How to get google search results in google sheets/ excel

Here are steps to get google search results in google sheets or excel

Create a google sheet in your google drive.
Create a google custom search from here.
Enable search the entire web.
Copy your google custom search engine id.
Get your google custom search api key from here
Formulate your api key in this format.

https://www.googleapis.com/customsearch/v1?key={YOUR_API_KEY}&cx={CUSTOM_SEARCH_ENGINE_ID}&q={KEYWORD}

1

https://www.googleapis.com/customsearch/v1?key={YOUR_API_KEY}&cx={CUSTOM_SEARCH_ENGINE_ID}&q={KEYWORD}

key is your API key, cx is your google custom search id.

In your google sheets, go to tools-> script editor-> paste the following code->save the file as ImportJSON.gs

function readRows() {
  var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet();
  var rows = sheet.getDataRange();
  var numRows = rows.getNumRows();
  var values = rows.getValues();

  for (var i = 0; i <= numRows - 1; i++) {
    var row = values[i];
    Logger.log(row);
  }
};


function onOpen() {
  var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
  var entries = [{
    name : "Read Data",
    functionName : "readRows"
  }];
  sheet.addMenu("Script Center Menu", entries);
};


function ImportJSON(url, query, options) {
  return ImportJSONAdvanced(url, query, options, includeXPath_, defaultTransform_);
}


function ImportJSONAdvanced(url, query, options, includeFunc, transformFunc) {
  var jsondata = UrlFetchApp.fetch(url);
  var object   = JSON.parse(jsondata.getContentText());
  
  return parseJSONObject_(object, query, options, includeFunc, transformFunc);
}


function URLEncode(value) {
  return encodeURIComponent(value.toString());  
}


function parseJSONObject_(object, query, options, includeFunc, transformFunc) {
  var headers = new Array();
  var data    = new Array();
  
  if (query && !Array.isArray(query) && query.toString().indexOf(",") != -1) {
    query = query.toString().split(",");
  }
  
  if (options) {
    options = options.toString().split(",");
  }
    
  parseData_(headers, data, "", 1, object, query, options, includeFunc);
  parseHeaders_(headers, data);
  transformData_(data, options, transformFunc);
  
  return hasOption_(options, "noHeaders") ? (data.length > 1 ? data.slice(1) : new Array()) : data;
}


function parseData_(headers, data, path, rowIndex, value, query, options, includeFunc) {
  var dataInserted = false;
  
  if (isObject_(value)) {
    for (key in value) {
      if (parseData_(headers, data, path + "/" + key, rowIndex, value[key], query, options, includeFunc)) {
        dataInserted = true; 
      }
    }
  } else if (Array.isArray(value) && isObjectArray_(value)) {
    for (var i = 0; i < value.length; i++) {
      if (parseData_(headers, data, path, rowIndex, value[i], query, options, includeFunc)) {
        dataInserted = true;
        rowIndex++;
      }
    }
  } else if (!includeFunc || includeFunc(query, path, options)) {
    
    if (Array.isArray(value)) {
      value = value.join(); 
    }
    
    
    if (!data[rowIndex]) {
      data[rowIndex] = new Array();
    }
    
    
    if (!headers[path] && headers[path] != 0) {
      headers[path] = Object.keys(headers).length;
    }
    
    
    data[rowIndex][headers[path]] = value;
    dataInserted = true;
  }
  
  return dataInserted;
}


function parseHeaders_(headers, data) {
  data[0] = new Array();

  for (key in headers) {
    data[0][headers[key]] = key;
  }
}


function transformData_(data, options, transformFunc) {
  for (var i = 0; i < data.length; i++) {
    for (var j = 0; j < data[i].length; j++) {
      transformFunc(data, i, j, options);
    }
  }
}


function isObject_(test) {
  return Object.prototype.toString.call(test) === '[object Object]';
}


function isObjectArray_(test) {
  for (var i = 0; i < test.length; i++) {
    if (isObject_(test[i])) {
      return true; 
    }
  }  

  return false;
}


function includeXPath_(query, path, options) {
  if (!query) {
    return true; 
  } else if (Array.isArray(query)) {
    for (var i = 0; i < query.length; i++) {
      if (applyXPathRule_(query[i], path, options)) {
        return true; 
      }
    }  
  } else {
    return applyXPathRule_(query, path, options);
  }
  
  return false; 
};


function applyXPathRule_(rule, path, options) {
  return path.indexOf(rule) == 0; 
}


function defaultTransform_(data, row, column, options) {
  if (!data[row][column]) {
    if (row < 2 || hasOption_(options, "noInherit")) {
      data[row][column] = "";
    } else {
      data[row][column] = data[row-1][column];
    }
  } 

