Google Files DMCA Suit Targeting SerpApi’s SERP Scraping

Unlike previous cases that focused on terms-of-service violations or broader scraping methods, Google’s complaint is built on DMCA anti-circumvention claims.

Google argues SearchGuard is a protection measure that controls access to copyrighted works appearing in Search results. The complaint describes SearchGuard as a system that sends a JavaScript “challenge” to requests from unrecognized sources and requires the browser to return specific information as a “solve.”

Google says the system launched in January and initially blocked SerpApi. The complaint claims SerpApi then developed ways to bypass it.