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Setting {{up_se_name}} {{normal_se_type}} SERP Tasks

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SERP API provides top 100 search engine results. These results are specific to the selected location (see the List of Locations) and language (see the List of Languages) settings.

There are two different priorities that stand for the relative speed of task execution: normal and high.

Instead of ‘login’ and ‘password’ use your credentials from https://app.dataforseo.com/api-dashboard

<?php
// You can download this file from here https://cdn.dataforseo.com/v3/examples/php/php_RestClient.zip
require('RestClient.php');
$api_url = 'https://api.dataforseo.com/';
try {
   // Instead of 'login' and 'password' use your credentials from https://app.dataforseo.com/api-dashboard
   $client = new RestClient($api_url, null, 'login', 'password');
} catch (RestClientException $e) {
   echo "\n";
   print "HTTP code: {$e->getHttpCode()}\n";
   print "Error code: {$e->getCode()}\n";
   print "Message: {$e->getMessage()}\n";
   print  $e->getTraceAsString();
   echo "\n";
   exit();
}
$post_array = array();
// example #1 - a simple way to set a task
// this way requires you to specify a location, a language of search, and a keyword.
$post_array[] = array(
   "language_code" => "en",
   "location_code" => 2840,
   "keyword" => mb_convert_encoding("albert einstein", "UTF-8")
);
// example #2 - a way to set a task with additional parameters
// high priority allows us to complete a task faster, but you will be charged more credits.
// after a task is completed, we will send a GET request to the address you specify. Instead of $id and $tag, you will receive actual values that are relevant to this task.
$post_array[] = array(
   "language_name" => "English",
   "location_name" => "United States",
   "keyword" => mb_convert_encoding("albert einstein", "UTF-8"),
   "priority" => 2,
   "tag" => "some_string_123",
   "pingback_url" => 'https://your-server.com/pingscript?id=$id&tag=$tag'
);
// example #3 - an alternative way to set a task
// all the parameters required to set a task are passed via the URL.
// after a task is completed, we will send the results according to the type you specified in the 'postback_data' field to the address you set in the 'postback_url' field.
$post_array[] = array(
   "url" => "https://www.bing.com/search?q=rank%20checker&count=50&first=1&setlang=en&cc=US&safesearch=Moderate&FORM=SEPAGE",
   "postback_data" => "html",
   "postback_url" => "https://your-server.com/postbackscript"
);
// this example has a 3 elements, but in the case of large number of tasks - send up to 100 elements per POST request
if (count($post_array) > 0) {
   try {
      // POST /v3/serp/{{low_se_name}}/{{low_se_type}}/task_post
      // in addition to '{{low_se_name}}' and '{{low_se_type}}' you can also set other search engine and type parameters
      // the full list of possible parameters is available in documentation
      $result = $client->post('/v3/serp/{{low_se_name}}/{{low_se_type}}/task_post', $post_array);
      print_r($result);
      // do something with post result
   } catch (RestClientException $e) {
      echo "\n";
      print "HTTP code: {$e->getHttpCode()}\n";
      print "Error code: {$e->getCode()}\n";
      print "Message: {$e->getMessage()}\n";
      print  $e->getTraceAsString();
      echo "\n";
   }
}
$client = null;
?>

The above command returns JSON structured like this:

