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Google Images Light API

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Our Google Images Light API allows you to scrape results from the Google Images page with lightning-fast speeds. The Google Images Light engine contains all the most critical data, but without the extra-rich results you usually find on a regular Google Images page. This allows for faster response times compared to our regular Google Images API.

The API is accessed through the following endpoint: /search?engine=google_images_light.

You can query: https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google_images_light&q=coffee utilizing a GET request. Head to the playground for a live and interactive demo.

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API Parameters

Search Query

q

Required

Parameter defines the query you want to search. You can use anything that you would use in a regular Google Images Light search. e.g. inurl:, site:, intitle:.

Geographic Location

location

Optional

Parameter defines from where you want the search to originate. If several locations match the location requested, we'll pick the most popular one. Head to the /locations.json API if you need more precise control. The location and uule parameters can't be used together. It is recommended to specify location at the city level in order to simulate a real user’s search. If location is omitted, the search may take on the location of the proxy.

uule

Optional

Parameter is the Google encoded location you want to use for the search.

uule and location parameters can't be used together.

Localization

google_domain

Optional

Parameter defines the Google domain to use. It defaults to google.com. Head to the Google domains for a full list of supported Google domains.

gl

Optional

Parameter defines the country to use for the Google Images Light search. It's a two-letter country code. (e.g., us for the United States, uk for United Kingdom, or fr for France) Head to the Google countries for a full list of supported Google countries.

hl

Optional

Parameter defines the language to use for the Google Images Light search. It's a two-letter language code. (e.g., en for English, es for Spanish, or fr for French) Head to the Google languages for a full list of supported Google languages.

cr

Optional

Parameter defines one or multiple countries to limit the search to. It uses country{two-letter upper-case country code} to specify countries and | as a delimiter. (e.g., countryFR|countryDE will only search French and German pages). Head to the Google cr countries page for a full list of supported countries.

Time Period

period_unit

Optional

Parameter defines the time period unit to search for the recent images, e.g. from past minute, hour, day etc.

Options:
s - Second
n - Minute
h - Hour
d - Day
w - Week
m - Month
y - Year

This parameter can't be used with start_date/end_date parameters.
This parameter overrides qdr component of tbs parameter.

period_value

Optional

Parameter defines an optional time period value that can be used with period_unit to describe time periods like 15 seconds, 42 hours, 178 days etc.

Default value: 1
Value range: 1..2147483647

start_date

Optional

Parameter defines the start date of time period you want to limit the image search to.

Format: YYYYMMDD
Example: 20241201

This parameter can't be used with period_unit/period_value parameters.
start_date with blank end_date produces date range FROM start_date TO today.
This parameter overrides cdr and cd_min components of tbs parameter.

end_date

Optional

Parameter defines the end date of time period you want to limit the image search to.

Format: YYYYMMDD
Example: 20241231

This parameter can't be used with period_unit/period_value parameters.
end_date with blank start_date produces date range BEFORE end_date.
This parameter overrides cdr and cd_max components of tbs parameter.

Advanced Filters

tbs

Optional

(to be searched) parameter defines advanced search parameters that aren't possible in the regular query field.

imgar

Optional

Parameter defines the set aspect ratio of images.

Options:
s - Square
t - Tall
w - Wide
xw - Panoramic

imgsz

Optional

Parameter defines the size of images.

Options:
l - Large
m - Medium
i - Icon
qsvga - Larger than 400×300
vga - Larger than 640×480
svga - Larger than 800×600
xga - Larger than 1024×768
2mp - Larger than 2 MP
4mp - Larger than 4 MP
6mp - Larger than 6 MP
8mp - Larger than 8 MP
10mp - Larger than 10 MP
12mp - Larger than 12 MP
15mp - Larger than 15 MP
20mp - Larger than 20 MP
40mp - Larger than 40 MP
70mp - Larger than 70 MP

image_color

Optional

Parameter defines the color of images.

Options:
bw - Black and white
trans - Transparent
red - Red
orange - Orange
yellow - Yellow
green - Green
teal - Teal
blue - Blue
purple - Purple
pink - Pink
white - White
gray - Gray
black - Black
brown - Brown

This parameter overrides ic and isc components of tbs parameter

image_type

Optional

Parameter defines the type of images.

Options:
face - Face
photo - Photo
clipart - Clip art
lineart - Line drawing
animated - Animated

This parameter overrides itp component of tbs parameter

licenses

Optional

Parameter defines the scope of licenses of images.

