How do I parse Google's JSON API search results with C# and Json.NET?

Question

I'm working on a project in C# in which I want to enter a search term, hit the search button and then retrieve parts of the response from Google to an array so I can iterate through them.

Searching Google using their JSON-based API is pretty easy

var client = new HttpClient();
var address = new Uri("https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/services/search/web?v=1.0&q=" + term);

HttpResponseMessage response = await client.GetAsync(address);
String stream = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();

This returns a JSON string like the one below (Results for the term "Test search")

{
    "responseData":{
        "results":[
            {
                "GsearchResultClass":"GwebSearch",
                "unescapedUrl":"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Search_engine_test",
                "url":"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Search_engine_test",
                "visibleUrl":"en.wikipedia.org",
                "cacheUrl":"http://www.google.com/search?q\u003dcache:g6KEStELS_MJ:en.wikipedia.org",
                "title":"Wikipedia:\u003cb\u003eSearch\u003c/b\u003eengine\u003cb\u003etest\u003c/b\u003e-Wikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia",
                "titleNoFormatting":"Wikipedia:Searchenginetest-Wikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia",
                "content":"A\u003cb\u003esearch\u003c/b\u003eengine\u003cb\u003etest\u003c/b\u003ecannothelpyouavoidtheworkofinterpretingyourresultsanddecidingwhattheyreallyshow.Appearanceinanindexaloneisnotusually\u003cb\u003e...\u003c/b\u003e"
             },
             {
                 "GsearchResultClass":"GwebSearch",
                 "unescapedUrl":"http://techcrunch.com/2008/07/16/google-continues-to-test-a-search-interface-that-looks-more-like-digg-every-day/",
                 "url":"http://techcrunch.com/2008/07/16/google-continues-to-test-a-search-interface-that-looks-more-like-digg-every-day/",
                 "visibleUrl":"techcrunch.com",
                 "cacheUrl":"http://www.google.com/search?q\u003dcache:r2laSUVQw8kJ:techcrunch.com",
                 "title":"GoogleContinuesTo\u003cb\u003eTest\u003c/b\u003eA\u003cb\u003eSearch\u003c/b\u003eInterfaceThatLooksMoreLike\u003cb\u003e...\u003c/b\u003e",
                 "titleNoFormatting":"GoogleContinuesToTestASearchInterfaceThatLooksMoreLike...",
                 "content":"Jul16,2008\u003cb\u003e...\u003c/b\u003eAcoupleofdaysagowepostedscreenshotsofanew\u003cb\u003esearch\u003c/b\u003einterfacebeingbucket\u003cb\u003etested\u003c/b\u003ebyGooglethatletsusersvoteupordownon\u003cb\u003e...\u003c/b\u003e"
             },
             {
                "GsearchResultClass":"GwebSearch",
                "unescapedUrl":"http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/04/this-is-test-this-is-only-test.html",
                "url":"http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/04/this-is-test-this-is-only-test.html",
                "visibleUrl":"googleblog.blogspot.com",
                "cacheUrl":"http://www.google.com/search?q\u003dcache:Ozl1cQzRT0IJ:googleblog.blogspot.com",
                "title":"Thisisa\u003cb\u003etest\u003c/b\u003e.Thisisonlya\u003cb\u003etest\u003c/b\u003e.|OfficialGoogleBlog",
                "titleNoFormatting":"Thisisatest.Thisisonlyatest.|OfficialGoogleBlog",
                "content":"Apr24,2006\u003cb\u003e...\u003c/b\u003eFromtimetotime,werunliveexperimentsonGoogle—\u003cb\u003etests\u003c/b\u003evisibletoarelativelyfewpeople--todiscoverbetterwaysto\u003cb\u003esearch\u003c/b\u003e.Wedothis\u003cb\u003e...\u003c/b\u003e"
             },
             {
                "GsearchResultClass":"GwebSearch",
                "unescapedUrl":"http://alistapart.com/article/testing-search-for-relevancy-and-precision",
                "url":"http://alistapart.com/article/testing-search-for-relevancy-and-precision",
                "visibleUrl":"alistapart.com",
                "cacheUrl":"http://www.google.com/search?q\u003dcache:02Sjrd5mb0YJ:alistapart.com",
                "title":"\u003cb\u003eTestingSearch\u003c/b\u003eforRelevancyandPrecision·AnAListApartArticle",
                "titleNoFormatting":"TestingSearchforRelevancyandPrecision·AnAListApartArticle",
                "content":"Sep22,2009\u003cb\u003e...\u003c/b\u003eDespitethefactthatsite\u003cb\u003esearch\u003c/b\u003eoftenreceivesthemosttraffic,it\u0026#39;salsotheplacewheretheuserexperiencedesignerbearstheleastinfluence."
             }
          ],
          "cursor":{
             "resultCount":"1,010,000,000",
             "pages":[
                {
                   "start":"0",
                   "label":1
                },
                {
                   "start":"4",
                   "label":2
                },
                {
                   "start":"8",
                   "label":3
                },
                {
                   "start":"12",
                   "label":4
                },
                {
                   "start":"16",
                   "label":5
                },
                {
                   "start":"20",
                   "label":6
                },
                {
                   "start":"24",
                   "label":7
                },
                {
                   "start":"28",
                   "label":8
                }
             ],
             "estimatedResultCount":"1010000000",
             "currentPageIndex":0,
             "moreResultsUrl":"http://www.google.com/search?oe\u003dutf8\u0026ie\u003dutf8\u0026source\u003duds\u0026start\u003d0\u0026hl\u003den\u0026q\u003dTest+search",
             "searchResultTime":"0.23"
          }
       },
       "responseDetails":null,
       "responseStatus":200
    }

How do I get the value of url in each node pushed into an array so I can iterate through it?

"The Google Web Search API is no longer available. Please migrate to the Google Custom Search API (developers.google.com/custom-search)" — Max
– Max, Commented Jan 22, 2018 at 12:24

I4V · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-01 23:51:33Z

2

You can use dynamic keyword with Json.Net

dynamic jObj = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(json);
foreach (var res in jObj.responseData.results)
{
    Console.WriteLine("{0} => {1}\n",res.title,res.url);
}

You can use Linq too

var jObj = (JObject)JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(json);
string[] urls = jObj["responseData"]["results"]
                .Select(x => (string)x["url"])
                .ToArray();

edited Feb 1, 2013 at 23:51

answered Feb 1, 2013 at 23:45

I4V

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2 Comments

Steen Schütt Over a year ago

I tried using the dynamic keyword method thingy, and then instead of Console.WriteLine I created a list (before the loop) with List<String> threads = new List<String>(); (I'm using it to search for forum threads, hence the name of the list). Then I call threads.Add(res.url) and I get the following error: The best overloaded method match for 'System.Collections.Generic.List<string>.Add(string)' has some invalid arguments

I4V Over a year ago

@TimeSheep try threads.Add(res.url.ToString()) or threads.Add((string)res.url)

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