# Google Trends Now · No Start Fee (`steadyfetch/google-trends-now-scraper`) Actor

Never charged for an empty pull, and no start fee — poll it every hour. Google's trending searches for any country: rank, the traffic floor Google publishes, when each trend started, and the news stories behind it.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/steadyfetch/google-trends-now-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Steadyfetch Team](https://apify.com/steadyfetch) (community)
- **Categories:** SEO tools, Automation, AI
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.50 / 1,000 trending searches

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?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Google Trends Now · No Start Fee

**No start fee, and never charged for an empty pull.** Google's trending searches for any
country — rank, the traffic floor Google publishes, when each trend started, and the news
stories behind it.

Built for a schedule. Most actors in this category charge a fee every time a run starts, so
an hourly cron pays that fee 720 times a month before it collects a single row. This one has
no start fee at all: you pay per trending search delivered, and nothing else.

*Unofficial. This actor is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Google. "Google" and "Google Trends" are trademarks of Google LLC, used here only to describe what this tool reads.*

Issues answered in about 3 hours.

Every row carries `charged` and `missReason`, so you can reconcile the invoice from the
dataset itself without opening the console. **Only rows with `charged: true` were billed.**

***

### Output

One row per trending search, one shape for every country, so polls stack into a single table:

| `charged` | `geo` | `rank` | `query` | `approxTraffic` | `approxTrafficMin` | `startedAt` | `newsCount` |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| true | `US` | 1 | `james talarico` | `200+` | 200 | `2026-08-27T03:00:00.000Z` | 3 |
| true | `US` | 2 | `martha stewart` | `2000+` | 2000 | `2026-08-27T02:50:00.000Z` | 3 |
| true | `GB` | 1 | `conmebol sudamericana` | `500+` | 500 | `2026-08-27T02:40:00.000Z` | 2 |

*(Real rows from a US/GB run.)*

Every row also carries `pubDate` (Google's own timestamp text), `picture`, `exploreUrl` (opens
the trend in Google Trends), `news` (an array of `{title, source, url}`), `fetchedAt`,
`status`, `retryable`, `statusReason` and `schemaVersion`. The last row of every run is a
**summary row** with `delivered`, `geosDelivered`, `stoppedBy`, `resumeCursor` and
`chargedEvents`.

#### Two fields worth understanding

**`approxTraffic` is a floor, not a count.** Google publishes `"500+"`, never an exact number.
The text you see is exactly what Google published, and `approxTrafficMin` is its lower bound
as an integer. Nothing here is estimated, rounded or invented.

**`startedAt` is when the trend started, not when you fetched it.** It comes from Google's own
timestamp, converted to ISO-8601 UTC, with the original string kept beside it in `pubDate` so
you never have to trust our parse.

***

### Agent / API paste-block

```
Actor:      steadyfetch/google-trends-now-scraper
Required:   geo                (string, two-letter country code — leave empty for
                                uncharged sample rows)
Optional:   geos               (array of country codes, polled in one run)
            maxTrendsPerGeo    (integer, default 10 — Google publishes 10 per country)
            minTraffic         (integer, default 0 — skip trends below this floor)
            includeNews        (boolean, default true)
            maxItems           (integer, default 100 — hard cap for the whole run)
            maxRunSeconds      (integer, default 120 — clean stop, never a timeout kill)
Charges:    trending-search    once per delivered trending search
Note:       omit a field to take its default; do NOT send null (the platform refuses a
            null before the run starts)
Build spec: https://apify.com/steadyfetch/google-trends-now-scraper/api
Token:      https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations
```

