SearchApi, SerpApi and Google's lawsuit: what to check in the SERP API agreement before launching the product
In this story, it is important to immediately separate two different disputes. First: On January 20, 2026, SerpApi filed a lawsuit against SearchApi and related parties. B case card on Justia it is indicated that this is a dispute over Defend Trade Secrets Act, and in the SerpApi complaint itself the company claims that after the failed deal, a competitor appeared on the market using sensitive developments.
The second dispute appeared earlier and already affects the very model of such a business. December 19, 2025 Google announced a lawsuit against SerpApi. Google’s position is tough: the company writes that SerpApi bypassed protective measures, ignored the choice of copyright holders to access content, and resold data from search results.
If you are buying a SERP API for rank tracking, SEO analytics, ad intelligence or AI product, this is no stranger's drama. This is a good reason to check what is written in your contract, who bears the risk for downstream use, and what promises like legal shield.
What do these two disputes really show?
From afar, it’s easy to decide that this is just a conflict between two services with a similar product. But legally there are different stories.
In a dispute SerpApi vs SearchApi вопрос упирается в коммерческую тайну, копирование и последствия несостоявшейся M&A-сделки. Суд еще не сказал, кто прав. Но сам факт такого иска показывает, насколько хрупкой может быть база у инфраструктурного поставщика.
In a dispute Google vs SerpApi the subject is different. Google is not talking about an internal market conflict, but about scraping, bypassing protective measures and reselling content from Search. For the client, this is no longer a dispute about the brand’s reputation. It's a question of whether a key data provider might suddenly find itself under pressure from the rights holder or the platform on which its business is built.
Why is this a topic for digital law, and not just for SEO?
This is where many teams make the same mistakes. They see that the vendor himself collects the public release, and conclude that almost all the legal risk lies with him. In practice this is not the case.
SearchApi in its Terms of Service directly writes that their Legal Protection Guarantee only applies to claims that arise solely from SearchApi's own collection and parsing of public results. It also specifically states that the warranty does not apply to your use, storage, redistribution or commercialization of data, as well as to your contractual relationships with third sites and data providers.
U SerpApi on the U.S. page Legal Shield the logic is similar. Coverage applies to scraping and parsing as such, unless your use is illegal. But SerpApi specifically advises consulting with your lawyer on the issue of downstream use, because the legality of such use lies outside the shield itself.
This is where the zone begins digital law. The problem is not whether it is possible to buy a SERP API in principle. The problem is that “the legality of the collection” and “the legality of your product based on this data” are different issues.
Where the client remains at risk, even if the vendor has a legal shield
The most useful place in this dispute is not the title or loud language, but the exceptions in the documents.
1. Resale and reuse of data
If you don’t just look at data inside your account, but:
- resell reports to clients;
- embed SERP responses into your own product;
- store data sets for reuse;
- show snippets, snippets or images to third parties;
- use the results as raw material for training or fine-tuning models,
then you go far beyond the question of “who collected the output”. U SearchApi this is directly included in the exceptions of the Legal Protection Guarantee. U SerpApi in U.S. Legal Shield It is also said that coverage concerns lawful collection, and not what you then do with the data.
2. Agreements and restrictions of third parties
Even if your vendor promises protection, this does not change the fact that you may be bound by your own obligations to advertising platforms, publishers, venues or clients. SearchApi writes separatelythat the warranty does not apply to your contracts or obligations with third-party sites or data providers.
For the legal team, this is an important signal: the vendor may take the risk of collection, but does not take the risk of your business model.
3. Privacy and personal data
Some teams still think that the SERP API is only about search results, and not about privacy. But as soon as you send user identifiers, internal query strings, UTM structures, addresses, phone numbers or other data through requests, the question changes.
U SearchApi in DPA roles are clearly described: client - Controller, SearchApi - Processor, processing takes place in the USA, and SCC is used for restricted transfers. It also states that SearchApi does not use customer data for training or additional training of AI models. These are good points, but they need to be read before purchasing, not after launch.
