Linkedin Groups Search Scraper

How it works

This actor is designed to discover and extract information from LinkedIn group search results, capturing key group details such as the group name, unique identifier, link, image, member count, and summary.

Features

This actor offers the following features:

• Multiple Keyword Support: Provide one or more LinkedIn group search URLs (e.g. https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/groups/?keywords=ai) to retrieve results for all supplied keywords.
• Keyword Normalization: Enter either full LinkedIn search URLs or raw keywords (e.g. AI, artificial intelligence) and the actor will automatically build the correct LinkedIn group search URLs for you.
• Authentication Requirement: To enable more extensive scraping capabilities, users are required to log in using cookie-based authentication.
• Customizable Configuration: Offers adjustable settings such as concurrency, proxy configuration, and result limits to cater to different data extraction requirements.

How to Use

1. Set Up: Ensure you have an Apify account and access to the Apify platform.
2. Install Cookie-Editor (there is option to Export cookies as JSON) or EditThisCookie chrome extension.
3. Login to your Linkedin account
4. While you are on Linkedin tab, Click on the extension and export the cookies. Cookies are used to authorize actor with Linkedin.com site. Install any (or all) of the following chrome extensions to copy cookies:
   • Copy Cookies
   • Cookie-Editor
   • EditThisCookie
5. Paste the cookies to this actor's Cookie input field. Note: The minimal cookies required are li_at and JSESSIONID. The script will not work without both of these cookies present! If you are only adding the necessary cookies, use the following format:

   [
       "li_at=AQEDAVlyxjIBq-akAAABlg7eWgUAAAGWzWwP51YAihE_vTW5ImH3kVVIsE2U1cZw7N4nscZzYDE-XZfYKCVgtPEI5hlH-c8f02mx-dmHLTq2kDrcwNBAdWw8ZaI3UdyvxFA9Xtq7iaKQaulazJV26FpC",
       "JSESSIONID='ajax:4947018518935300273'"
   ]
   

6. Specify the LinkedIn group search URL you want to scrape, or simply provide the keyword (e.g. AI). Plain keywords are automatically converted into the proper LinkedIn group search URLs. You can add multiple entries for a broader search scope.
7. (Optional) Configure proxy settings for enhanced reliability.
8. Run the actor and obtain the extracted data in your preferred format.
9. Data Collection: The scraper will output data in your chosen format, which can include JSON, HTML, CSV, Excel, or others as supported by Apify.

Input Data

Here's a simple example of how to set up a search for groups on Linkedin:

{
    "cookies": [
        "li_at=AQEDAVlyxjIBq-akAAABlg7eWgUAAAGWzWwP51YAihE_vTW5ImH3kVVIsE2U1cZw7N4nscZzYDE-XZfYKCVgtPEI5hlH-c8f02mx-dmHLTq2kDrcwNBAdWw8ZaI3UdyvxFA9Xtq7iaKQaulazJV26FpC",
        "JSESSIONID='ajax:4947018518935300273'"
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true,
        "apifyProxyGroups": [
            "RESIDENTIAL"
        ]
    },
    "startUrls": [
        {
            "url": "https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/groups/?keywords=artificial%20intelligence"
        },
        {
            "url": "AI"
        }
    ]
}

Output Structure

The output data typically includes:

[
    {
        "GroupID": "10350430",
        "GroupName": "Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Python, Data Science - AI Scientist, Analyst & Developer",
        "Grouplink": "https://www.linkedin.com/groups/10350430",
        "GroupImage": "https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/v2/D5607AQGzf1XjeNjjfQ/group-logo_image-shrink_48x48/B56ZgMuqduGUAU-/0/1752560217018?e=1759388400&v=beta&t=5Ry4OQ11qnHa0d85OYbG9vEF7WvhrpmFI2ioslp-z6Q",
        "GroupMember": "408K members",
        "Summary": "🔹 Welcome to the Community Artificial Intelligence (AI) | Machine Learning (ML) | Data Science | Python | Business Intelligence (BI) | Analytics Information Technology - IT & Computer Science - CS - Software Engineer, Developer, Data Scientist & Analyst Community: Big Data | Data Analysts and Scientists | Data Engineers | Business Analysts | Power BI Developers   🔍 Focus Areas: AI & ML: Generative AI, GenAI, LLMs, AI Agents, Agentic AI, Deep Learning, NLP Data Science & Analytics: Data Mining, Data Visualization, Data Engineering, BI, Decision Science Cloud & Computing: AWS, SaaS, SAP, Virtualization, Cloud Platforms, DevOps Programming & Development: Python, Java, JavaScript, R, SQL, NoSQL, .NET, C# BI & Visualization Tools: Power BI, Tableau, QlikView, Excel, Google Data Studio Databases: MySQL, MongoDB, Oracle, BigQuery, Big Data, Apache Spark, Hadoop, Kafka Full-Stack Development: Front-End: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Angular, React Back-End: Node.js, Express.js, MongoDB, MySQL, .NET Tools & Platforms: Git, Docker, Azure DevOps, Web API, UI/UX Emerging Tech: IoT, Blockchain, Robotics, Microsoft AI, Google AI, OpenAI, DeepSeek AI   👤 Roles & Professionals Welcome: Data Scientist, Data Analyst, Data Engineer, Data Architect AI/ML Engineers, Python Developers, Java Developers, Software Engineers BI Analysts, Business Analysts, Database Engineers, Full Stack Developers 🤝 Networking & Opportunities: Founders, CXOs (CEO, CTO, CIO, COO, CFO, CMO, CDO, CHRO) Investors, Directors, and Professionals open to Hiring, Partnerships, and Investments 🔹 Artificial Intelligence & Technology #ArtificialIntelligenceInnovators #ai #aiml #ml #ArtificialIntelligence #MachineLearning #DeepLearning #OpenAI #ChatGPT #Gemini #Bing #Copilot #Technology #Digital #DigitalMarketing #SEO 🔹 Business, Sales & Marketing #Sales #Marketing #DigitalMarketing #Advertising #Branding #Promotions #Agencies #Business #Management #Solutionators #Marketing  #Media #LinkedIn #LinkedInGroups   "
    }
    ...
]

Key fields explained:

• GroupID: Unique numeric identifier used by LinkedIn to reference the group.
• GroupName: Public display name of the LinkedIn group.
• Grouplink: Direct URL that opens the group page on LinkedIn.
• GroupImage: URL of the group avatar shown in search results.
• GroupMember: Reported member count (as formatted by LinkedIn) for the group.
• Summary: Rich text description collected from the group search snippet, often highlighting focus areas, roles, and hashtags.

Support

• For issues or feature requests, please use the Issues section of this actor.
• If you need customization or have questions, feel free to contact the author:
  • Author's website: https://muhamed-didovic.github.io/
  • Email: muhamed.didovic@gmail.com

Additional Services

• Request customization or whole dataset: muhamed.didovic@gmail.com
• If you need anything else scraped, or this actor customized, email: muhamed.didovic@gmail.com
• For API services of this scraper (no Apify fee, just usage fee for the API), contact: muhamed.didovic@gmail.com