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/steadyfetch~google-trends-now-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"geo":"US","geos":["GB","IN"],"includeNews":true}'
```

***

### What you actually get per country

Google publishes **10 trending searches per country**, refreshed continuously — that is the
whole feed, so 10 is both the default and the ceiling for `maxTrendsPerGeo`. This actor does
not pretend to offer a top 20.

**How fast does it turn over?** Measured over scheduled hourly polls: the US and India lists
turned over by **10 of 10 and 8–10 of 10 trends per hour**, Great Britain by **2–5 of 10**. An
hourly schedule sees genuinely new trends every time; a daily one will miss most of them.

***

### Countries

Any two-letter country code Google covers — `US`, `GB`, `IN`, `DE`, `BR`, `SA`, `AU`, `CA` and
so on. Pass one in `geo`, or several in `geos` to poll them in a single run. Each country is
fetched independently, so one being unavailable never blocks the others.

A code Google does not publish trends for comes back as an uncharged `invalid_geo` row naming
the fix — it is never retried and never charged.

***

### What you are never charged for

| situation | `status` | run status |
|---|---|---|
| Google does not cover the country you asked for | `invalid_geo` | SUCCEEDED — the row names the fix, and it is not retried |
| Google rate-limited or dropped the request | `upstream_unavailable` | SUCCEEDED — re-runnable, and the row says so |
| Google did not serve its trending searches for that country on this run | `endpoint_unavailable` | SUCCEEDED — re-runnable, and the row says so |
| Google answered normally and published nothing | `empty_upstream` | SUCCEEDED |
| Your `minTraffic` filtered every trend out | `filtered_out` | SUCCEEDED — the row names the setting |
| A country code we could not read | `input_error` | SUCCEEDED — the row names the fix, no request is made |
| Your own `maxItems` / `maxRunSeconds` / cost cap | `stopped_at_limit` | SUCCEEDED — summary row + `resumeCursor` |

A refusal is reported as a refusal, never dressed up as "this country has no trends", and a
country code Google rejects is never retried — retrying a typo just asks the same wrong
question again on your budget.

**This actor may fail when the platform changes things — failed items are never charged.**

***

### Limits are hard limits

`maxTrendsPerGeo`, `maxItems` and `maxRunSeconds` stop the run exactly where you set them. The
run still finishes **successfully**, the summary row names which limit bound, and
`resumeCursor` lists the countries that were not reached.

***

### FAQ

**Does `{}` cost anything?**
No. With no country set it returns uncharged sample rows so you can see the exact output shape
before spending anything. That run contacts nothing at all.

**Can I run this on an hourly schedule?**
That is what it is for. There is no start fee, so a schedule pays exactly the same per trend
as a one-off run. Point an Apify schedule at it with `geo` set and append the results.

**How do I tell which trends are new since my last poll?**
Compare `query` against your previous run for the same `geo`. Google does not publish a stable
id for a trend, and it sometimes re-words one (`américa - columbus crew` became
`américa vs columbus` nine minutes later), so an exact-string comparison will slightly
over-count new trends. Normalising the text before comparing gets you closer.

**Why is there no category on a trend?**
Because Google's trending feed does not publish one. Adding a column we would have to guess at
would be worse than leaving it out.

**Is this the same as the Google Trends Scraper?**
No. That one answers "how has interest in *my* keyword moved over time". This one answers
"what is the whole country searching right now". If you want both, run both — they share the
same extraction engine.

***

### Steadyfetch trends & keyword suite

One actor per surface, one job each, the same contract everywhere: **all-inclusive pay per event,
no start fee, charged only on delivery** — so a workflow built for one of them ports to the next.

| What you want | Actor |
|---|---|
| Interest over time, related queries, regions, compare | [Google Trends · No Charge on Miss](https://apify.com/steadyfetch/google-trends-scraper) |
| What is trending right now, by country | **this actor** |
| Rising and Breakout queries, with the real growth number | [Breakout Keywords from Trends](https://apify.com/steadyfetch/breakout-keywords-scraper) |
| Autocomplete suggestions across 5 engines | [Autocomplete Keywords · 5 Engines](https://apify.com/steadyfetch/google-keyword-suggest-scraper) |
| Monthly search volume and CPC for a keyword list | [Keyword Volume & CPC · No Minimum](https://apify.com/steadyfetch/keyword-search-volume-scraper) |
| What is trending on social platforms | [Social Trends · 4 Platforms](https://apify.com/steadyfetch/social-trends-scraper) |

**The rest of the steadyfetch shelf** — same contract everywhere: all-inclusive pay per event,
no start fee, charged only on delivery.

| Family | Actors |
|---|---|