Options:
f - Free to use or share
fc - Free to use or share, even commercially
fm - Free to use, share or modify
fmc - Free to use, share or modify, even commercially
cl - Creative Commons licenses
ol - Commercial and other licenses

This parameter overrides sur component of tbs parameter

safe

Optional

Parameter defines the level of filtering for adult content. It can be set to active or off, by default Google will blur explicit content.

nfpr

Optional

Parameter defines the exclusion of results from an auto-corrected query when the original query is spelled wrong. It can be set to 1 to exclude these results, or 0 to include them (default). Note that this parameter may not prevent Google from returning results for an auto-corrected query if no other results are available.

filter

Optional

Parameter defines if the filters for 'Similar Results' and 'Omitted Results' are on or off. It can be set to 1 (default) to enable these filters, or 0 to disable these filters.

Pagination

start

Optional

Parameter defines the result offset. It skips the given number of results. It's used for pagination. (e.g., 0 (default) is the first page of results, 20 is the 2nd page of results, 40 is the 3rd page of results, etc.).

Serpapi Parameters

engine

Required

Set parameter to google_images_light to use the Google Images Light API engine.

device

Optional

Parameter defines the device to use to get the results. It can be set to desktop (default) to use a regular browser, tablet to use a tablet browser (currently using iPads), or mobile to use a mobile browser.

no_cache

Optional

Parameter will force SerpApi to fetch the Google Images Light results even if a cached version is already present. A cache is served only if the query and all parameters are exactly the same. Cache expires after 1h. Cached searches are free, and are not counted towards your searches per month. It can be set to false (default) to allow results from the cache, or true to disallow results from the cache. no_cache and async parameters should not be used together.

async

Optional

Parameter defines the way you want to submit your search to SerpApi. It can be set to false (default) to open an HTTP connection and keep it open until you got your search results, or true to just submit your search to SerpApi and retrieve them later. In this case, you'll need to use our Searches Archive API to retrieve your results. async and no_cache parameters should not be used together. async should not be used on accounts with Ludicrous Speed enabled.

zero_trace

Optional

Enterprise only. Parameter enables ZeroTrace mode. It can be set to false (default) or true. Enable this mode to skip storing search parameters, search files, and search metadata on our servers. This may make debugging more difficult.

api_key

Required

Parameter defines the SerpApi private key to use.

output

Optional

Parameter defines the final output you want. It can be set to json (default) to get a structured JSON of the results, or html to get the raw html retrieved.

API Results

JSON Results

JSON output includes structured data for images_results.

A search status is accessible through search_metadata.status. It flows this way: Processing -> Success || Error. If a search has failed, error will contain an error message. search_metadata.id is the search ID inside SerpApi.

HTML Results

HTML output is useful to debug JSON results or support features not supported yet by SerpApi. HTML output gives you the raw HTML results from Google Images Light.

API Examples

Results for: Coffee

Results for: Coffee

JSON Example

{
  "search_metadata": {
    "id": "680edc71877a91117bfd76df",
    "status": "Success",
    "json_endpoint": "https://serpapi.com/searches/be6794ef927f8a66/680edc71877a91117bfd76df.json",
    "created_at": "2025-04-28 01:40:01 UTC",
    "processed_at": "2025-04-28 01:40:01 UTC",
    "google_images_light_url": "https://www.google.com/search?q=Coffee&oq=Coffee&hl=en&gl=us&tbm=isch&gbv=1",
    "raw_html_file": "https://serpapi.com/searches/be6794ef927f8a66/680edc71877a91117bfd76df.html",
    "total_time_taken": 0.86
  },
  "search_parameters": {
    "engine": "google_images_light",
    "q": "Coffee",
    "google_domain": "google.com",
    "hl": "en",
    "gl": "us",
    "device": "desktop"
  },
  "search_information": {
    "image_results_state": "Results for exact spelling"
  },
  "images_results": [
    {
      "position": 1,
      "thumbnail": "https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTSoY4UW8XSnUhrsSU-rN3qh_dCmO4J4-63Ei5WNsA09kpwH9nOsyGF4JC1qjI&s",
      "title": "Coffee - Wikipedia",
      "link": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee",
      "source": "en.wikipedia.org"
    },
    {
      "position": 2,
      "thumbnail": "https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTt4Bc08KbvbJbwDzFM93f6RgL7bBqJAOwuWrSu2LwfVTsGa8vswDQbjySQd34&s",
      "title": "Selecting the Right Coffee...",
      "link": "https://www.royalcupcoffee.com/blog/articles/selecting-right-coffee-every-time-day",
      "source": "www.royalcupcoffee.com"
    },
    {
      "position": 3,
      "thumbnail": "https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQpVNeNWuxy6kzuMLgIoudIlkZHyj1u-IltwRb9sCxjGkEjNLEfxX3KWtJfiw&s",
      "title": "Coffee recipes | Good Food",
      "link": "https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/coffee-recipes/",
      "source": "www.bbcgoodfood.com"
    },
    ...
  ],
  "serpapi_pagination": {
    "current": 1,
    "next": "https://serpapi.com/search.json?device=desktop&engine=google_images_light&gl=us&google_domain=google.com&hl=en&q=Coffee&start=20location=Austin%2C+TX%2C+Texas%2C+United+States"
  }
}