{
  "version": "0.1.20200129",
  "status_code": 20000,
  "status_message": "Ok.",
  "time": "0.2539 sec.",
  "cost": 0.0045,
  "tasks_count": 3,
  "tasks_error": 0,
  "tasks": [
    {
      "id": "11141653-0696-0066-0000-dd1e3c01884b",
      "status_code": 20100,
      "status_message": "Task Created.",
      "time": "0.0044 sec.",
      "cost": 0.0015,
      "result_count": 0,
      "path": [
        "v3",
        "serp",
        "{{low_se_name}}",
        "{{low_se_type_under}}",
        "task_post"
      ],
      "data": {
        "api": "serp",
        "function": "task_post",
        "se": "{{low_se_name}}",
        "se_type": "{{low_se_type_under}}",
        "language_code": "en",
        "location_code": 2840,
        "keyword": "albert einstein",
        "device": "desktop",
        "os": "windows"
      },
      "result": null
    },
    {
      "id": "11141653-0696-0066-0000-fa25e0da658e",
      "status_code": 20100,
      "status_message": "Task Created.",
      "time": "0.0055 sec.",
      "cost": 0.0015,
      "result_count": 0,
      "path": [
        "v3",
        "serp",
        "{{low_se_name}}",
        "{{low_se_type_under}}",
        "task_post"
      ],
      "data": {
        "api": "serp",
        "function": "task_post",
        "se": "{{low_se_name}}",
        "se_type": "{{low_se_type_under}}",
        "language_name": "English",
        "location_name": "United States",
        "keyword": "albert enstein",
        "priority": "2",
        "pingback_url": "https://your-server.com/pingscript?id=$id&tag=$tag",
        "tag": "some_string_123",
        "device": "desktop",
        "os": "windows"
      },
      "result": null
    },
    {
      "id": "01291939-1535-0066-0000-170c2bafbc0f",
      "status_code": 20100,
      "status_message": "Task Created.",
      "time": "0.0038 sec.",
      "cost": 0.0015,
      "result_count": 0,
      "path": [
        "v3",
        "serp",
        "{{low_se_name}}",
        "{{low_se_type_under}}",
        "task_post"
      ],
      "data": {
        "api": "serp",
        "function": "task_post",
        "se": "{{low_se_name}}",
        "se_type": "{{low_se_type_under}}",
        "url": "https://www.bing.com/search?q=rank%20checker&count=50&first=1&setlang=en&cc=US&safesearch=Moderate&FORM=SEPAGE",
        "postback_data": "html",
        "postback_url": "https://your-server.com/postbackscript",
        "device": "desktop",
        "os": "windows"
      },
      "result": null
    }
  ]
}

All POST data should be sent in the JSON format (UTF-8 encoding). The task setting is done using the POST method. When setting a task, you should send all task parameters in the task array of the generic POST array. You can send up to 2000 API calls per minute, with each POST call containing no more than 100 tasks. If your POST call contains over 100 tasks, the tasks over this limit will return the 40006 error. Visit DataForSEO Help Center to get practical tips for request handling depending on your SERP API payload volume.

You can retrieve the results of completed tasks using the unique task identifier id. Alternatively, we can send them to you as soon as they are ready if you specify the postback_url or pingback_url when setting a task. Note that if your server doesn’t respond within 10 seconds, the connection will be aborted by timeout, and the task will be transferred to the ‘Tasks Ready’ list. The error code and message depend on your server’s configuration. See Help Center to learn more about using pingbacks and postbacks with DataForSEO APIs.

Below you will find a detailed description of the fields you can use for setting a task.

Description of the fields for setting a task:

Field name Type Description
url string direct URL of the search query
optional field
you can specify a direct URL and we will sort it out to the necessary fields. Note that this method is the most difficult for our API to process and also requires you to specify the exact language and location in the URL. In most cases, we wouldn’t recommend using this method.
example:
https://www.bing.com/search?q=rank%20checker&count=50&first=1&setlang=en&cc=US&safesearch=Moderate&FORM=SEPAGE
keyword string keyword
required field
you can specify up to 700 characters in the keyword field
all %## will be decoded (plus character ‘+’ will be decoded to a space character)
if you need to use the “%” character for your keyword, please specify it as “%25”;
if you need to use the “+” character for your keyword, please specify it as “%2B”

learn more about rules and limitations of keyword and keywords fields in DataForSEO APIs in this Help Center article

priority integer task priority
optional field
can take the following values:
1 – normal execution priority (set by default)
2 – high execution priority