| Ad creative intelligence | [Facebook](https://apify.com/steadyfetch/facebook-ads-transcript-scraper) · [Google Ads video](https://apify.com/steadyfetch/google-ads-video-transcript-scraper) · [TikTok](https://apify.com/steadyfetch/tiktok-ads-transcript-scraper) · [LinkedIn](https://apify.com/steadyfetch/linkedin-ads-transcript-scraper) · [Google Ads text & OCR](https://apify.com/steadyfetch/google-ads-creative-text-scraper) |
| **Trends & keywords** | [Google Trends](https://apify.com/steadyfetch/google-trends-scraper) · [Trends Now](https://apify.com/steadyfetch/google-trends-now-scraper) · [Breakout keywords](https://apify.com/steadyfetch/breakout-keywords-scraper) · [Autocomplete keywords](https://apify.com/steadyfetch/google-keyword-suggest-scraper) · [Keyword volume & CPC](https://apify.com/steadyfetch/keyword-search-volume-scraper) · [Social trends](https://apify.com/steadyfetch/social-trends-scraper) |
| YouTube transcripts | [YouTube videos](https://apify.com/steadyfetch/youtube-transcript-scraper) · [YouTube channels](https://apify.com/steadyfetch/youtube-channel-transcripts) |
| Instagram | [Reel transcripts](https://apify.com/steadyfetch/instagram-reel-transcript-scraper) · [Profile posts](https://apify.com/steadyfetch/instagram-profile-posts) |
| Jobs | [Indeed](https://apify.com/steadyfetch/indeed-jobs-scraper) · [Career sites by domain](https://apify.com/steadyfetch/company-jobs-by-domain) · [Glassdoor](https://apify.com/steadyfetch/glassdoor-jobs-scraper) · [Multi-board](https://apify.com/steadyfetch/multi-job-board-scraper) |
| Amazon | [Products](https://apify.com/steadyfetch/amazon-product-scraper) · [Search](https://apify.com/steadyfetch/amazon-search-scraper) · Bestsellers · Sellers |
| Any media file | [Speech to Text](https://apify.com/steadyfetch/media-transcriber) · any link or file |

Unlinked names are publishing shortly on the same account — search **steadyfetch** on Apify Store.

***

### Free templates

[github.com/steadyfetch/n8n-templates](https://github.com/steadyfetch/n8n-templates) —
import-validated n8n workflows.

# Actor input Schema

## `geo` (type: `string`):

Two-letter country code — US, GB, IN, DE, BR, SA and so on. Google publishes its trending searches per country. A country Google does not cover comes back as an uncharged row naming the fix, never as a charge.

## `geos` (type: `array`):

Poll several countries in one run. Each is fetched independently, gets its own rows, and one country being down never blocks the others.

## `maxTrendsPerGeo` (type: `integer`):

Google publishes 10 trending searches per country, so 10 is both the default and the ceiling. Lower it to spend less per poll.

## `minTraffic` (type: `integer`):

Skip trends below this search-volume floor. Google publishes a floor like "2000+", so 2000 keeps that trend and everything busier. Trends filtered out here are never charged. Leave at 0 to keep all of them.

## `includeNews` (type: `boolean`):

Attach the news articles Google links to each trend (headline, source and URL). Turn it off for a smaller payload; the story count is reported either way.

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

Hard cap on delivered trends across every country in this run.

## `maxRunSeconds` (type: `integer`):

The run stops cleanly before this many seconds and reports what is left, instead of being killed by a timeout. One country typically answers in well under a second.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "geo": "US",
  "geos": [
    "US",
    "GB"
  ],
  "maxTrendsPerGeo": 10,
  "minTraffic": 0,
  "includeNews": true,
  "maxItems": 100,
  "maxRunSeconds": 120
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `trends` (type: `string`):

One row per trending search: country, rank, query, the traffic floor Google publishes, when it started trending, the news stories behind it and a link that opens it in Google Trends. Every row carries `charged` and `missReason`, so the invoice reconciles from the dataset itself. Only rows with charged = true were billed.

## `news` (type: `string`):

The same rows with the news articles Google attaches to each trending search expanded — headline, source and URL per story.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

Trends delivered, which countries answered, which were temporarily unavailable, what stopped the run, and the charged-event totals.

## `errors` (type: `string`):

Present only when Google rate-limited or dropped the request for a country after a retry: which country and why. These are re-runnable, not permanent. Errors go here, never into the dataset.

# 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 = {
    "geo": "US",
    "geos": [
        "US",
        "GB"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("steadyfetch/google-trends-now-scraper").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 = {
    "geo": "US",
    "geos": [
        "US",
        "GB",
    ],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("steadyfetch/google-trends-now-scraper").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 '{
  "geo": "US",
  "geos": [
    "US",
    "GB"
  ]
}' |
apify call steadyfetch/google-trends-now-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,steadyfetch/google-trends-now-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

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/lvBdDcIPehgCX7hlg/builds/pYcoGSNR56r7hdjz6/openapi.json