  if (!hasOption_(options, "rawHeaders") && row == 0) {
    if (column == 0 && data[row].length > 1) {
      removeCommonPrefixes_(data, row);  
    }
    
    data[row][column] = toTitleCase_(data[row][column].toString().replace(/[\/\_]/g, " "));
  }
  
  if (!hasOption_(options, "noTruncate") && data[row][column]) {
    data[row][column] = data[row][column].toString().substr(0, 256);
  }

  if (hasOption_(options, "debugLocation")) {
    data[row][column] = "[" + row + "," + column + "]" + data[row][column];
  }
}


function removeCommonPrefixes_(data, row) {
  var matchIndex = data[row][0].length;

  for (var i = 1; i < data[row].length; i++) {
    matchIndex = findEqualityEndpoint_(data[row][i-1], data[row][i], matchIndex);

    if (matchIndex == 0) {
      return;
    }
  }
  
  for (var i = 0; i < data[row].length; i++) {
    data[row][i] = data[row][i].substring(matchIndex, data[row][i].length);
  }
}


function findEqualityEndpoint_(string1, string2, stopAt) {
  if (!string1 || !string2) {
    return -1; 
  }
  
  var maxEndpoint = Math.min(stopAt, string1.length, string2.length);
  
  for (var i = 0; i < maxEndpoint; i++) {
    if (string1.charAt(i) != string2.charAt(i)) {
      return i;
    }
  }
  
  return maxEndpoint;
}
  

function toTitleCase_(text) {
  if (text == null) {
    return null;
  }
  
  return text.replace(/\w\S*/g, function(word) { return word.charAt(0).toUpperCase() + word.substr(1).toLowerCase(); });
}


function hasOption_(options, option) {
  return options && options.indexOf(option) >= 0;
}

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function readRows() {

var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet();

var rows = sheet.getDataRange();

var numRows = rows.getNumRows();

var values = rows.getValues();

for (var i = 0; i <= numRows - 1; i++) {

var row = values[i];

Logger.log(row);

}

};

function onOpen() {

var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();

var entries = [{

name : "Read Data",

functionName : "readRows"

}];

sheet.addMenu("Script Center Menu", entries);

};

function ImportJSON(url, query, options) {

return ImportJSONAdvanced(url, query, options, includeXPath_, defaultTransform_);

}

function ImportJSONAdvanced(url, query, options, includeFunc, transformFunc) {

var jsondata = UrlFetchApp.fetch(url);

var object = JSON.parse(jsondata.getContentText());

return parseJSONObject_(object, query, options, includeFunc, transformFunc);

}

function URLEncode(value) {

return encodeURIComponent(value.toString());

}

function parseJSONObject_(object, query, options, includeFunc, transformFunc) {

var headers = new Array();

var data = new Array();

if (query && !Array.isArray(query) && query.toString().indexOf(",") != -1) {

query = query.toString().split(",");

}

if (options) {

options = options.toString().split(",");

}

parseData_(headers, data, "", 1, object, query, options, includeFunc);

parseHeaders_(headers, data);

transformData_(data, options, transformFunc);

return hasOption_(options, "noHeaders") ? (data.length > 1 ? data.slice(1) : new Array()) : data;

}

function parseData_(headers, data, path, rowIndex, value, query, options, includeFunc) {

var dataInserted = false;

if (isObject_(value)) {

for (key in value) {

if (parseData_(headers, data, path + "/" + key, rowIndex, value[key], query, options, includeFunc)) {

dataInserted = true;

}

} else if (Array.isArray(value) && isObjectArray_(value)) {

for (var i = 0; i < value.length; i++) {

if (parseData_(headers, data, path, rowIndex, value[i], query, options, includeFunc)) {

dataInserted = true;

rowIndex++;

}

} else if (!includeFunc || includeFunc(query, path, options)) {

if (Array.isArray(value)) {

value = value.join();

}

if (!data[rowIndex]) {

data[rowIndex] = new Array();

}

if (!headers[path] && headers[path] != 0) {

headers[path] = Object.keys(headers).length;

}

data[rowIndex][headers[path]] = value;

dataInserted = true;

}

return dataInserted;

}

function parseHeaders_(headers, data) {

data[0] = new Array();

for (key in headers) {

data[0][headers[key]] = key;

}

function transformData_(data, options, transformFunc) {

for (var i = 0; i < data.length; i++) {

for (var j = 0; j < data[i].length; j++) {

transformFunc(data, i, j, options);

}

function isObject_(test) {

return Object.prototype.toString.call(test) === '[object Object]';

