=best+project+management+software&gl=us&hl=en&device=desktop&udm=18",
  "provider": "serpapi/google_forums",
  "fetchedAt": "2026-08-24T00:00:00.000Z"
}

example-forum.com above is illustrative; every real row contains the Google-returned public URL and metadata.

Terminal outcomes

Read OUTPUT for the compact status and RUN_SUMMARY for diagnostics.

Outcome	Meaning
COMPLETE	Every query reached Google Forums and at least one public thread was saved.
VALID_EMPTY	Every query completed, but Google returned no public thread results.
PARTIAL	Some queries produced saved rows while other provider requests ended early.
INVALID_INPUT	The request needs an input adjustment before search begins.
CONFIG_ERROR	The managed provider configuration needs attention.
UPSTREAM_FAILED	The provider did not complete a query in this execution.

Pay per event pricing

• Actor start: $0.00005 automatically once per run, including a run later rejected during input validation.
• Google Forums search page: $0.065 per successful Google Forums page request, which can return up to 10 public thread results. This event covers the managed search-provider request even when Google returns no public matches.
• This is Pay per event pricing, with platform usage passed through to the caller. The live Pricing tab is the current source of truth for charges and platform usage.

For example, a request for up to 20 results can require two Google Forums pages: 2 × $0.065 + $0.00005 = $0.13005, plus Apify platform usage shown in the live Pricing tab. A request that finds no public matches still uses one successful provider page and is charged for that page.

The provider key is owner-managed through Apify's encrypted secret reference and stays outside inputs, output, datasets, and source code.

API example

curl -sS -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/khadinakbar~google-forums-search-scraper/runs?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "queries": ["best project management software"],
    "countryCode": "us",
    "languageCode": "en",
    "maxResultsPerQuery": 20,
    "dateRange": "month"
  }'

After execution completes, retrieve its default dataset for thread rows and read OUTPUT for the terminal outcome.

Use with an AI agent or MCP workflow

Search Google’s Forums tab for recent public discussions about [topic] in [country]. Return each thread’s title, URL, source, date, snippet, answer previews, and the terminal OUTPUT outcome. If the outcome is VALID_EMPTY, report that Google found no public forum results.

For source-constrained research, pass bare domains in includeDomains or excludeDomains. Every row preserves both the human-facing query and the exact effectiveQuery sent to Google, so a follow-up agent can reproduce or refine the search without guessing how routing was applied. This run-based Actor works through Apify's AI-agent and MCP integrations.

Best results

• Phrase the query like a person seeking a discussion, not a list of sites.
• Use a regional countryCode when local communities matter.
• Apply dateRange for fresh problem reports, product feedback, or recent buying conversations.
• Follow an individual thread URL with a source-specific scraper only where collection is lawful and the site is publicly accessible.

Scope and workflow guidance

Google's Forums tab reflects a country-, language-, device-, and time-sensitive public index. The Actor caps each query at 100 saved rows and requests at most the needed ten-result pages. Use a focused phrase, select the relevant locale, read OUTPUT, and use RUN_SUMMARY.warnings to target a follow-up search when appropriate.

Builder's design note

I designed this Actor around one stable unit of work: a successful Google Forums page. My goal was to give agents a compact terminal outcome, one row per public thread, provenance back to the Google query, and explicit routing details that make a later source-specific step reproducible. Use fetchedAt to place each result in its collection context and repeat the search when fresh discovery matters.

Compliance

This Actor returns metadata from Google-indexed public forum results. Use it lawfully and in line with Google, the source forum, privacy, data-protection requirements, and an appropriate legal basis for any people-related decision.