location_name string full name of search engine location
required field if you don’t specify location_code or location_coordinate
if you use this field, you don’t need to specify location_code or location_coordinate
you can receive the list of available locations of the search engine with their location_name by making a separate request to the https://api.dataforseo.com/v3/serp/{{low_se_name}}/locations
example:
London,England,United Kingdom
location_code integer search engine location code
required field if you don’t specify location_name or location_coordinate
if you use this field, you don’t need to specify location_name or location_coordinate
you can receive the list of available locations of the search engines with their location_code by making a separate request to the https://api.dataforseo.com/v3/serp/{{low_se_name}}/locations
example:
2840
location_coordinate string GPS coordinates of a location
required field if you don’t specify location_name or location_code
if you use this field, you don’t need to specify location_name or location_code
location_coordinate parameter should be specified in the “latitude,longitude” format
the maximum number of decimal digits for “latitude” and “longitude”: 7
example:
53.476225,-2.243572
language_name string full name of search engine language
required field if you don’t specify language_code
if you use this field, you don’t need to specify language_code
you can receive the list of available languages of the search engine with their language_name by making a separate request to the https://api.dataforseo.com/v3/serp/{{low_se_name}}/languages
example:
English
language_code string search engine language code
required field if you don’t specify language_name
if you use this field, you don’t need to specify language_name
you can receive the list of available languages of the search engine with their language_code by making a separate request to the https://api.dataforseo.com/v3/serp/{{low_se_name}}/languages
example:
en
device string device type
optional field
can take the values:desktop, mobile
default value: desktop
os string device operating system
optional field
if you specify desktop in the device field, choose from the following values: windows, macos
default value: windows
if you specify mobile in the device field, choose from the following values: android, ios
default value: android
depth integer parsing depth
optional field
number of results in SERP
default value: 100
max value: 700
Note: your account will be billed per each SERP containing up to 100 results;
thus, setting a depth above 100 may result in additional charges if the search engine returns more than 100 results;
if the specified depth is higher than the number of results in the response, the difference will be refunded automatically to your account balance
max_crawl_pages integer page crawl limit
optional field
number of search results pages to crawl
max value: 100
Note: the max_crawl_pages and depth parameters complement each other;
learn more at our help center
calculate_rectangles boolean calcualte pixel rankings for SERP elements in advanced results
optional field
pixel ranking refers to the distance between the result snippet and top left corner of the screen;
Visit Help Center to learn more>>
by default, the parameter is set to false
Note: if set to true, the charge per task will be multiplied by 2
browser_screen_width integer browser screen width
optional field
you can set a custom browser screen width to calculate pixel rankings for a particular device;
by default, the parameter is set to:
1920 for desktop;
360 for mobile on android;
375 for mobile on iOS;
Note: to use this parameter, set calculate_rectangles to true
browser_screen_height integer browser screen height
optional field
you can set a custom browser screen height to calculate pixel rankings for a particular device;
by default, the parameter is set to:
1080 for desktop;
640 for mobile on android;
812 for mobile on iOS;
Note: to use this parameter, set calculate_rectangles to true
browser_screen_resolution_ratio integer browser screen resolution ratio
optional field
you can set a custom browser screen resolution ratio to calculate pixel rankings for a particular device;
by default, the parameter is set to:
1 for desktop;
3 for mobile on android;
3 for mobile on iOS;
Note: to use this parameter, set calculate_rectangles to true
search_param string additional parameters of the search query
optional field
get the list of available parameters and additional details here
tag string user-defined task identifier
optional field
the character limit is 255
you can use this parameter to identify the task and match it with the result
you will find the specified tag value in the data object of the response
postback_url string return URL for sending task results
optional field
once the task is completed, we will send a POST request with its results compressed in the gzip format to the postback_url you specified
you can use the ‘$id’ string as a $id variable and ‘$tag’ as urlencoded $tag variable. We will set the necessary values before sending the request.
example:
http://your-server.com/postbackscript?id=$id
http://your-server.com/postbackscript?id=$id&tag=$tag
Note: special characters in postback_url will be urlencoded;
i.a., the # character will be encoded into %23

learn more on our Help Center

postback_data string postback_url datatype
required field if you specify postback_url
corresponds to the datatype that will be sent to your server
possible values:
regular, advanced, html
pingback_url string notification URL of a completed task
optional field
when a task is completed we will notify you by GET request sent to the URL you have specified
you can use the ‘$id’ string as a $id variable and ‘$tag’ as urlencoded $tag variable. We will set the necessary values before sending the request.
example:
http://your-server.com/pingscript?id=$id
http://your-server.com/pingscript?id=$id&tag=$tag
Note: special characters in pingback_url will be urlencoded;
i.a., the # character will be encoded into %23

learn more on our Help Center

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As a response of the API server, you will receive JSON-encoded data containing a tasks array with the information specific to the set tasks.

Description of the fields in the results array:

Field name Type Description
version string the current version of the API
status_code integer general status code
you can find the full list of the response codes here
Note: we strongly recommend designing a necessary system for handling related exceptional or error conditions
status_message string general informational message
you can find the full list of general informational messages here
time string execution time, seconds
cost float total tasks cost, USD
tasks_count integer the number of tasks in the tasks array
tasks_error integer the number of tasks in the tasks array returned with an error
tasks array array of tasks
        id string unique task identifier in our system in the
Universally unique identifier (UUID) format
        status_code integer status code of the task
generated by DataForSEO; can be within the following range: 10000-60000
        status_message string informational message of the task
        time string execution time, seconds
        cost float cost of the task, USD
        result_count integer number of elements in the result array
        path array URL path
        data object contains the same parameters that you specified in the POST request
        result array array of results
in this case, the value will be null

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