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All Questions

What ranking algorithms are used for web search APIs?

What's the difference between web search APIs and Google Custom Search API?

TL;DR

Google Custom Search API returns only metadata (titles, snippets, URLs) with 100 free queries/day and $5 per 1,000 queries. Modern web search APIs like Firecrawl provide full content extraction, AI-ready outputs, and better pricing in one call.

What’s the difference between web search APIs and Google Custom Search API?

Google Custom Search API provides basic search results - titles, snippets, and URLs only. No actual page content. You need separate scraping infrastructure to get usable data. It’s limited to 100 free queries daily, then $5 per 1,000 queries. Modern web search APIs like Firecrawl combine search and content extraction - returning clean, LLM-ready content in one API call.

Google’s limitations

Only returns metadata - no page content. Restrictive free tier (100 queries/day). Expensive scaling ($5 per 1,000). Requires building separate scraping infrastructure. Locked into Google’s terms and policy changes.

Modern API advantages

Firecrawl and similar platforms integrate search with content extraction. One call gets both results and clean content. Multiple output formats (markdown, JSON, HTML). Better pricing. Purpose-built for AI applications - semantic understanding, LLM-optimized outputs.

Why it matters for AI

AI applications need content, not metadata. Google CSE forces you to chain search + scraping services - doubling cost and complexity. Integrated APIs eliminate this bottleneck.

Key Takeaways

Google Custom Search returns only metadata with restrictive limits. Modern web search APIs like Firecrawl integrate search and extraction, delivering content in one call. Better pricing, AI-optimized outputs, and eliminates service chaining. See our full comparison of web search APIs.

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