Google Trends Scraper – Interest Over Time & Related Queries

Google Trends scraper without an API key: interest over time, interest by region (country, state, city, metro), related queries and topics (top and rising) and Trending now searches with volume. Compare up to 5 terms, any country, time range or category. Built-in 429 handling.

Price: $2 per 1,000 results. A result is a whole report (e.g. a full 12-month timeline), not a single row. Failed or empty lookups are free.

What data can you get?

Report (type)	What you get
interestOverTime	The 0–100 interest timeline (minute, hourly, daily, weekly or monthly points depending on the time range) + average, peak value & date, latest value, partial-data flag
interestByRegion	0–100 interest per country / state / city / metro, the top region, and – when comparing terms – each term's % share in every region
relatedQueries	Top and rising related searches with values, "Breakout" flags and Google Trends links
relatedTopics	Top and rising related topics (title, topic type, Knowledge Graph id) – see FAQ
trendingNow	What people search for right now in a country: search volume (e.g. 200K+), growth %, start/end time, active flag, categories, related searches ("trend breakdown") and news articles

Use cases

• SEO & content planning – find rising queries and seasonal peaks for your topics.
• Market & product research – compare brands, products or technologies side by side over 5 years.
• E-commerce & demand forecasting – feed weekly interest into forecasting models and see demand by region.
• News and media monitoring – pull the Trending now list every hour for newsrooms or alerts.
• Finance & crypto research – use search interest as an alternative-data signal.
• AI agents & LLM apps – let an agent answer "what is trending?" or "is X growing?" through MCP.

How it handles Google's rate limits

Google Trends answers automated traffic with HTTP 429 "Too Many Requests" and can block an IP for hours. The Actor is built around that:

• Retries – every retry gets a fresh Google session (NID cookie) and, with Apify Proxy, a new IP address, with exponential backoff and jitter.
• Residential fallback – if Google keeps rate-limiting the datacenter proxy, the run switches to the RESIDENTIAL proxy group (if your plan includes it).
• Token refresh – if a chart request keeps failing, the Actor re-opens the Explore page for fresh widget tokens and tries again.
• Pacing – requests are sent one after another with a small gap, never in parallel bursts.
• No failed runs on bad input – an unknown or low-volume term produces a free error row (NO_DATA) and the run still finishes Succeeded.
• Plain HTTP, no browser – about 3–5 small requests per term.

How to use it

1. Click Try for free or Start.
2. Enter Search terms (e.g. chatgpt, gemini). Up to 5 are compared on one chart, and longer lists are processed in groups of 5.
3. Choose Location (US, GB, US-CA… or empty = worldwide), Time range and Data to collect.
4. Optional: tick Include Trending now searches.
5. Click Start, then download the data as JSON, CSV, Excel or HTML, or connect it to Google Sheets, Make, Zapier, n8n or webhooks.

Input

Field	Type	Description
searchTerms	array of strings	Keywords. Empty = only Trending now.
geo	string	US, GB, US-CA, US-NY-501, or "" for worldwide. Default US.
timeRange	enum	past-hour, past-4-hours, past-day, past-7-days, past-30-days, past-90-days, past-12-months (default), past-5-years, all-time, custom.
startDate / endDate	YYYY-MM-DD	Only for custom.
outputs	array	Any of interestOverTime, interestByRegion, relatedQueries, relatedTopics. Default: first three.
compareTerms	boolean	true (default): terms share one 0–100 scale (groups of 5). false: each term gets its own scale.
trendingNow	boolean	Also return Trending now searches.
trendingGeo	string	Country for Trending now (default: geo, or US).
trendingHours	enum	4, 24 (default), 48, 168.
trendingActiveOnly	boolean	Only trends that are still active.
maxTrendingItems	integer	Default 25, 0 = all (~500).
property	enum	web (default), news, images, youtube, shopping.
category	enum	Google Trends category, e.g. 7 = Finance, 20 = Sports. Default 0 (all).
regionResolution	enum	auto, COUNTRY, REGION, CITY, DMA.
includeLowSearchVolumeRegions	boolean	Include regions with low volume.
outputFormat	enum	reports (default) or flat – see below.
language	string	e.g. en-US, de, tr.
proxyConfiguration	object	Default: Apify Proxy (datacenter). Choose RESIDENTIAL for very large keyword lists.

Example input:

{
    "searchTerms": ["chatgpt", "gemini", "claude"],
    "geo": "US",
    "timeRange": "past-12-months",
    "outputs": ["interestOverTime", "interestByRegion", "relatedQueries"],
    "trendingNow": true,
    "maxTrendingItems": 25
}

Output

Two output formats

• reports (default, suited to APIs and AI agents): one dataset item per term per report, with summary fields (average, peak, top region, top query…) plus the full data in an array (timeline, regions, top, rising).
• flat (suited to Excel, Google Sheets, pivot tables): one row per data point – one row per date, per region or per related query, with the same column names for every term. Price is identical: you pay per report, not per row.

