SerpApi is asking a federal court to dismiss Google’s lawsuit, arguing the company is misusing copyright law to restrict access to public search results.
- The motion was filed Feb. 20, according to a blog post by SerpApi CEO and founder Julien Khaleghy.
- Google sued SerpApi in December, alleging it bypassed technical protections to scrape and resell content from Google Search.
The details: SerpApi argues Google is improperly invoking the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). According to Khaleghy:
- The DMCA protects copyrighted works, not websites or ad businesses.
- Google doesn’t own the underlying content displayed in search results.
- Accessing publicly visible pages isn’t “circumvention” under the statute.
Google’s complaint alleged SerpApi:
- Circumvented bot-detection and crawling controls.
- Used rotating bot identities and large bot networks.
- Scraped licensed content from Search features, including images and real-time data.
SerpApi said it doesn’t decrypt systems, disable authentication, or access private data. Khaleghy said SerpApi retrieves the same information available to any user in a browser, without requiring a login.
Khaleghy also argued Google admitted its anti-bot systems protect its advertising business — not specific copyrighted works — which he said undermines the DMCA claim.
SerpApi cites the Ninth Circuit’s hiQ v. LinkedIn decision warning against “information monopolies” over public data. It also cites the Sixth Circuit’s Impression Products v. Lexmark ruling to argue that public-facing content can’t be shielded by technical measures alone.
Catch up quick: The lawsuit follows months of escalating legal fights over scraping and AI data use.
- Oct. 22: Reddit sued SerpApi, Perplexity, Oxylabs, and AWMProxy in federal court, alleging they scraped Reddit content indirectly from Google Search and reused or resold it. Reddit claimed the companies hid their identities and scraped at “industrial scale.” Reddit said it set a “trap” post visible only to Google’s crawler that later appeared in Perplexity results. Reddit is seeking damages and a ban on further use of previously scraped data.
- Oct. 29: SerpApi said it would “vigorously defend” itself, calling Reddit’s language “inflammatory” and arguing public search data should remain accessible.
- Dec. 19: Google sued SerpApi, alleging it bypassed security protections, ignored crawling directives, and scraped licensed Search content for resale. SerpApi responded that it operates lawfully and that accessing public search data is protected by the First Amendment.
By the numbers: SerpApi claims that, under Google’s interpretation of the DMCA, statutory damages could theoretically total $7.06 trillion — a figure it said exceeds U.S. GDP. The number reflects SerpApi’s calculation of potential per-violation penalties, not an actual damages demand.
What’s next. The case now moves to the court’s decision on whether Google’s claims can proceed.
Why we care: The outcome could reshape how SEO platforms, AI tools, and competitive intelligence software access SERP data. A win for Google could make third-party search data harder or riskier to obtain. A win for SerpApi could strengthen arguments that publicly accessible search results can be scraped and collected.
The blog post. Google v. SerpApi: We’re filing a Motion to Dismiss. Here’s why we’re in the right.
Dig deeper. Inside SearchGuard: How Google detects bots and what the SerpAPI lawsuit reveals
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