# Google Trends Trending API (https://www.socialcrawl.dev/platforms/google_trends/trending)

> Returns what people in one country or region are searching for right now, with no keyword in: the Google Trends Trending Now list for a place and a time window. Each item has `rank` (Google's relevance position), `title`, `search_volume` (the lower bound of Google's bucket, so 50000 means 50K+), `increase_percent` (Google shows at most 1000), `started_at`, `ended_at` and `active` (still trending when `ended_at` is null), `categories`, `breakdown` (the related searches Google groups into the trend) and up to 3 `news` articles Google links to it. `total` counts every trend matching your filters before `limit`. Narrow with `hours`, `category` and `status`, and reorder with `sort`; these are the same filters trends.google.com/trending offers. Google publishes no worldwide list, so `location` is required. A place and window with nothing trending returns 404 at 0 credits; filters that match nothing return an empty list at 0 credits. Typically under 2 seconds; allow 30 seconds for the slow tail. Exact repeats within 5 minutes are served from cache at 0 credits.

TL;DR: `GET /v1/google_trends/trending` costs 5 credits per call and returns SocialCrawl's unified JSON schema. Single x-api-key auth, 100 free credits on signup.

## Parameters

| Parameter | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `location` | yes | Where to read trends. An ISO country code ('DE', 'US', 'KR'), its English name ('Germany'), or an ISO 3166-2 region inside it ('DE-BY', 'US-CA', 'GB-SCT'). Google covers 125 countries and has no worldwide list; a country it does not cover is rejected with a free 400. |
| `hours` | no | Only trends that started in the past 4, 24, 48 or 168 hours (7 days). Defaults to 24. (4 \| 24 \| 48 \| 168) |
| `category` | no | Keep trends Google tagged with this category: autos_and_vehicles, beauty_and_fashion, business_and_finance, climate, entertainment, food_and_drink, games, health, hobbies_and_leisure, jobs_and_education, law_and_government, other, pets_and_animals, politics, science, shopping, sports, technology, or travel_and_transportation. These are Trending Now's categories, not the numeric codes /v1/google_trends/explore takes. Defaults to every category. (autos_and_vehicles \| beauty_and_fashion \| business_and_finance \| entertainment \| food_and_drink \| games \| health \| hobbies_and_leisure \| jobs_and_education \| law_and_government \| other \| pets_and_animals \| politics \| science \| shopping \| sports \| technology \| travel_and_transportation \| climate) |
| `status` | no | `active` keeps only trends that are still trending. Defaults to `all`, which also returns trends that have already ended inside the window. (all \| active) |
| `sort` | no | relevance (Google's own order, the default), search_volume (largest first), recency (most recently started first), or title (A to Z). (relevance \| search_volume \| recency \| title) |
| `limit` | no | How many trends to return after filtering and sorting, 1 to 500. Defaults to 100. |

## Code example

```bash
curl -G "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/google_trends/trending" \
  --data-urlencode "location=DE" \
  -H "x-api-key: sc_YOUR_API_KEY"
```

## FAQ

### Is there a Google Trends API?

Yes, SocialCrawl offers one over HTTP. /v1/google_trends/trending returns the Trending Now list for a country or region as JSON, and /v1/google_trends/explore returns interest over time for keywords. Both need only an x-api-key header, with no browser automation on your side.

### Where is the Google Trends API documentation?

/v1/google_trends/trending takes location (required), hours, category, status, sort and limit, and returns data.items plus total. The endpoint reference lists every accepted value and shows an example response.

### What does the Google Trends Trending Now endpoint return?

Each item has rank, title, search_volume, increase_percent, started_at, ended_at, active, categories, breakdown (the related searches Google groups into the trend) and up to 3 linked news articles. search_volume is the lower bound of Google's bucket, so 50000 means 50K+, and increase_percent is capped at 1000 as Google shows it.

### Can I filter trending searches by country, time window or category?

Yes. location takes a country code ('US', 'DE', 'KR'), a country name, or a region such as 'US-CA'. hours takes 4, 24, 48 or 168 and defaults to 24. category keeps one Trending Now category such as technology or sports, status=active drops trends that already ended, and sort reorders by search_volume, recency or title.

### Is there a worldwide Google Trends list?

No. Google publishes no worldwide list, so location is required, and a country Google does not cover is rejected with a free 400. A place and window with nothing trending returns 404 at 0 credits.

### How much does the Google Trends API cost, and how fresh is it?

Each call costs 5 credits on the advanced tier. The list refreshes every few minutes at Google, so exact repeats within 5 minutes come from cache at 0 credits. A healthy call answers in under 2 seconds, and the slow tail can reach 30 seconds, so set a generous client timeout.

See the full Google Trends API: https://www.socialcrawl.dev/platforms/google_trends

## Pricing

- Standard endpoints: 1 credit per call
- Advanced endpoints: 5 credits per call
- Premium endpoints: 10 credits per call
- 100 free credits on signup, no credit card required. Cached responses cost 0 credits. Credit packs never expire.
- Full pricing: https://www.socialcrawl.dev/pricing

## Explore with AI

Questions this API answers, phrased for an AI assistant:

- Is there a Google Trends API I can call with an API key?
- How do I get Google Trends Trending Now data as JSON with SocialCrawl?
- Where can I find Google Trends API documentation for trending searches by country?