Every item has a type (interestOverTime, interestByRegion, relatedQueries, relatedTopics, trendingNow or error) and the context fields term, comparedWith, geo, timeRange, time, searchType, categoryId, exploreUrl (opens the same chart in Google Trends) and scrapedAt. All dates are ISO 8601 in UTC.

Real sample output (input ["bitcoin", "ethereum"], US, past 12 months; arrays shortened):

Interest over time (reports format)

{
    "type": "interestOverTime",
    "term": "bitcoin",
    "comparedWith": ["ethereum"],
    "geo": "US",
    "timeRange": "past-12-months",
    "time": "today 12-m",
    "searchType": "web",
    "categoryId": 0,
    "categoryName": "All categories",
    "exploreUrl": "https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=bitcoin%2Cethereum&date=today+12-m&geo=US&hl=en",
    "resolution": "WEEK",
    "pointCount": 53,
    "average": 34,
    "peakValue": 100,
    "peakDate": "2026-02-01T00:00:00.000Z",
    "latestValue": 17,
    "latestDate": "2026-10-04T00:00:00.000Z",
    "latestIsPartial": true,
    "timeline": [
        { "date": "2025-10-05T00:00:00.000Z", "formattedTime": "Oct 5 – 11, 2025", "value": 37, "isPartial": false },
        { "date": "2026-10-04T00:00:00.000Z", "formattedTime": "Oct 4 – 10, 2026", "value": 17, "isPartial": true }
    ],
    "scrapedAt": "2026-10-07T21:17:51.906Z"
}

Interest by region – comparisonShare = this term's share (%) of the compared terms in that region

{
    "type": "interestByRegion",
    "term": "bitcoin",
    "comparedWith": ["ethereum"],
    "geo": "US",
    "regionResolution": "REGION",
    "regionCount": 51,
    "topRegion": "Wyoming",
    "topRegionCode": "US-WY",
    "regions": [
        { "geoCode": "US-WY", "geoName": "Wyoming", "value": 100, "comparisonShare": 82 },
        { "geoCode": "US-KS", "geoName": "Kansas", "value": 45, "comparisonShare": 86 }
    ]
}

Related queries – rising value is the % increase; Breakout means more than +5,000 %

{
    "type": "relatedQueries",
    "term": "bitcoin",
    "topCount": 25,
    "risingCount": 25,
    "topItem": "bitcoin price",
    "topRisingItem": "spcx stock",
    "top": [
        { "query": "bitcoin price", "rank": 1, "value": 100, "formattedValue": "100", "isBreakout": false, "link": "https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=bitcoin+price&date=today+12-m&geo=US" }
    ],
    "rising": [
        { "query": "spcx stock", "rank": 1, "value": 12250, "formattedValue": "Breakout", "isBreakout": true, "link": "https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=spcx+stock&date=today+12-m&geo=US" }
    ]
}

Trending now

{
    "type": "trendingNow",
    "rank": 1,
    "title": "hurricane isaias",
    "trendingGeo": "US",
    "timeWindowHours": 24,
    "searchVolume": 200000,
    "searchVolumeFormatted": "200K+",
    "increasePercentage": 900,
    "startedAt": "2026-10-06T20:40:00.000Z",
    "endedAt": null,
    "isActive": true,
    "categories": ["Climate"],
    "trendBreakdown": ["hurricane isaias", "hurricane", "hurricane in the gulf", "tropical storm isaias", "state of emergency"],
    "imageUrl": null,
    "newsArticles": [],
    "exploreUrl": "https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=hurricane+isaias&date=now+1-d&geo=US&hl=en"
}

newsArticles (title, url, source, imageUrl) is filled for the trends that appear in Google's Trending now RSS feed (roughly the 10 most recent ones).

Flat rows (outputFormat: "flat") – the same data, one row per point:

{ "type": "interestOverTime", "term": "bitcoin", "comparedWith": ["ethereum"], "geo": "US", "timeRange": "past-12-months", "resolution": "WEEK", "date": "2025-10-05T00:00:00.000Z", "formattedTime": "Oct 5 – 11, 2025", "value": 37, "isPartial": false }
{ "type": "interestByRegion", "term": "bitcoin", "geo": "US", "regionResolution": "REGION", "rank": 1, "geoCode": "US-WY", "geoName": "Wyoming", "value": 100, "comparisonShare": 82 }
{ "type": "relatedQueries", "term": "bitcoin", "geo": "US", "list": "top", "query": "bitcoin price", "rank": 1, "value": 100, "formattedValue": "100", "isBreakout": false }

Error / no data (free)

{ "type": "error", "term": "zzqxv", "dataType": "interestOverTime", "errorCode": "NO_DATA", "error": "Not enough search volume for this term, region and time range (Google shows no data)." }

Possible errorCode values: NO_DATA, NO_WIDGETS, RATE_LIMITED, IP_BLOCKED, UNSUPPORTED_GEO, TOKEN_OR_REQUEST, REQUEST_FAILED.

