# Keyword Ideas, Volume & Difficulty – Google (`publicrows/keyword-ideas`) Actor

Keyword research from seed keywords: Google keyword ideas with monthly search volume, CPC, competition, a 0–100 difficulty score, search intent and 12-month trend. Licensed data through the DataForSEO Labs API, nothing scraped. $3 per 1,000 ideas plus $0.10 per lookup.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/publicrows/keyword-ideas.md
- **Developed by:** [PublicRows](https://apify.com/publicrows) (community)
- **Categories:** SEO tools, Automation
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 95.2% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.10 / 1,000 keyword idea returneds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

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

## Keyword Ideas, Volume & Difficulty – Google

Keyword research from seed keywords: Google keyword ideas with monthly search volume, CPC, competition, a 0–100 difficulty score, search intent and 12-month trend. Licensed data through the DataForSEO Labs API, nothing scraped. $3 per 1,000 ideas plus $0.10 per lookup.

### Who this is for

SEO strategists, content teams, PPC managers and AI agents expanding a topic into the keywords worth ranking for: start from a handful of seeds, get thousands of ideas ranked by volume with the difficulty and intent that decide what to write first.

### Sample output

```json
{
  "keyword": "goyard bag",
  "search_volume": 550000,
  "cpc_usd": 0.31,
  "competition": "HIGH",
  "competition_0_1": 0.98,
  "keyword_difficulty": 5,
  "main_intent": "transactional",
  "trend_monthly_pct": -18,
  "trend_quarterly_pct": 0,
  "trend_yearly_pct": 172,
  "core_keyword": "go yard bag",
  "words_count": 2,
  "google_categories": "[10021,10178,10937]",
  "low_top_of_page_bid_usd": 0.03,
  "high_top_of_page_bid_usd": 0.47,
  "latest_month": "2026-08",
  "latest_month_volume": 1000000,
  "monthly_searches": "[{\"year\":2026,\"month\":8,\"search_volume\":1000000},{\"year\":2026,\"month\":7,\"search_volume\":1220000},{\"year\":2026,\"month\":6,\"search_volume\":1000000},{\"year\":2026,\"month\":5,\"search_volume\":673000},{\"year\":2026,\"month\":4,\"search_volume\":301000},{\"year\":2026,\"month\":3,\"search_volume\":301000},{\"year\":2026,\"month\":2,\"search_volume\":246000},{\"year\":2026,\"month\":1,\"search_volume\":301000},{\"year\":2025,\"month\":12,\"search_volume\":368000},{\"year\":2025,\"month\":11,\"search_volume\":301000},{\"year\":2025,\"month\":10,\"search_volume\":246000},{\"year\":2025,\"month\":9,\"search_volume\":301000}]",
  "seed_keywords": "laptop,gaming laptop,laptop bag",
  "location_code": 2840,
  "language_code": "en",
  "row_key": "goyard bag|2840|en",
  "source_url": "https://dataforseo.com/apis/dataforseo-labs-api"
}
```

### What you get

One row per keyword. Every row also carries `_source` (attribution) and the recipe version.

| Field | Type |
| --- | --- |
| `keyword` | string, always present |
| `search_volume` | number |
| `cpc_usd` | number |
| `competition` | string |
| `competition_0_1` | number |
| `keyword_difficulty` | number |
| `main_intent` | string |
| `trend_monthly_pct` | number |
| `trend_quarterly_pct` | number |
| `trend_yearly_pct` | number |
| `core_keyword` | string |
| `words_count` | number |
| `google_categories` | string |
| `low_top_of_page_bid_usd` | number |
| `high_top_of_page_bid_usd` | number |
| `latest_month` | string |
| `latest_month_volume` | number |
| `monthly_searches` | string |
| `seed_keywords` | string |
| `location_code` | number, always present |
| `language_code` | string, always present |
| `row_key` | string, always present |
| `source_url` | string |

Ideas, volumes, CPC and difficulty come from the DataForSEO Labs API under its licence; the actor never scrapes Google or an SEO tool. `keyword_difficulty` is the supplier's 0–100 estimate of how hard the top 10 is to enter, from the link profiles of the pages ranking today.

`main_intent` is informational, navigational, commercial or transactional. `competition_0_1` is Google Ads competition on a 0–1 scale, `trend_*_pct` give the volume change over the last month, quarter and year, `core_keyword` is the shorter head term an idea belongs to, and `google_categories` lists Google's product-category ids as JSON. `monthly_searches` holds twelve monthly values (newest first) as JSON. CPC and bids are null where Google shows no advertisers.

