Can I “reuse” Google search results in my application?

Question

I would like to understand if and how it is possible to achieve the following:

• Create an app that sends search requests to Google (search requests inputted by a user!)
• Fetch the search results present in a different format/graphics/layout the search results to the user.
• Is that possible or Google would prevent me from doing such a thing? (via a CAPTCHA for example)

If it is possible what kind of instrument would I need to use to capture (parse?) the search results???

My application would be developed for Android.

Answer 1

Screen-scraping the search results from the Google search site is a violation of their terms of service. I don't think they would use CAPTCHA to prevent you from doing so, but you might get a letter from their lawyers.

However, you could use the Google Custom Search API which allows you to search Google and customize layout of the results. However, you need to acquire a developer key and also follow their terms of service.

Also, Android has a search component built into it that you can probably use. See http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/search/index.html.