}

function isObjectArray_(test) {

for (var i = 0; i < test.length; i++) {

if (isObject_(test[i])) {

return true;

}

return false;

}

function includeXPath_(query, path, options) {

if (!query) {

return true;

} else if (Array.isArray(query)) {

for (var i = 0; i < query.length; i++) {

if (applyXPathRule_(query[i], path, options)) {

return true;

}

} else {

return applyXPathRule_(query, path, options);

}

return false;

};

function applyXPathRule_(rule, path, options) {

return path.indexOf(rule) == 0;

}

function defaultTransform_(data, row, column, options) {

if (!data[row][column]) {

if (row < 2 || hasOption_(options, "noInherit")) {

data[row][column] = "";

} else {

data[row][column] = data[row-1][column];

}

if (!hasOption_(options, "rawHeaders") && row == 0) {

if (column == 0 && data[row].length > 1) {

removeCommonPrefixes_(data, row);

}

data[row][column] = toTitleCase_(data[row][column].toString().replace(/[\/\_]/g, " "));

}

if (!hasOption_(options, "noTruncate") && data[row][column]) {

data[row][column] = data[row][column].toString().substr(0, 256);

}

if (hasOption_(options, "debugLocation")) {

data[row][column] = "[" + row + "," + column + "]" + data[row][column];

}

function removeCommonPrefixes_(data, row) {

var matchIndex = data[row][0].length;

for (var i = 1; i < data[row].length; i++) {

matchIndex = findEqualityEndpoint_(data[row][i-1], data[row][i], matchIndex);

if (matchIndex == 0) {

return;

}

for (var i = 0; i < data[row].length; i++) {

data[row][i] = data[row][i].substring(matchIndex, data[row][i].length);

}

function findEqualityEndpoint_(string1, string2, stopAt) {

if (!string1 || !string2) {

return -1;

}

var maxEndpoint = Math.min(stopAt, string1.length, string2.length);

for (var i = 0; i < maxEndpoint; i++) {

if (string1.charAt(i) != string2.charAt(i)) {

return i;

}

return maxEndpoint;

}

function toTitleCase_(text) {

if (text == null) {

return null;

}

return text.replace(/\w\S*/g, function(word) { return word.charAt(0).toUpperCase() + word.substr(1).toLowerCase(); });

}

function hasOption_(options, option) {

return options && options.indexOf(option) >= 0;

}

Enter the cx, key, search query (q), API URL in different cells.
Use the concatenate function to join all these 4 variables to get your final api url. For example

=concatenate(D4,D2,"&cx=",D1,"&q=",D3)

1

=concatenate(D4,D2,"&cx=",D1,"&q=",D3)
Use the ImportJSON function to import the google search results. for example to get the title of the search results

=ImportJSON($D$5,"/items/title","noHeaders")

1

=ImportJSON($D$5,"/items/title","noHeaders")
Here are the search results in google sheets and also a link to the sheet where you can see the search in work.

5 Comments

Meera Sanghavi · April 29, 2019 at 6:33 am

Hi,

This is a very valuable piece of information. Thank you for it. However I am not able to implement it. Initially I got ‘Loading’ message for very long which I thought would be because there are too many results and second time I tried then I am getting reference error.

To give more details, I am basically trying to extract details like Name, Phone, Number and address from Google search or from specific website such as http://www.grotal.com into my excel/google sheet when I enter a query such as Karate Classes in Navi Mumbai. Can you please help me out here?

Muthali Ganesh · April 30, 2019 at 2:03 am

What you are looking to do is scraping and is not related to this article

Matej · April 30, 2019 at 7:09 pm

Thanks, your instructions are clear and solution works great. What I am still trying to figure out is where (in importJSON.gs) do I limit the number of results to 1?

Muthali Ganesh · May 1, 2019 at 3:40 pm

Hello Matej, Try using &num=1 in the google custom search api

Ludo · May 20, 2019 at 12:51 pm

Hi, thanx for info. To make it work for me I had to substitute “,” for “;” in all formulas. It works now, but I get only 10 results. Is there a way to show 100 lines of results? Thanx for answer.

How to get google search results in google sheets/ excel

Published by Muthali Ganesh on January 10, 2019January 10, 2019

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Muthali Ganesh

5 Comments

Meera Sanghavi · April 29, 2019 at 6:33 am

Muthali Ganesh · April 30, 2019 at 2:03 am

Matej · April 30, 2019 at 7:09 pm

Muthali Ganesh · May 1, 2019 at 3:40 pm

Ludo · May 20, 2019 at 12:51 pm

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