Results for: Coffee (Mobile)

On mobile devices, the API returns additional image metadata including original URL, original_width, and original_height. However, mobile results do not include title and source attributes that are available in desktop results.

Results for: Coffee (Mobile)

JSON Example

{
  "search_metadata": {
    "id": "680f799d877a914f71590279",
    "status": "Success",
    "json_endpoint": "https://serpapi.com/searches/7abc29bc961a42f5/680f799d877a914f71590279.json",
    "created_at": "2025-04-28 12:50:37 UTC",
    "processed_at": "2025-04-28 12:50:37 UTC",
    "google_images_light_url": "https://www.google.com/search?q=coffee&oq=coffee&hl=en&gl=us&tbm=isch&gbv=1",
    "raw_html_file": "https://serpapi.com/searches/7abc29bc961a42f5/680f799d877a914f71590279.html",
    "total_time_taken": 0.74
  },
  "search_parameters": {
    "engine": "google_images_light",
    "q": "coffee",
    "google_domain": "google.com",
    "hl": "en",
    "gl": "us",
    "device": "mobile"
  },
  "search_information": {
    "image_results_state": "Results for exact spelling"
  },
  "images_results": [
    {
      "position": 1,
      "thumbnail": "https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQyTJ9PT02E0KgDD4rO847ThJYBR_lRrtkmpOudXNEMVraFoqDryXR8Ei7H8Q&s",
      "link": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee",
      "original": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Latte_and_dark_coffee.jpg",
      "original_width": 3200,
      "original_height": 2000
    },
    {
      "position": 2,
      "thumbnail": "https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQw88h7g-bNpf1SeM91P67oC0bwA2PmKYOAUKI87CjCnoFHRqME-z6tnbY0&s",
      "link": "https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/coffee-recipes/",
      "original": "https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/30/2020/08/flat-white-3402c4f.jpg",
      "original_width": 500,
      "original_height": 454
    },
    {
      "position": 3,
      "thumbnail": "https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRe_ZavJ7rr5NrF6KXjHVsqvhD6IZEtxmyWiUy_56oCeSpPIJnZQEoke_Ck6g&s",
      "link": "https://unocasa.com/blogs/tips/types-of-coffee",
      "original": "https://unocasa.com/cdn/shop/articles/types_of_coffee_91a828a5-7ff3-427d-acaa-c8b7289c9e5a_1024x.jpg?v=1621261041",
      "original_width": 1024,
      "original_height": 683
    },
    ...
  ],
  "serpapi_pagination": {
    "current": 1,
    "next": "https://serpapi.com/search.json?device=mobile&engine=google_images_light&gl=us&google_domain=google.com&hl=en&q=coffee&start=20location=Austin%2C+TX%2C+Texas%2C+United+States"
  }
}

JSON structure overview 

{
  "images_results": [
    {
      "position": "Integer - Position of the image on the search page",
      "thumbnail": "String - URL of the image thumbnail",
      "title": "String - Short image description",
      "link": "String - Link to the page providing the image",
      "original": "String - Original image URL (full resolution)",
      "original_width": "Integer - Original image width",
      "original_height": "Integer - Original image height",
      "source": "String - Displayed URL of the website containing the image",
    },
    ...
  ],
  "serpapi_pagination": {
    "current": "Integer - Index of the current page",
    "next": "String - SerpApi link for paginating to the next page of results",
    "previous": "String - SerpApi link for paginating to the previous page of results"
  },
}