The dataset has ready-made views in Apify Console: Overview, Interest over time, Interest by region, Related queries & topics and Trending now.

Pricing

This Actor uses pay-per-event pricing. You pay only for results. Platform usage and proxies are included.

Event	Price	What is one result?
trend-result	$0.002 ($2 / 1,000)	One report for one term (interestOverTime, interestByRegion, relatedQueries or relatedTopics) or one Trending now search
Errors / no data	Free	Terms without data, failed requests, invalid input

Job	Results	Cost
2 terms × 3 reports	6	$0.012
1 term, all 4 reports	4	$0.008
100 keywords, interest over time only	100	$0.20
1,000 keywords × 3 reports	3,000	$6.00
Trending now, top 25	25	$0.05

Tip: set Max cost per run in the run options. The Actor stops cleanly when your budget is reached.

Reliability, 429 errors and proxies

Google Trends limits how many requests one IP address can make. In our tests from a single IP without a proxy, about 1 in 20 chart requests got a transient HTTP 429 (all recovered automatically by the retry logic), but after roughly 80–100 requests within ~10 minutes (≈ 25–30 terms) Google blocked the IP entirely with its "unusual traffic" page, and that block lasted several hours. For anything beyond a few terms, use a proxy that changes IPs. What this means for you:

• Apify Proxy (default, datacenter): every retry uses a different IP, so a single 429 costs a second or two instead of failing the run. Recommended for most jobs.
• Automatic fallback: if the datacenter proxy is rate-limited several times in a row, the Actor switches to RESIDENTIAL proxy automatically (if your plan allows it).
• RESIDENTIAL proxy: choose it in Proxy configuration for very large keyword lists (hundreds or thousands of terms) or if you still see many 429 warnings.
• No proxy: works for a handful of terms, but long lists will hit Google's IP block. If that happens the Actor stops early with a log message and free error rows instead of retrying for minutes.

A few HTTP 429 ... retrying warnings in the log are normal. The Actor retries them automatically.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Add the Actor as a tool in the Apify MCP server (https://mcp.apify.com?tools=openharvest/google-trends-scraper), or let agents find it with search-actors ("google trends"). An agent can then answer questions such as "Is interest in solar panels growing in Germany?" or "What is trending in the UK right now?". The default reports format is compact and self-describing (average, peakDate, latestValue, topRegion, topItem, topRisingItem), so agents rarely need the full arrays.

Example tool input an agent might send:

{
    "searchTerms": ["solar panels", "heat pump"],
    "geo": "DE",
    "timeRange": "past-5-years",
    "outputs": ["interestOverTime", "relatedQueries"]
}

Trending-now only:

{ "trendingNow": true, "trendingGeo": "GB", "maxTrendingItems": 10 }

FAQ

Do I need a Google account or API key? No. The Actor reads the same public data you see on trends.google.com, without login.

What do the 0–100 values mean? Google Trends values are relative: 100 is the peak popularity of the term (or of the most popular compared term) in the chosen region and time range, 50 is half as popular. They are not absolute search counts. Trending now is different: it shows approximate absolute search volumes (e.g. 200K+).

Why do values change when I compare different terms? Compared terms share one scale. If you compare more than 5 terms they are split into groups of 5 and each group has its own scale. Set compareTerms to false to give every term its own 0–100 scale.

Why are related topics sometimes empty? Google Trends often returns an empty related-topics list to automated requests (and always for low-volume terms). When that happens you get a free NO_DATA row and are not charged. Related queries are not affected.

Why is the last data point marked isPartial? The current week/day/hour is still in progress, so Google marks it as partial.

Why does a term have no data? Google only shows terms with enough search volume. Low-volume terms produce a free NO_DATA error row.

Which countries support Trending now? All countries listed on trends.google.com/trending (US, GB, DE, IN, BR, JP, TR and ~120 more). Use a 2-letter code.

Can I run it on a schedule? Yes. Use Apify Schedules, e.g. Trending now every hour or weekly interest for your keyword list, and send the results to Google Sheets, Slack or a webhook.

Is it legal to scrape Google Trends?

Google Trends publishes anonymised, aggregated search statistics; this Actor collects only that public data and no personal information. You are responsible for using the data in line with applicable laws and Google's Terms of Service. The Actor is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google. If you are unsure about your use case, consult a lawyer.

Related actors

Other actors by the same developer:

• Keyword Suggestions – Google, YouTube & Amazon Autocomplete: long-tail keyword ideas to check in Trends
• Google News Scraper – Full Article Text & Real Publisher URLs: the news behind a spike in interest
• YouTube Transcript Scraper – Captions, Subtitles & Video Data: what videos on a trending topic actually say
• Telegram Channel Scraper – Posts, Messages & Views, No Login: public Telegram posts, views and media

Support & feedback

Found a bug or need another field? Open an issue in the Issues tab.