Teams that depend on SERP data for competitive intelligence, content research, or data extraction increasingly look beyond Google because HTML pages are volatile, highly personalized, and protected by advanced anti-bot systems—issues that raise cost, legal risk, and maintenance burden for scrapers. The 2025 landscape favors an API-first approach with alternative search engines that return stable, structured JSON (or XML) and clear terms, making pipelines more reliable and compliant for SEO analytics and web data extraction.
Among general-purpose options, Microsoft’s Bing remains the most practical choice for production pipelines due to its mature multi-vertical Web, Image, Video, and News endpoints, robust localization, and predictable quotas via the Azure-hosted Bing Web Search API (Bing Web Search API). For teams that value an independent index with strong privacy posture, the Brave Search API provides web, images, and news in well-structured JSON and plan-based quotas.
Privacy-first and lightweight use cases sometimes start with DuckDuckGo. While it does not expose a full web search API, its Instant Answer (IA) API can power specific knowledge lookups, and its minimalist HTML endpoint is simple to parse at modest volumes—always within policy and with conservative rate limits (DuckDuckGo Instant Answer API, DuckDuckGo parameters). When you need a controllable gateway that aggregates multiple engines into a single JSON format, self-hosted SearXNG is a strong option; just remember that you—not SearXNG—are responsible for complying with each backend’s terms (SearXNG docs).
Bing
Overview and when to use it
- Bing is the most practical Google alternative for web scraping because it offers robust official APIs covering web, images, videos, and news.
- Strong documentation, predictable quotas, and consistent JSON responses make it a go-to for production pipelines.
Programmatic access
- Use the Microsoft Bing Web Search API (Azure Cognitive Services). Official docs: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/cognitive-services/bing-web-search/
- Available verticals include Web Search, Image Search, Video Search, and News Search.
- Common parameters: q (query), count, offset, mkt (market), setLang, responseFilter, freshness, safeSearch.
Localization and filters
- Specify mkt (e.g., en-US, fr-FR) and setLang for UI language.
- Use safeSearch and freshness to filter content and time ranges.
SERP elements and extraction tips
- Web results: title, url, snippet, and deep links are returned in webPages.value.
- News/Image/Video endpoints provide dedicated fields like datePublished, provider, thumbnailUrl, and contentUrl.
- Tip: Use responseFilter to limit payloads to needed verticals and reduce cost/latency.
Anti-bot and compliance
- API-first approach minimizes blocking and legal risk.
- If you scrape HTML SERPs, expect dynamic content and rate limits; follow robots.txt and ToS.
Pros
- Best-documented API; multi-vertical coverage; strong localization.
Cons
- Paid plans with quotas; coverage differs from Google in some niches.
DuckDuckGo
Overview and when to use it
- Privacy-focused engine with clean SERPs. Good for lightweight scraping and privacy-sensitive projects.
- No official full web search API; Instant Answer API is limited to specific knowledge domains.
Programmatic access
- Instant Answer API: https://api.duckduckgo.com/?q=DuckDuckGo+API&format=json&pretty=1 (limited scope — not full web search results).
- For HTML SERPs, consider the lightweight endpoint: https://duckduckgo.com/html/ (follow ToS and robots.txt).
Localization and filters
- Common parameters: q (query), kl (region), kp (privacy/safe search), kad (ad display preference), and ia (instant answer type).
- Region and language help localize results, but options are more limited than Bing.
SERP elements and extraction tips
- The /html endpoint serves minimal markup suited for parsing titles, links, and snippets.
- Tip: Respect crawl delays and use modest concurrency to avoid rate limiting.
Anti-bot and compliance
- DuckDuckGo emphasizes privacy and a good-faith ecosystem; do not overload or automate against ToS.
Pros
- Lightweight HTML; privacy-first brand; straightforward parsing.
Cons
- No official full SERP API; result diversity can be smaller; rate limits apply.
Brave Search
Overview and when to use it
- Independent index with privacy focus. A strong choice if you need a non-Google, non-Bing source with an official API.
Programmatic access
- Brave Search API (paid). Docs: https://brave.com/search/api/
- Endpoints for web, images, and news.
- Common parameters: q, count, offset, country, safesearch, freshness (varies by endpoint).
Localization and filters
- Specify country and language parameters where available to localize results.
