Google Shorts Scraper

What does Google Shorts Scraper do?

Google Shorts Scraper searches public Google Videos results for short-form videos from YouTube Shorts, TikTok, Instagram Reels, Facebook Reels, and other supported public video platforms. It is a fast Google video-search API alternative for discovery and monitoring; it does not log in to platforms, solve CAPTCHAs, or crawl private engagement/detail endpoints.

The Actor supports one topic or a batch of up to 20 topics, Google country and language localization, platform filters, publication windows, SafeSearch, bounded pagination, stable IDs, and global deduplication.

Why use Google Shorts Scraper?

• Discover short-form videos around brands, products, people, and trends.
• Compare coverage across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.
• Monitor multiple topics in one fairly allocated batch run.
• Schedule searches and consume results through the Apify API, webhooks, and integrations.
• Use the optimized HTTP-only GOOGLE_SERP path in Apify Cloud instead of launching Chrome for every query.
• Retain a fingerprint-consistent Playwright fallback for direct, Residential, and custom proxies.

What data can Google Shorts Scraper extract?

The dataset schema defines 46 fields: 21 required identity, classification, and search-context values, plus optional metadata read from the Google result card. Optional source fields are omitted when Google does not display them. A contract test checks that a fully labeled public result can produce at least 21 populated, schema-declared fields.

Google's short-duration filter only narrows candidates by runtime; it does not prove that a standard video is a Short. The Actor therefore keeps only results whose public URL identifies a short-form format, such as YouTube Shorts or a platform Reel. It does not fabricate likes, comments, shares, follower counts, resolution, or full video metadata to fill columns.

Identity and ranking

Field	Type	Description
id	string	Stable ID from the platform video ID or normalized URL.
type	string	Record kind (video).
resultType	string	Record subtype (shortVideo).
position	integer	Overall output position.
resultPosition	integer	Position within the query results.
queryPosition	integer	1-based query order in batch mode.
page	integer	Google results page number.

Video and platform details

Field	Type	Description
title	string	Title displayed on the Google result.
description	string	Public result-card description, when present.
url	string	Normalized public video URL.
link	string	Compatibility alias for url.
canonicalUrl	string	URL with tracking parameters removed.
embedUrl	string	YouTube embed URL when a video ID is available.
videoId	string	Platform video ID when it can be parsed from the URL.
platform	string	Platform inferred from the public video hostname.
source	string	Source platform.
sourceName	string	Display name for the source platform.
domain	string	Public video hostname without www.

Creator, duration, engagement, and media

Field	Type	Description
channelName	string	Creator or channel name shown on the Google card.
channel	string	Compatibility alias for channelName.
channelUrl	string	Creator/channel URL when shown on the card.
duration	string	Duration label displayed on the result.
durationSeconds	integer	Parsed duration in seconds.
views	string	Displayed view-count label.
viewsText	string	Compatibility alias for views.
viewCount	integer	Parsed view count when Google displays it.
publishedAt	string	Displayed publication date normalized to ISO 8601.
publishedAtRaw	string	Original date or relative-time label.
relativeTime	string	Original relative date label when the source uses one.
thumbnail	string	Public thumbnail URL when present.
thumbnailUrl	string	Compatibility alias for thumbnail.
isShort	boolean	True for results with an explicit short-form URL pattern.
isVertical	boolean	Short-form format indicator derived from the recognized URL pattern.
shortDetection	string	Evidence used to classify the record (explicitFormatUrl).

Search and run context

Field	Type	Description
query	string	User's original query.
searchQuery	string	Compatibility alias for query.
effectiveQuery	string	Query sent to Google, including short-form and platform terms.
searchUrl	string	Google results URL for the page.
country	string	Google country code used for the search.
language	string	Google interface language code.
market	string	Combined language and country code.
timeRange	string	Publication-time filter requested for the search.
videoDuration	string	Google duration filter requested for the search.
safeSearch	string	SafeSearch setting requested for the search.
engineId	string	Search engine identifier (google).
scrapedAt	string	ISO-8601 extraction timestamp.

How to scrape Google Shorts

1. Open the Actor input tab.
2. Select Single query or Multiple queries.
3. Enter a topic such as funny cats.
4. Optionally select a platform, publication window, country, language, and SafeSearch setting.
5. Set maxItems and maxPages, then run the Actor.
6. Open the dataset or download it as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, RSS, or HTML.

