Dataspryva
Actors/Baidu Web, Image & News Results Extractor

Baidu Web, Image & News Results Extractor

Runs search queries against Baidu's web, image, or news results and returns titles, URLs, snippets, dates, and image metadata, with filters for time range, file type, site, and exact phrase.

Open on ApifyGitHub source

Input schema

Input fields, types, required flags, descriptions, defaults, and prefills come from the published definition. Prefill examples are distinct from defaults.

FieldTypeRequiredDescription
modestringoptionalWhich Baidu surface to scrape: web results, news, images, or autocomplete suggestions.
queriesarrayrequiredOne or more search terms. Each query is scraped independently up to maxResults.
maxResultsintegeroptionalMaximum number of results per query. Practical Baidu ceilings: web about 100, news about 140, images about 1500.
Show all input fields
FieldTypeRequiredDescription
modestringoptionalWhich Baidu surface to scrape: web results, news, images, or autocomplete suggestions.
queriesarrayrequiredOne or more search terms. Each query is scraped independently up to maxResults.
maxResultsintegeroptionalMaximum number of results per query. Practical Baidu ceilings: web about 100, news about 140, images about 1500.
timeRangestringoptionalRestrict web results to a publication window. Applies to web search only; news has its own sort order.
dateFromstringoptionalStart of a custom publication window (YYYY-MM-DD). Overrides the time range. Web and news search only.
dateTostringoptionalEnd of a custom publication window (YYYY-MM-DD). Overrides the time range. Web and news search only.
fileTypestringoptionalRestrict web results to a file format using Baidu's filetype: operator. Web search only.
sortBystringoptionalOrder news results by relevance or by publication time. Applies to news search only.
languagestringoptionalRestrict web results to pages written in Simplified or Traditional Chinese. Web search only.
siteRestrictstringoptionalLimit web results to one website domain, e.g. wikipedia.org (site: operator). Web search only.
exactPhrasestringoptionalRequire web results to contain this exact phrase (quoted automatically). Web search only.
excludeWordsarrayoptionalWords to exclude from web results, one per line. Web search only.
titleOnlybooleanoptionalMatch the query against page titles only (intitle: operator). Web search only.
includeSerpFeaturesbooleanoptionalAlso return Baidu's answer box, knowledge panel, related searches and related videos as separate rows. Web search only.

