Google Trends API in Python: scrape interest over time, interest by region, related queries and trending searches to JSON/CSV

A short tutorial for pulling Google Trends data (the 0-100 interest-over-time timeline, interest by region, top and rising related queries and topics, and today's trending searches) into Python with the Google Trends Scraper on Apify. Google has no public Trends API, and pytrends often breaks on 429 Too Many Requests; this works as an unofficial, hosted alternative.

Disclosure: I built this actor; it's a paid tool on Apify ($2.50 per 1,000 results). The code in this repo is MIT-licensed.

How it works

Each line in searchTerms is one search: a single keyword (bitcoin) or up to 5 comma-separated keywords compared on one scale (chatgpt, gemini, claude). The actor runs a small plain-HTTP flow per search (cookie warm-up, explore, data widgets) through Apify Proxy. When Google rate-limits a request it rotates to a fresh session and IP and backs off with jitter, and a failed search is retried on its own so it never blocks the rest. No headless browser, no Google account.

Quick start (Python)

pip install apify-client

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>")

run = client.actor("rel8ble/google-trends-scraper").call(run_input={
    "searchTerms": ["bitcoin", "chatgpt, gemini, claude"],
    "geo": "US",
    "timeRange": "today 12-m",
})

for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    for k in item.get("keywordStats", []):
        print(item["searchTerm"], k["keyword"], k["average"], k["changePercent"])

example.py is the runnable version: it compares three keywords, prints average/peak/change per keyword and the rising queries, writes the weekly timeline to a CSV (one column per keyword) and lists today's trending searches in the US.

Quick start (Node.js)

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>' });
const run = await client.actor('rel8ble/google-trends-scraper').call({
    searchTerms: ['air fryer'], geo: 'US', timeRange: 'today 5-y',
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items[0].keywordStats);

Input

Field	Default	What it does
searchTerms	-	One search per line; up to 5 comma-separated terms on a line are compared on one 0-100 scale
exploreUrls	-	Links pasted from trends.google.com/trends/explore; keywords, geo, dates, category and search type are read from the URL
geo	Worldwide	US, GB, DE, or a sub-region like US-CA
timeRange	today 12-m	now 1-H, now 4-H, now 1-d, now 7-d, today 1-m, today 3-m, today 12-m, today 5-y, all
customTimeRange	-	2024-01-01 2024-12-31 (overrides timeRange)
category	0 (all)	Google Trends category ID, e.g. 7 Finance, 71 Food & Drink
searchProperty	web	images, news, youtube, shopping
regionResolution	AUTO	COUNTRY, REGION (state), DMA (US metro), CITY
includeInterestOverTime / includeInterestByRegion / includeRelatedQueries / includeRelatedTopics	on	Turn off what you don't need for faster runs
trendingNowGeos	-	Country codes to fetch Google's "Trending now" searches for

Output sample (one real comparison, US, past 12 months, arrays trimmed)

{
  "type": "search",
  "searchTerm": "chatgpt, gemini, claude",
  "keywords": ["chatgpt", "gemini", "claude"],
  "geo": "US",
  "timeRange": "today 12-m",
  "hasData": true,
  "keywordStats": [
    { "keyword": "chatgpt", "average": 77.6, "peakValue": 100, "peakDate": "2025-10-19T00:00:00.000Z", "latestValue": 76, "changePercent": -20.2 },
    { "keyword": "gemini", "average": 26.9, "peakValue": 35, "peakDate": "2026-04-12T00:00:00.000Z", "latestValue": 33, "changePercent": 20.9 },
    { "keyword": "claude", "average": 17.9, "peakValue": 34, "peakDate": "2026-05-24T00:00:00.000Z", "latestValue": 19, "changePercent": 263.6 }
  ],
  "interestOverTime": [
    { "date": "2026-09-13T00:00:00.000Z", "formattedTime": "Sep 13 – 19, 2026",
      "values": { "chatgpt": 76, "gemini": 33, "claude": 19 }, "isPartial": false }
  ],
  "interestByRegion": [
    { "geoCode": "US-CA", "geoName": "California", "values": { "chatgpt": 57, "gemini": 26, "claude": 17 } }
  ],
  "regionResolution": "REGION",
  "relatedQueriesRising": [
    { "query": "how to use chatgpt effectively", "keyword": "chatgpt", "value": 2050,
      "formattedValue": "+2,050%", "isBreakout": false,
      "link": "https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=how+to+use+chatgpt+effectively&date=today+12-m&geo=US" }
  ],
  "exploreUrl": "https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=chatgpt%2Cgemini%2Cclaude&geo=US&date=today+12-m&hl=en-US",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-09-24T05:14:08.994Z"
}

A trending-now row (real, US) looks like this:

{ "type": "trending", "geo": "US", "rank": 1, "title": "dodgers schedule",
  "approxTraffic": "1000+", "approxTrafficNumber": 1000, "publishedAt": "2026-09-24T04:40:00.000Z",
  "news": [{ "title": "Dodgers 7-0 Padres (Sep 22, 2026) Game Recap", "url": "https://www.espn.com/mlb/recap/_/gameId/401817044", "source": "ESPN" }] }

Use cases

• SEO and content planning: pull relatedQueriesRising and breakout terms for your niche every week.
• Brand and product comparison: put up to 5 competitors on one line and track keywordStats over time.
• Seasonality and demand by state: today 5-y timelines plus interestByRegion for e-commerce planning.
• Market and attention signals: scheduled runs for tickers, crypto or brands feeding a dashboard or database.
• Newsrooms: daily trendingNowGeos with the news stories behind each trend.

Price

$2.50 per 1,000 results, pay per result. One result = one search line (a comparison of up to 5 keywords counts as one, with timeline, regions, queries and topics included) or one trending search. Searches that fail after all retries are not charged. Apify's free plan includes $5 of monthly credit.

Limits

• Up to 5 keywords per comparison (Google's own limit).
• Values are Google's relative 0-100 index, not absolute search volumes.
• Trending now returns what Google's feed lists per country, typically about 10 searches.
• Related queries and topics only appear when Google has enough volume for the term.

Links

• Actor on the Apify Store: https://apify.com/rel8ble/google-trends-scraper
• Apify Python client docs: https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python

License

MIT