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The Custom Search JSON API lets you develop websites and applications to retrieve
and display search results from Programmable Search Engine programmatically.
With this API, you can use RESTful requests to get either web search or
image search results in JSON format.
Data format
Custom Search JSON API can return results in JSON data format.
Before using the Custom Search JSON API you will first need to create and configure your Programmable Search Engine. If you have not already created a Programmable Search Engine, you can start by visiting the Programmable Search Engine control panel.
Follow the tutorial to learn more about different configuration options.
After you have created a Programmable Search Engine, visit the help center to learn how to locate your Search engine ID.
API key
Custom Search JSON API requires the use of an API key.
Get a Key
Pricing
Custom Search JSON API provides 100 search queries per day for free.
If you need more, you may sign up for billing
in the API Console. Additional requests cost $5 per 1000
queries, up to 10k queries per day.
With Google Cloud Operations you can create custom dashboards, set up
alerts, and
access metrics data programmatically. To access Custom Search JSON API usage data in Google Cloud Operations, select "Resource type: Consumed API" and filter on "service = 'customsearch.googleapis.com'" in the Query Builder.
See Monitoring Your API Usage for a discussion of the different monitoring and alerting capabilities provided by the API Dashboard and the Google Cloud Operations suite.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-05-07 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eThe Custom Search JSON API allows you to programmatically retrieve and display web and image search results from your Programmable Search Engine using RESTful requests.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eResults are delivered in JSON format and the API adheres to the OpenSearch 1.1 Specification.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eTo use the API, you need a Search engine ID (obtained by creating a Programmable Search Engine) and an API key.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe API offers 100 free daily search queries, with additional usage billed at $5 per 1000 queries (up to 10,000 per day).\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eMonitor API usage and performance through the Cloud Platform Console's API Dashboard or Google Cloud's Operations suite for more advanced insights.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# Custom Search JSON API\n\nThe Custom Search JSON API lets you develop websites and applications to retrieve\nand display search results from Programmable Search Engine programmatically.\nWith this API, you can use RESTful requests to get either **web search** or\n**image search** results in JSON format.\n\nData format\n-----------\n\nCustom Search JSON API can return results in [JSON](/custom-search/docs/glossary#json) data format.\n\nRelated documents\n-----------------\n\nThe Custom Search JSON API uses the [OpenSearch 1.1 Specification](https://github.com/dewitt/opensearch/blob/master/opensearch-1-1-draft-6.md).\n\nPrerequisites\n-------------\n\n### Search engine ID\n\nBefore using the Custom Search JSON API you will first need to create and configure your Programmable Search Engine. If you have not already created a Programmable Search Engine, you can start by visiting the [Programmable Search Engine control panel](https://programmablesearchengine.google.com/controlpanel/all).\n\nFollow the [tutorial](/custom-search/docs/tutorial/creatingcse) to learn more about different configuration options.\n\nAfter you have created a Programmable Search Engine, visit the [help center](https://support.google.com/programmable-search/answer/2649143) to learn how to locate your Search engine ID.\n\n### API key\n\nCustom Search JSON API requires the use of an API key.\nGet a Key\n\nPricing\n-------\n\nCustom Search JSON API provides 100 search queries per day for free.\nIf you need more, you may sign up for [billing](https://cloud.google.com/billing/docs/how-to/manage-billing-account)\nin the API Console. Additional requests cost $5 per 1000\nqueries, up to 10k queries per day.\n\nMonitoring\n----------\n\nBasic monitoring for the Custom Search JSON API is available through [Cloud Platform Console's API Dashboard](https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/dashboard). For more advanced monitoring [Google Cloud's Operations suite](https://cloud.google.com/products/operations) (formerly Stackdriver) is available.\n\nWith Google Cloud Operations you can create [custom dashboards](https://cloud.google.com/monitoring/charts), [set up\nalerts](https://cloud.google.com/monitoring/alerts), and\n[access metrics data programmatically](https://cloud.google.com/monitoring/api/v3). To access Custom Search JSON API usage data in Google Cloud Operations, select \"Resource type: Consumed API\" and filter on \"service = 'customsearch.googleapis.com'\" in the Query Builder.\n\nSee [Monitoring Your API Usage](https://cloud.google.com/apis/docs/monitoring) for a discussion of the different monitoring and alerting capabilities provided by the API Dashboard and the Google Cloud Operations suite."]]