Download the published input schema

View complete JSON
{
  "description": "Extract web, news, image, and autocomplete results from Baidu by keyword.",
  "properties": {
    "dateFrom": {
      "description": "Start of a custom publication window (YYYY-MM-DD). Overrides the time range. Web and news search only.",
      "editor": "datepicker",
      "title": "From date",
      "type": "string"
    },
    "dateTo": {
      "description": "End of a custom publication window (YYYY-MM-DD). Overrides the time range. Web and news search only.",
      "editor": "datepicker",
      "title": "To date",
      "type": "string"
    },
    "exactPhrase": {
      "description": "Require web results to contain this exact phrase (quoted automatically). Web search only.",
      "editor": "textfield",
      "title": "Exact phrase",
      "type": "string"
    },
    "excludeWords": {
      "default": [],
      "description": "Words to exclude from web results, one per line. Web search only.",
      "editor": "stringList",
      "prefill": [],
      "title": "Exclude words",
      "type": "array"
    },
    "fileType": {
      "default": "any",
      "description": "Restrict web results to a file format using Baidu's filetype: operator. Web search only.",
      "editor": "select",
      "enum": [
        "any",
        "pdf",
        "doc",
        "docx",
        "xls",
        "ppt",
        "txt",
        "rtf"
      ],
      "enumTitles": [
        "All file types",
        "PDF",
        "Word (doc)",
        "Word (docx)",
        "Excel (xls)",
        "PowerPoint (ppt)",
        "Text (txt)",
        "Rich text (rtf)"
      ],
      "prefill": "any",
      "title": "File type",
      "type": "string"
    },
    "includeSerpFeatures": {
      "default": false,
      "description": "Also return Baidu's answer box, knowledge panel, related searches and related videos as separate rows. Web search only.",
      "prefill": false,
      "title": "Include SERP features",
      "type": "boolean"
    },
    "language": {
      "default": "any",
      "description": "Restrict web results to pages written in Simplified or Traditional Chinese. Web search only.",
      "editor": "select",
      "enum": [
        "any",
        "simplified",
        "traditional"
      ],
      "enumTitles": [
        "All languages",
        "Simplified Chinese only",
        "Traditional Chinese only"
      ],
      "prefill": "any",
      "title": "Chinese script filter",
      "type": "string"
    },
    "maxResults": {
      "default": 50,
      "description": "Maximum number of results per query. Practical Baidu ceilings: web about 100, news about 140, images about 1500.",
      "editor": "number",
      "maximum": 1000,
      "minimum": 1,
      "prefill": 3,
      "title": "Max results per query",
      "type": "integer"
    },
    "mode": {
      "default": "webSearch",
      "description": "Which Baidu surface to scrape: web results, news, images, or autocomplete suggestions.",
      "editor": "select",
      "enum": [
        "webSearch",
        "newsSearch",
        "imageSearch",
        "autocomplete"
      ],
      "enumTitles": [
        "Web search (organic results, related searches, SERP features)",
        "News search (articles with source, date, summary and image)",
        "Image search (original image URL, thumbnail, source page, dimensions)",
        "Autocomplete (up to 10 query suggestions per keyword)"
      ],
      "prefill": "imageSearch",
      "title": "Search mode",
      "type": "string"
    },
    "queries": {
      "default": [
        "人工智能"
      ],
      "description": "One or more search terms. Each query is scraped independently up to maxResults.",
      "editor": "stringList",
      "prefill": [
        "人工智能"
      ],
      "title": "Search queries",
      "type": "array"
    },
    "siteRestrict": {
      "description": "Limit web results to one website domain, e.g. wikipedia.org (site: operator). Web search only.",
      "editor": "textfield",
      "title": "Restrict to domain",
      "type": "string"
    },
    "sortBy": {
      "default": "relevance",
      "description": "Order news results by relevance or by publication time. Applies to news search only.",
      "editor": "select",
      "enum": [
        "relevance",
        "time"
      ],
      "enumTitles": [
        "Relevance",
        "Newest first"
      ],
      "prefill": "relevance",
      "title": "News sort order",
      "type": "string"
    },
    "timeRange": {
      "default": "any",
      "description": "Restrict web results to a publication window. Applies to web search only; news has its own sort order.",
      "editor": "select",
      "enum": [
        "any",
        "day",
        "week",
        "month",
        "year"
      ],
      "enumTitles": [
        "Any time",
        "Past 24 hours",
        "Past week",
        "Past month",
        "Past year"
      ],
      "prefill": "any",
      "title": "Time range",
      "type": "string"
    },
    "titleOnly": {
      "default": false,
      "description": "Match the query against page titles only (intitle: operator). Web search only.",
      "prefill": false,
      "title": "Search titles only",
      "type": "boolean"
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "queries"
  ],
  "schemaVersion": 1,
  "title": "Baidu Search Scraper Input",
  "type": "object"
}

Output schema

Published result links and storage locations. This schema is not an exhaustive contract for every field in a dataset record.

FieldTypeRequiredDescription
resultsstringoptionalDataset containing all scraped Baidu results for the selected mode.

Download the published output schema

View complete JSON
{
  "actorOutputSchemaVersion": 1,
  "description": "Baidu results — web organic rows (with real destination URLs, publisher, dates and images), news articles, image rows with original and thumbnail URLs, autocomplete suggestions, and optional SERP-feature rows.",
  "properties": {
    "results": {
      "description": "Dataset containing all scraped Baidu results for the selected mode.",
      "template": "{{links.apiDefaultDatasetUrl}}/items",
      "title": "Baidu search results",
      "type": "string"
    }
  },
  "title": "Baidu Search Scraper Output"
}

Dataset schema

Published dataset views and any declared field definitions. A view can select only a subset of the returned record fields.

Download the published dataset schema

View complete JSON
{
  "actorSpecification": 1,
  "views": {
    "overview": {
      "display": {
        "component": "table",
        "properties": {}
      },
      "title": "Search Results",
      "transformation": {
        "fields": [
          "query",
          "position",
          "resultType",
          "title",
          "url",
          "source",
          "date",
          "imageUrl",
          "suggestion"
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

Key-value schema

Published key-value store definitions, when provided by this build.

This definition is not present in the default published build. See the published README for available documentation.

