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SerpApi Official

Get live Google Search data and more from SerpApi's official node

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Overview

The "Google Images Light" operation of the SerpApi Official node allows users to perform image searches on Google using a lightweight API interface. This operation is designed to fetch live Google Images search results with various filtering and customization options, such as image size, color, type, usage rights, and time period.

This node is beneficial in scenarios where you need to programmatically retrieve image search results for automation workflows, content curation, marketing research, or data enrichment. For example, you could use it to gather images related to a product, monitor brand presence through images, or collect visual content for social media posts.

Properties

Name Meaning
Search Query (q) The main query string for the image search. Supports standard Google search operators like inurl:, site:, intitle:. Example: "Coffee".
Location (location) Defines the geographic location from which the search originates. See external docs for supported locations.
Encoded Location (uule) Google encoded location parameter. Cannot be used together with location.
Domain (google_domain) Specifies the Google domain to use for the search. Examples include google.com, google.co.uk, google.fr, etc.
Country (gl) Defines the country code to use for the search, e.g., us for United States, gb for United Kingdom.
Language (hl) Sets the language for the search results, e.g., en for English, fr for French.
Set Multiple Countries (cr) Limits the search to one or multiple countries using country codes separated by `
Include/Exclude Site (as_dt) Controls whether to include or exclude results from a specific site.
Required Phrase (as_epq) A phrase that all documents in the search results must contain.
Excluded Word/Phrase (as_eq) Words or phrases that should not appear in any documents in the search results.
Link to URL (as_lq) All search results should contain a link to this URL.
Search Range Start (as_nlo) Starting value for a numeric search range.
Search Range End (as_nhi) Ending value for a numeric search range.
Additional Search Terms (as_oq) Additional terms where each document must contain at least one.
Search Terms (as_q) Additional search terms to check for in documents.
Time Period (as_qdr) Requests results from a specified quick date range.
Related URL (as_rq) Results should be pages related to this URL.
Site Search (as_sitesearch) Restricts results to a given site or excludes it based on as_dt.
Time Period Unit (period_unit) Defines the unit of time for recent images filtering, e.g., seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years.
Time Period Value (period_value) Numeric value for the time period unit, e.g., 15 seconds, 42 hours.
Start Date (start_date) Start date for limiting image search, format YYYYMMDD. Overrides other date filters.
End Date (end_date) End date for limiting image search, format YYYYMMDD. Overrides other date filters.
Advanced Search Parameter (tbs) Advanced search parameters not possible in regular query field.
Aspect Ratio Filtering (imgar) Filters images by aspect ratio: Panoramic, Square, Tall, Wide.
Image Size Filtering (imgsz) Filters images by size: Icon, Medium, Large, or larger than specific resolutions or megapixels.
Image Color Filtering (image_color) Filters images by color: Black, Black and white, Blue, Brown, Gray, Green, Orange, Pink, Purple, Red, Teal, Transparent, White, Yellow.
Image Type Filtering (image_type) Filters images by type: Animated, Clip art, Face, Line drawing, Photo.
Usage Rights Filtering (licenses) Filters images by license scope: Commercial, Creative Commons, Free to use/share, etc.
Adult Content Filtering (safe) Level of adult content filtering: Active (default) or Off.
Exclude Auto-corrected Results (nfpr) Whether to exclude results from auto-corrected queries when original query is misspelled.
Results Filtering (filter) Enables or disables filters for 'Similar Results' and 'Omitted Results'.
Result Offset (start) Skips a number of results to start from an offset.
Device (device) Device type for search: desktop (default), tablet, or mobile.
Disable Caching (no_cache) Forces fetching new results instead of cached ones. Cache expires after 1 hour. Cannot be used with async.
Async (async) Performs search asynchronously. Requires separate retrieval of results later. Cannot be used with no_cache or on accounts with Ludicrous Speed enabled.
ZeroTrace Mode (zero_trace) Enterprise-only mode to skip storing search parameters and metadata on servers for privacy.
Output (output) Defines output format: JSON (default) or raw HTML.
JSON Restrictor (json_restrictor) Restricts fields returned in the JSON response, e.g., only first 3 organic results with title and snippet.

Output

The node outputs a JSON object containing the structured results of the Google Images Light search. The JSON includes metadata about the search and an array of image results matching the query and filters.

If the output format is set to JSON (default), the response contains parsed data suitable for further processing in workflows.

If the output format is set to HTML, the raw HTML content retrieved from the search is returned.

The node does not output binary data directly.

Dependencies

  • Requires an active API key credential for the SerpApi service.
  • Internet access to reach the SerpApi endpoint at https://serpapi.com/search.json.
  • Proper configuration of the API key credential within n8n.

Troubleshooting

  • Invalid API Key or Authentication Errors: Ensure your API key credential is correctly configured and valid.
  • Conflicting Parameters: Using both location and uule parameters simultaneously will cause errors; use only one.
  • Async and no_cache Conflict: Setting both async and no_cache to true is invalid; choose one.
  • Rate Limits or Quotas: Exceeding SerpApi's usage limits may result in errors or throttling.
  • Incorrect Parameter Values: Passing unsupported values for options like google_domain, gl, or hl can cause unexpected results or errors.
  • Empty Results: If the query returns no images, verify the search query and filters are correct and not overly restrictive.

Links and References

Discussion