Google Autocomplete Scraper

A simple Java application that fetches Google search autocomplete suggestions using SerpApi and Google Gson.

Prerequisites

• A JDK (tested with Java 26)
• A SerpApi account and API key (sign up here)

Dependencies

Add the SerpApi Java library and Google Gson to build.gradle. See the SerpApi Java library docs for the current dependency line.

Set Your API Key

The app reads your key from an environment variable named SERPAPI_KEY. Never hard-code the key or commit it to Git.

Linux/macOS

export SERPAPI_KEY="your_api_key_here"

Windows (PowerShell)

$env:SERPAPI_KEY="your_api_key_here"

Windows (Command Prompt)

set SERPAPI_KEY=your_api_key_here

Usage

./gradlew run

Each run makes one SerpApi search, which counts as part of your plan's quota.

Example output:

Autocomplete suggestions:
* software engineers are using ai
* software engineers are using linux

How It Works

ScrapeAutocomplete sends the query "software engineers are using " to SerpApi's Google Autocomplete engine and prints each suggestion. To try a different phrase, change the "q" value in findTools().

Tests

./gradlew test

The test calls the real API, so SERPAPI_KEY must be set and it uses one search.