If another supplier has these roles, retention and transfer mechanisms not described as clearly, this is no longer “we’ll figure it out later,” but a separate block for due diligence.
4. Limitations on plan, amount and procedure
Even when there is a legal shield, it is rarely unconditional.
SearchApi writesthat the guarantee is valid only for active paid subscriptions starting from Production plan, capped on $2,000,000 for 12 months, and requires a prompt notice plus retention of logs and evidence.
SerpApi on the U.S. page Legal Shield also limits the coverage: it starts with Production plan and above, and the claims must be subject to U.S. law and brought before a U.S. court.
For procurement, this means a simple thing: the promise of “we’ve got your back” almost always only works if the conditions are met. If the team does not know these conditions, shield cannot be relied upon as a ready-made solution.
What a digital law team should check in a SERP API agreement
Below is a short list of what is really useful to check before go-live.
1. Applicable law and jurisdiction
It is better to know the terms of the dispute in advance, and not at the time of the conflict.
SearchApi indicates New York law and venue in New York County courts.
SerpApi indicates Texas law in legal documents.
This affects the process, the cost of the dispute, counsel strategy and how convenient it is for you to protect your interests.
2. Suspension of access and termination
The vendor almost always reserves broad rights to stop access.
SearchApi writes, which may suspend or terminate the account and deny current or future access to the service.
SerpApi in its legal terms writes that it may terminate access if, in its sole discretion, it believes that you do not comply with the terms.
For a product this is not an abstraction. It's a question of whether you have a backup route and how many hours the switch will take.
3. Indemnification and exclusions
You need to look not only at the advertising wording about shield, but also at the client’s inverse responsibility.
SearchApi in Terms separately includes indemnification on the client’s side for a number of third-party claims related to the use of data. It also says that the Legal Protection Guarantee is an exclusive remedy within its scope.
Legally, this means that the vendor takes part of the risk, but very clearly returns part of it to the client.
4. Uploading, storing and deleting data
If the service is critical, you need to know in advance:
- how to download your data;
- how quickly will you pick them up at stop notice;
- what will remain with the supplier after termination;
- How is the deletion request formatted?
U SearchApi DPA There are separate provisions about export during the contract period, deletion and exceptions when data can be withheld by law. This is a good guideline that should be requested from other suppliers as well.
5. What can you do with the data after receiving it?
If you are building an AI agent or analytics product, be sure to check whether you can:
- save results;
- normalize and mix them with other datasets;
- use them in the retrieval pipeline;
- make summaries for clients based on them;
- include such data in training or evaluation processes.
This is no longer a question of “which API is faster”. This is a matter of license, IP risk and contract scope.
Practical conclusion for business
If your product relies on one SERP API, legal due diligence should be done not after the first incident, but before signing or renewal.
The minimum working package looks like this:
- Check Terms, DPA, privacy docs, venue and indemnity.
- Separately describe your downstream use: storage, reports, AI, resale, client dashboards.
- Check that the legal shield covers exactly your scenario, and not just the collection on the vendor’s side.
- Keep the fallback provider at least for critical functions.
- Create an internal playbook: who receives the legal notice, who saves the logs, who makes the decision about failover.
If an external audit of such a connection is needed, it is already closer to compliance audit of digital services and contractual modelthan to the usual choice of API based on price and response speed.
Useful on the topic
- Antitrust lawsuit against Amazon: what California charges against the marketplace and why it is important for sellers
- 10 best examples of corporate websites: Design analysis
- Case on the topic
- Profile service
FAQ
Does this mean that SERP API cannot be used?
No. This means that it must be purchased as legally significant infrastructure, and not as a harmless technical consumable.
If the vendor has a legal shield, can you calm down?
No. Shield almost always covers only part of the risk and does not relieve the client of responsibility for downstream use.
What is the most important thing to check before starting?
Your own scenario for using data: storage, processing, publication, client access, AI functions and restrictions on third parties.