# Google Images API: image results with their source pages, as JSON

> Google Images API: image results as JSON with original URL, size, thumbnail and host page, by country, from $0.30/1K searches. No KYC, pay in crypto.

- URL: https://serpcrypto.com/google-images-api/
- Last updated: 2026-10-22
- Publisher: SerpCrypto (https://serpcrypto.com)

Run a Google Images search for any query and country, and read each result's original image URL, size, thumbnail, title and the page that hosts it.

**Quick answer — Is there an API that returns Google Images results?**

Yes. With **SerpCrypto**, set `engine=google_images` and the API returns the Google Images results for your query and country as JSON: title, original image URL, width and height, thumbnail, source name and the page that hosts each image. One successful search costs one credit, from $0.30/1K searches as of October 2026. No KYC; pay in crypto.

## Google Images results with SerpCrypto

| Attribute | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Endpoint | `GET https://serpcrypto.com/api/v1/search?engine=google_images&q=…` |
| Array returned | `images_results` |
| Fields | `position`, `title`, `original`, `original_width`, `original_height`, `thumbnail`, `source`, `link` |
| Targeting | `gl`, `hl`, `safe=active` or `off`, `period` |
| What you get | Links and metadata; the images stay on their owners' servers |
| Price | 1 credit per search; 10,000 searches for $7.50 |

## What does a Google Images search return?

It returns an `images_results` array in the order Google Images showed the pictures. Each object describes one image and the page it comes from.

| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `position` | Rank in the image grid |
| `title` | Title of the image or of its page |
| `original` | URL of the full-size image file |
| `original_width`, `original_height` | Size of the original in pixels |
| `thumbnail` | URL of the small preview Google shows |
| `source` | Name of the site that hosts the image |
| `link` | URL of the page where the image appears |

SerpCrypto does not copy or store the images. The API returns where they are, and you decide what to fetch.

## Who owns the images in the results?

The images belong to their owners, not to Google and not to us. A search result tells you that an image exists and where it is published; it gives you no right to reuse it.

Before you copy, publish or train on an image, check its licence on the host page, or ask the owner. Many photos are protected by copyright even when they are easy to find. For brand protection work, the opposite applies: the results help you find copies of your own pictures used without your permission.

*Node.js: find where your product photo appears*

```javascript
const API = "https://serpcrypto.com/api/v1/search";
const KEY = process.env.SERPCRYPTO_API_KEY;

const params = new URLSearchParams({ engine: "google_images", q: "acme trail runner shoe", gl: "us", hl: "en" });
const res = await fetch(`${API}?${params}`, { headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${KEY}` } });
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`HTTP ${res.status}`);
const data = await res.json();

const ownSite = "acme.example";
for (const img of data.images_results ?? []) {
  const host = new URL(img.link).hostname;
  if (!host.endsWith(ownSite)) {
    console.log(img.position, img.source, img.link);
  }
}

```

## What can I do with image results?

Image results answer questions that text results cannot:

- **Image SEO:** whether your product photos and diagrams rank for the queries you care about, and which competitor images rank above them.
- **Brand protection:** pages outside your own sites that show your logo or product photos, so you can check whether they are allowed to.
- **Merchandising research:** which product styles and photo formats dominate a category in each country.
- **Content research:** which charts, diagrams and illustrations Google surfaces for a topic, as a starting point for your own original visuals.

For each of these, the `link` field takes you to the page to review by hand.

## What about Google's own image search API?

Google's Custom Search JSON API could run image searches, but Google closed it to new customers. Its overview page says existing customers have until 1 January 2027 to move to another solution. And since 20 January 2026, a new Programmable Search Engine can only search up to 50 chosen domains, not the entire web.

Our [Google Custom Search API alternative](https://serpcrypto.com/alternatives/google-custom-search-api/) page compares the options for teams that relied on it.

## How much does the Google Images engine cost?

Image searches cost one credit each, like every other engine. 10,000 searches cost $7.50 and 100,000 searches cost $56.25, as of October 2026. Credits never expire.

| Plan | Quantity | Price | Price per unit |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Test | 10,000 searches | $7.50 | $0.75/1K searches |
| Starter | 25,000 searches | $18.75 | $0.75/1K searches |
| Build | 100,000 searches | $56.25 | $0.56/1K searches |

In every plan: Every engine at 1 credit per search · Failed requests not charged · Credits never expire · Country, language, city and device targeting

**Before you pay**

- Minimum top-up $25. Top up once in crypto, then buy any plan from your balance.
- Unused balance stays on your account and never expires, and it pays for search credits. When a purchase costs less than the minimum top-up, the part added only to reach the minimum is refundable on request to support within 30 days of the payment, in USDT or USDC, as long as it has not been spent. The rest of the balance is not paid back, except where the law requires it.
- Credited once your payment is checked on the blockchain. Typical network confirmation time: BTC ≈ 20 min · USDT TRC-20 ≈ 1 min · USDT ERC-20 ≈ 5 min · USDC ERC-20 ≈ 5 min · ETH ≈ 5 min · SOL ≈ 1 min · LTC ≈ 15 min

## Google Images API: common questions

### Can I download the images through the API?

The API returns URLs, not files. You can fetch an image from its `original` URL yourself, but only where you have the right to use it. Check the licence on the host page first.

### Can I filter out explicit images?

Yes. Add `safe=active` to ask Google to filter explicit results. Searches for child sexual abuse material are forbidden by our [Acceptable Use Policy](https://serpcrypto.com/acceptable-use/) and lead to suspension.

### Does the API support reverse image search?

No. The Images engine takes a text query. It does not accept an uploaded picture or an image URL as the query.

### How many images does one search return?

One search returns the first set of images Google shows for the query. The number is set by Google. Ask for `page=2` to get the next set; each page is one credit.

### Do I need an ID or a card?

No. SerpCrypto is a no-KYC SERP API. You top up from $25 in BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, LTC and buy a pack from your balance.

## Sources

1. [Custom Search JSON API overview](https://developers.google.com/custom-search/v1/overview) — Google for Developers (checked 2026-10-22)
2. [Programmable Search Engine: search the entire web](https://support.google.com/programmable-search/answer/12397162?hl=en) — Programmable Search Engine Help (checked 2026-10-22)

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SerpCrypto: SerpCrypto is a SERP API for developers and AI agents that returns Google and Bing results as JSON, paid in crypto with no ID upload. Prepaid search credits from $0.30/1K searches never expire. No KYC — no ID, no selfie, no documents. Pay in crypto.