Ideas are the supplier's semantic expansion of the seeds, biggest volume first, so a seed like "laptop bag" also brings bag brands; use `minSearchVolume` and the `core_keyword` column to narrow, and set `maxItems` to what you need: the supplier is asked only for that many.

Each supplier request carries up to 200 seeds and returns up to 1,000 ideas; longer result sets continue automatically. One `lookup` ($0.10) is billed per request on top of the per-idea price, so 1,000 ideas cost $3.10.

Bring your own DataForSEO credentials in the two optional inputs if you prefer the supplier charge on your own account; the row price stays the same.

### Pricing

Pay per keyword: $0.003 each ($3.00 per 1,000), plus $0.10 per lookup (up to 1,000 ideas). The first 20 rows of every run are free; a 20-keyword test therefore costs $0.10.

### How to run

1. Keep the defaults for the standard sample, or set the inputs (listed last, below).
2. Run. Results land in the dataset as JSON, CSV or Excel.
3. From code or an agent: call it through the API, or as an MCP tool via mcp.apify.com.

### Source and fair use

Data: DataForSEO Labs API (Google keyword ideas, volume, difficulty), licensed. The data is bought from the supplier under its API terms on every run; nothing is scraped from any website. Rows are facts about keywords, and no personal data of individuals is included.

### FAQ

**How fresh is the data?** Each run fetches live from the source.
**Can I get more fields?** Open an issue naming the field and where it appears at the source.
**Something broke?** Open an issue. Issues are answered within 12 hours.
**Found it useful?** A short review on this page helps other people find it, and tells us what to improve.

### Inputs

- `seedKeywords`: One seed keyword per line (commas also work), up to 200 per request. The supplier returns the keyword ideas Google associates with these seeds, biggest search volume first.
- `location`: Country the volumes and difficulty are for (Google Ads location).
- `language`: Language of the searches.
- `minSearchVolume`: Skip ideas below this monthly search volume. 0 = keep everything the supplier returns, including ideas with no volume data.
- `sandbox`: Use the supplier's test environment: same row structure, dummy numbers, no supplier charge. For wiring tests only.
- `dfsLogin`: Optional: your own DataForSEO API login. Leave empty to use ours.
- `dfsPassword`: Optional: your own DataForSEO API password. Leave empty to use ours.
- `maxItems`: Stop after this many rows.

# Actor input Schema

## `seedKeywords` (type: `string`):

One seed keyword per line (commas also work), up to 200 per request. The supplier returns the keyword ideas Google associates with these seeds, biggest search volume first.

## `location` (type: `string`):

Country the volumes and difficulty are for (Google Ads location).

## `language` (type: `string`):

Language of the searches.

## `minSearchVolume` (type: `integer`):

Skip ideas below this monthly search volume. 0 = keep everything the supplier returns, including ideas with no volume data.

## `sandbox` (type: `boolean`):

Use the supplier's test environment: same row structure, dummy numbers, no supplier charge. For wiring tests only.

## `dfsLogin` (type: `string`):

Optional: your own DataForSEO API login. Leave empty to use ours.

## `dfsPassword` (type: `string`):

Optional: your own DataForSEO API password. Leave empty to use ours.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many rows.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "seedKeywords": "laptop\ngaming laptop\nlaptop bag",
  "location": "2840",
  "language": "en",
  "minSearchVolume": 100,
  "sandbox": false,
  "maxItems": 300
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `rows` (type: `string`):

Dataset items, one per keyword (keyword, search_volume, cpc_usd, competition, competition_0_1, keyword_difficulty, main_intent, trend_monthly_pct, trend_quarterly_pct, trend_yearly_pct, core_keyword, words_count, google_categories, low_top_of_page_bid_usd, high_top_of_page_bid_usd, latest_month, latest_month_volume, monthly_searches, seed_keywords, location_code, language_code, row_key, source_url). Append ?format=csv or ?format=xlsx for other formats.

## `runSummary` (type: `string`):

Pages fetched, response classes, cost estimate and the quality-gate checks for this run.

# 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 = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("publicrows/keyword-ideas").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 = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("publicrows/keyword-ideas").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 '{}' |
apify call publicrows/keyword-ideas --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,publicrows/keyword-ideas"
        }
    }
}
```

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/fGyhqWQzGsSxDra1j/builds/2JnJcsBCTb0XTdo05/openapi.json