Apify Public Data & Leads

Google News Search

google_news_search

Read-only

Search Google News for companies, people, products, or topics to get current headlines, publishers, timestamps, links, and snippets. Use for news monitoring, brand mentions, market intelligence, and source discovery.

Instructions

Search Google News for companies, people, products, brands, industries, and topics. Returns current headlines, publishers, timestamps, article links, source sites, and snippets.

Behavioral Transparency:

Execution: Network call executed synchronously in the cloud via Apify Actor 'captainhandsome/google-news-search'.
Side Effects: Reads public sources and creates a billed Actor run and dataset on your Apify account.
Authentication: Requires APIFY_TOKEN environment variable.
Latency & Limits: Typical run duration is 5-20 seconds; output is capped by max_results.

Usage Guidelines:

When to use: Use for company-news monitoring, brand mentions, market intelligence, current-event research, and source discovery.
When NOT to use: Do not use for full article text, historical news archives, or verified fact checking.
Named alternatives: Use 'sec_edgar_filings' for official company filings, or 'europe_pmc_paper_search' for biomedical literature.

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`query`	Yes	Company, person, product, topic, or quoted phrase to search.
`country`	No	Two-letter Google News country edition.	US
`language`	No	Two-letter Google News language code.	en
`max_results`	No	Maximum news records to return.

Output Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`run`	No
`error`	No
`status`	Yes
`results`	Yes

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Changed26 schema fields changedv1.1.0Sep 15, 2026
- addedInput schema / additionalProperties
```
Added value: +false
```
- addedInput schema / properties / query / minLength
```
Added value: +1
```
- addedOutput schema / properties / error
```
Added value: +{
+  "type": "object"
+}
```
- changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / article_url / description
```
Previous value: -"Google News result link."New value: +"Google News result link for the article."
```
- addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / article_url / title
```
Added value: +"Article URL"
```
- changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / article_url / type
```
Previous value: -"string"New value: +[
+  "string",
+  "null"
+]
```
- changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / published_at / description
```
Previous value: -"Publication timestamp normalized to UTC."New value: +"Publication timestamp normalized to UTC when parseable."
```
- addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / published_at / title
```
Added value: +"Published At"
```
- changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / published_at / type
```
Previous value: -"string"New value: +[
+  "string",
+  "null"
+]
```
- changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / query / description
```
Previous value: -"Search query used."New value: +"Search query that produced the news result."
```
- addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / query / title
```
Added value: +"Query"
```
- changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / snippet / description
```
Previous value: -"Plain-text result snippet."New value: +"Plain-text result summary derived from the RSS description."
```
- addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / snippet / title
```
Added value: +"Snippet"
```
- changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / snippet / type
```
Previous value: -"string"New value: +[
+  "string",
+  "null"
+]
```
- changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / source_name / description
```
Previous value: -"Publisher name."New value: +"Publisher or source name."
```
- addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / source_name / title
```
Added value: +"Publisher"
```
- changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / source_name / type
```
Previous value: -"string"New value: +[
+  "string",
+  "null"
+]
```
- changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / source_url / description
```
Previous value: -"Publisher website."New value: +"Publisher website URL supplied by the feed."
```
- addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / source_url / title
```
Added value: +"Publisher URL"
```
- changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / source_url / type
```
Previous value: -"string"New value: +[
+  "string",
+  "null"
+]
```
- changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / title / description
```
Previous value: -"News headline."New value: +"Headline supplied by Google News."
```
- addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / title / title
```
Added value: +"Headline"
```
- changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / title / type
```
Previous value: -"string"New value: +[
+  "string",
+  "null"
+]
```
- addedOutput schema / properties / run
```
Added value: +{
+  "type": "object"
+}
```
- addedOutput schema / properties / status
```
Added value: +{
+  "enum": [
+    "success",
+    "empty_unverified",
+    "partial",
+    "error"
+  ],
+  "type": "string"
+}
```
- changedOutput schema / required
```
Previous value: -[
-  "results"
-]New value: +[
+  "results",
+  "status"
+]
```
Addedv1.0.13Sep 14, 2026

TDQS

A4.9/5.0

Behavior5/5

Does the description disclose side effects, auth requirements, rate limits, or destructive behavior?

The description discloses execution details (synchronous network call via Apify Actor), side effects (billed Actor run and dataset creation), authentication (APIFY_TOKEN), and latency limits (5-20 seconds, capped by max_results). Annotations already indicate readOnlyHint=true and destructiveHint=false, and the description adds context beyond those, such as the billing implication and execution environment, without contradicting them.

Agents need to know what a tool does to the world before calling it. Descriptions should go beyond structured annotations to explain consequences.

Conciseness5/5

Is the description appropriately sized, front-loaded, and free of redundancy?

The description is well-structured with a clear purpose statement followed by dedicated sections for behavioral transparency and usage guidelines. Each sentence contributes unique information, and the most critical details (what it does, when to use it) are front-loaded. No filler or redundancy.

Shorter descriptions cost fewer tokens and are easier for agents to parse. Every sentence should earn its place.

Completeness5/5

Given the tool's complexity, does the description cover enough for an agent to succeed on first attempt?

Given that an output schema exists, the description need not detail return types, but it covers all other essential context: execution model, side effects, authentication, latency, limits, and usage boundaries. An agent has everything needed to decide when to call this tool and what to expect, making it fully complete for its complexity.

Complex tools with many parameters or behaviors need more documentation. Simple tools need less. This dimension scales expectations accordingly.

Parameters4/5

Does the description clarify parameter syntax, constraints, interactions, or defaults beyond what the schema provides?

Schema coverage is 100% so the baseline is 3, but the description adds value beyond the schema by noting that output is capped by max_results and by describing the nature of returned data. It doesn't repeat the per-parameter descriptions, but it provides context about the tool's behavior that helps an agent understand the parameters' practical impact.

Input schemas describe structure but not intent. Descriptions should explain non-obvious parameter relationships and valid value ranges.

Purpose5/5

Does the description clearly state what the tool does and how it differs from similar tools?

The description clearly states a specific verb ('search') and resource ('Google News'), enumerates the target entities (companies, people, products, etc.), and lists what it returns (headlines, publishers, timestamps, links, snippets). This distinguishes it from the many sibling search tools, which focus on other domains.

Agents choose between tools based on descriptions. A clear purpose with a specific verb and resource helps agents select the right tool.

Usage Guidelines5/5

Does the description explain when to use this tool, when not to, or what alternatives exist?

The description provides an explicit 'When to use' section listing use cases (company-news monitoring, brand mentions, market intelligence, current-event research, source discovery) and a 'When NOT to use' section excluding full article text, historical archives, and fact checking. It also names two alternatives (sec_edgar_filings for official filings and europe_pmc_paper_search for biomedical literature), giving an agent clear routing guidance.

Agents often have multiple tools that could apply. Explicit usage guidance like "use X instead of Y when Z" prevents misuse.