How much will it cost to scrape Google short videos?

The default production path uses small HTML result pages and normally completes in seconds. Cost depends on your Apify plan, query/page count, proxy selection, retries, and run frequency. GOOGLE_SERP and Residential proxy traffic may have separate proxy charges. Small validation runs should use one or two pages and 5–20 records.

Input

See the input tab for all configuration options. Important fields are:

• mode, query, and queries for one or multiple searches.
• platform: all supported platforms, YouTube Shorts, TikTok, Instagram Reels, or Facebook Reels.
• timeRange: Google's hour/day/week/month/year publication filter.
• videoDuration: Google's duration filter or any duration. Results still require an explicit short-form URL; a video under four minutes is not classified as a Short by duration alone.
• maxItems, maxPages, and maxConcurrency for bounded runs.
• proxyConfiguration: GOOGLE_SERP is the verified HTTP-only cloud transport. Do not tunnel Playwright through it. Use Residential/custom proxy or direct access for browser mode.

Output

You can download the dataset in various formats such as JSON, HTML, CSV, or Excel. This illustrative record uses a card visible in Google Chrome and the Actor's search context; it is not from an Actor run:

{
  "id": "google-short-d8cb957a716310ad3f629eff",
  "type": "video",
  "resultType": "shortVideo",
  "position": 1,
  "resultPosition": 1,
  "queryPosition": 1,
  "page": 1,
  "title": "The FUNNIEST Cat Videos!",
  "description": "Search \"hilarious cat moments\". @petcollective. Subscribe. The FUNNIEST Cat Videos! The FUNNIEST Shorts of the Year | FUNNIEST Animal Videos. YouTube · The Pet Collective · Dec 7, 2024",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9AjIYRoW7W8",
  "link": "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9AjIYRoW7W8",
  "canonicalUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9AjIYRoW7W8",
  "embedUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/9AjIYRoW7W8",
  "videoId": "9AjIYRoW7W8",
  "platform": "YouTube",
  "source": "YouTube",
  "sourceName": "YouTube",
  "domain": "youtube.com",
  "channelName": "The Pet Collective",
  "channel": "The Pet Collective",
  "duration": "0:59",
  "durationSeconds": 59,
  "publishedAt": "2024-12-07T00:00:00.000Z",
  "publishedAtRaw": "Dec 7, 2024",
  "isShort": true,
  "isVertical": true,
  "shortDetection": "explicitFormatUrl",
  "query": "funny cats",
  "searchQuery": "funny cats",
  "effectiveQuery": "funny cats shorts",
  "searchUrl": "https://www.google.com/search?q=funny+cats+shorts&udm=7&gl=us&hl=en&safe=active&start=0&tbs=dur%3As",
  "country": "US",
  "language": "en",
  "market": "en-US",
  "timeRange": "any",
  "videoDuration": "short",
  "safeSearch": "active",
  "engineId": "google",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-09-23T00:00:00.000Z"
}

The OUTPUT key-value-store record contains counts, transport, duplicates removed, and runtime without raw responses or proxy credentials.

Tips and advanced options

• Batch mode fetches independent topics concurrently and interleaves results fairly.
• Use the platform filter when only one service matters; it maps to a Google site: query.
• Increase maxPages only when the first page does not satisfy maxItems.
• CAPTCHA/challenge pages fail closed and are never stored or repeatedly retried.
• A genuine no-results search completes successfully with an empty dataset.

FAQ, disclaimer, and support

Why are likes and comments missing?

Google search cards do not reliably expose those fields. Fetching them would require platform-specific detail APIs, logins, or additional crawls. This Actor preserves only source-backed public search metadata.

Can I use GOOGLE_SERP with Playwright?

No. GOOGLE_SERP is an HTTP result-page transport. The Actor detects it and uses direct HTTP requests. Browser mode is reserved for direct, Residential, or custom proxy configurations.

This Actor extracts publicly displayed video-search metadata and does not intentionally extract private user data. Results can still contain names or other personal data published in titles or channel names. Personal data is protected by the GDPR and other laws. Do not process personal data without a legitimate reason; consult legal counsel if unsure.

Use the Actor's Issues tab for feedback and its API tab for programmatic access.