Google sued SerpApi in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging the company developed methods to bypass protections Google deployed to prevent automated scraping of Search results and the licensed content they contain.
Why This Case Is Different
Unlike previous cases that focused on terms-of-service violations or broader scraping methods, Google’s complaint is built on DMCA anti-circumvention claims.
Google argues SearchGuard is a protection measure that controls access to copyrighted works appearing in Search results. The complaint describes SearchGuard as a system that sends a JavaScript “challenge” to requests from unrecognized sources and requires the browser to return specific information as a “solve.”
Google says the system launched in January and initially blocked SerpApi. The complaint claims SerpApi then developed ways to bypass it.
The complaint document reads:
“Google developed and deployed a technological measure, known as SearchGuard, that restricts access to its search results pages and the copyrighted content they contain. So that it could continue its free riding, however, SerpApi developed a means of circumventing SearchGuard. With the automated queries it submits, SerpApi engages in a wide variety of misrepresentations and evasions in order to bypass the technological protections Google deployed. But each time it employs these artifices, SerpApi violates federal law.”
Why DMCA Section 1201 Is The Center Of The Complaint
Google’s complaint leans on DMCA Section 1201, which targets circumvention of access controls and also the sale of circumvention tools or services.
Google is bringing two claims: one focused on the act of circumvention (Section 1201(a)(1)) and another focused on “trafficking” in circumvention services or technology (Section 1201(a)(2)). The complaint says Google may elect statutory damages of $200 to $2,500 per violation.
The filing also argues that even if damages were awarded, SerpApi “reportedly earns a few million dollars in annual revenue,” and Google is seeking an injunction to stop the alleged conduct.
What Google Claims SerpApi Did
Google claims SerpApi circumvented SearchGuard in multiple ways, including misrepresenting attributes of requests (such as device, software, or location) to obtain authorization to submit queries.
The complaint quotes SerpApi’s founder describing the process as:
“creating fake browsers using a multitude of IP addresses that Google sees as normal users.”
Google estimates SerpApi sends “hundreds of millions” of artificial search requests each day, and says that volume increased by as much as 25,000% over two years.
The Licensed Content Angle
Google’s issue is not just “SERP data.” It centers on copyrighted content embedded in Search features through licensing and partner relationships.
The complaint says Knowledge Panels “often contain copyrighted photographs that Google licenses from third parties,” and it points to other examples like merchant-supplied product images in Shopping and third-party imagery used in Maps.
Google alleges SerpApi “scrape[s] this copyrighted content and more from Google” and resells it to customers for a fee, without permission or compensation to rights holders.
Why This Matters For SEO Tools
If your workflows depend on third-party SERP data (rank tracking, feature monitoring, competitive intelligence), this case is worth watching because Google is asking for an injunction that could cut off a source of automated SERP access.
Bigger vendors typically run their own collection systems. Smaller products, internal dashboards, and custom tools are more likely to depend on outside SERP APIs, which can create a single point of failure if a provider is forced to shut down or change methods.
Industry Context: Scraping Lawsuits Are Increasing
Google’s filing follows other litigation over scraping and content reuse.
Reddit sued SerpApi and other scraping companies in October over alleged scraping tied to Perplexity, but also notes Perplexity isn’t mentioned in Google’s lawsuit.
Antitrust Context, Briefly
This also lands after Judge Amit Mehta’s August 2024 liability ruling in the U.S. search antitrust case, with remedies ordered in 2025 and appeals expected.
That case deals with distribution and defaults. This one is about automated access to Search results pages and the content embedded in them. Still, they both sit inside the same broader debate about how much control platforms can exert over access and reuse.
What People Are Saying
Some reaction on X has framed the lawsuit as an existential threat to AI products that depend on third-party access to Google results, with one post calling it “the end of ChatGPT.”
The court filing and Google’s announcement are narrower, focused on SerpApi’s alleged circumvention of SearchGuard and the resale of copyrighted content embedded in Google Search features.
SerpApi, for its part, says it will “vigorously defend” the case and characterizes it as an effort to limit competition from companies building “next-generation AI” and other applications.
What Comes Next
Google is asking the court for monetary damages and an order blocking the alleged circumvention. It also wants SerpApi compelled to destroy technology involved in the alleged violations.
If the case proceeds, the central issue is whether SearchGuard qualifies as a DMCA-protected access control for copyrighted works, or whether SerpApi argues it functions more like bot-management, which it may contend falls outside Section 1201.