SERP elements and extraction tips
- JSON results typically include title, url, snippet, and rich metadata for images/news.
- Tip: Filter by vertical at the endpoint level to simplify parsing.
Anti-bot and compliance
- Use the official API for stability and compliance; HTML scraping is discouraged per ToS.
Pros
- Independent index; developer-friendly API; privacy-forward.
Cons
- Paid plans and quotas; index is smaller than Google’s in some areas.
Yahoo
Overview and when to use it
- Yahoo’s web results are largely powered by Bing.
- If you need programmatic access, it’s more reliable to use Bing’s official API.
Programmatic access
- Recommend Bing Web Search API: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/cognitive-services/bing-web-search/
Localization and filters
- If you scrape Yahoo HTML, you’ll need to infer locale via interface settings, but this is generally discouraged.
SERP elements and extraction tips
- Expect Bing-like result sets but different presentation.
Anti-bot and compliance
- Review Yahoo Terms; avoid high-rate HTML scraping.
Pros
- Familiar brand; sometimes surface-level UI differences.
Cons
- Duplicates Bing; no separate full-featured public API.
SearXNG (self-hosted metasearch)
Overview and when to use it
- Open-source metasearch engine that aggregates results from multiple sources you configure.
- Best when you need a search gateway you control, with a single JSON output for multiple backends.
Programmatic access
- Self-host SearXNG and query your own instance’s JSON endpoint. Docs: https://docs.searxng.org/
- Do not scrape public SearXNG instances.
Localization and filters
- Configure global language, safe search, and per-backend settings. Request parameters can include language, time range, and categories.
SERP elements and extraction tips
- Results are grouped by categories (general, images, news, etc.) in predictable JSON.
- Tip: Carefully configure allowed backends and rate limits to comply with each source’s ToS.
Anti-bot and compliance
- You are responsible for backend compliance. Configure per-engine throttling and honor robots.txt for sources that are scraped.
Pros
- You control infrastructure; single interface; flexible.
Cons
- Maintenance overhead; backend ToS compliance is on you.
FAQ
Q1: Is it legal to scrape Bing, DuckDuckGo, or Brave?
- It depends on each service’s Terms of Service and your jurisdiction. Using official APIs (Bing Web Search API, Brave Search API) is the most compliant path. For HTML scraping, review robots.txt and ToS, rate-limit, and avoid bypassing any access controls.
Q2: Which Google alternative has the best official API for SERP data?
- Bing offers the most mature, multi-vertical API with strong documentation. Brave also provides a solid paid API from an independent index. Mojeek and Kagi have clear developer APIs suitable for specific needs.
Q3: Can I localize results when scraping Bing or DuckDuckGo?
- Yes. Bing supports mkt, setLang, and additional filters like freshness and safeSearch. DuckDuckGo offers kl (region) and kp (privacy/safe search). When possible, prefer APIs to ensure consistent, documented localization.
Q4: How do I avoid being blocked while scraping SERPs?
- Prefer official APIs. If scraping HTML within ToS, keep request rates low, identify your user agent, add backoff on errors, and cache results.
Conclusion: Choosing the Right Non-Google Search Engine for Scalable, Compliant Web Scraping
The most sustainable path for SERP data extraction in 2025 is API-first, choosing engines with clear documentation, predictable quotas, and structured outputs. For general-purpose pipelines that need breadth, localization, and multi-vertical coverage, Bing remains the top choice thanks to its mature, well-documented endpoints and consistent JSON. If independence and privacy are priorities, the Brave Search API provides high-quality JSON for web, image, and news results within transparent plan limits.
When your requirements favor a single, controllable aggregation layer and JSON output, self-hosted SearXNG can streamline development, with the important caveat that you must configure engines, throttling, and robots.txt/ToS compliance for each backend you enable. For lightweight, privacy-centric lookups, DuckDuckGo’s Instant Answer API covers specific knowledge domains and its minimalist HTML endpoint can serve small-scale parsing—used conservatively and in line with policy.
Finally, remember that not every search product is a fit for scraping. Across all engines, the enduring best practice is to prefer official APIs, rate-limit and back off on errors, identify your client where permitted, and align with data protection laws. By matching your use case to the right engine—Bing and Brave for production-scale JSON.