Published README

Read the full published documentation

Baidu Web, Image & News Results Extractor

Baidu is the dominant search engine for Chinese-language content, and its result pages differ from Google's — different ranking signals, different SERP layouts, and separate verticals for web, image, news, and query suggestions. This actor collects any of those four surfaces as structured rows with real destination URLs, publisher names, dates, original image URLs, and autocomplete suggestions.

What this actor does

  • Web search — organic results with title, real destination URL (decoded from Baidu's own result metadata), display domain, snippet, publisher, date text and normalized date, plus thumbnail and inline images when the result carries them. Optionally returns Baidu's answer box, knowledge panel, related searches and related videos as separate serpFeature rows.
  • News search — articles from Baidu's 资讯 feed with title, URL, summary, publication time, outlet name, site and image. A desktop news result page is used as a fallback when the feed is unavailable.
  • Image search — 30 images per page with the original image URL, Baidu thumbnail URL, source page URL and domain, pixel dimensions, image format and image id.
  • Autocomplete — up to 10 query suggestions per keyword.

Only public pages are read. The actor starts a normal anonymous session on Baidu's homepage (Baidu issues its own session cookies), then requests the selected surface. No account, login, cookie input or proxy configuration is required.

Output per mode

Web (mode: webSearch)

query, position, page, resultType (organic or serpFeature), title, url, displayUrl, domain, snippet, date / dateText, publishedAt, source, thumbnailUrl, images[{url,width,height}], baiduUrl (when the page only exposed a redirect link), scrapedAt.

With includeSerpFeatures enabled, additional rows carry featureType (answerBox, knowledgePanel, relatedSearches, relatedVideos) and featureText (or a relatedSearches array).

News (mode: newsSearch)

query, position, page, resultType: news, title, url, snippet, date / dateText, publishedAt, source, site, imageUrl, sourceAvatar (publisher logo), scrapedAt.

Images (mode: imageSearch)

query, position, resultType: image, title, imageUrl (original), thumbnailUrl, sourceUrl, sourceDomain, width, height, imageFormat, imageId, scrapedAt.

Autocomplete (mode: autocomplete)

query, position, resultType: suggestion, suggestion, scrapedAt.

Fields the source does not provide for a particular result are omitted, never sent as null.

Input

Field Type Default Description
mode Select webSearch webSearch, newsSearch, imageSearch, or autocomplete.
queries Array ["人工智能"] One or more search terms; each is scraped independently.
maxResults Integer 50 Maximum results per query (1–1000).
timeRange Select any any, day, week, month, year — web search only.
dateFrom Date – Start of a custom publication window (YYYY-MM-DD), web/news only.
dateTo Date – End of a custom publication window (YYYY-MM-DD), web/news only.
fileType Select any any, pdf, doc, docx, xls, ppt, txt, rtf — web results via Baidu's filetype: operator.
sortBy Select relevance relevance or time — news search only.
language Select any any, simplified, traditional — web search only.
siteRestrict Text – Restrict results to one domain (site: operator).
exactPhrase Text – Require this exact phrase in results.
excludeWords Array [] Words to exclude (-word).
titleOnly Boolean false Match query terms in page titles only (intitle:).
includeSerpFeatures Boolean false Add answer box, knowledge panel, related searches and videos as rows.

Example: Chinese web results from the last month

{
  "mode": "webSearch",
  "queries": ["人工智能 最新进展"],
  "maxResults": 50,
  "timeRange": "month",
  "language": "simplified"
}

Example: original image URLs

{
  "mode": "imageSearch",
  "queries": ["Great Wall of China"],
  "maxResults": 100
}

Example: newest news articles

{
  "mode": "newsSearch",
  "queries": ["technology innovation"],
  "maxResults": 30,
  "sortBy": "time"
}

Example: query suggestions

{
  "mode": "autocomplete",
  "queries": ["coffee"],
  "maxResults": 10
}

Use cases

  • Baidu SEO tracking — check where pages rank for target keywords over time.
  • Competitor and brand monitoring — see which domains, publishers and content types rank.
  • Chinese media monitoring — pull recent news coverage of a topic, brand or event.
  • Dataset building — collect original image URLs with their source pages for visual research.
  • Keyword discovery — expand a seed term with Baidu's autocomplete suggestions.

How results are collected

The actor requests Baidu's public result pages directly, reusing only the anonymous session cookies Baidu sets on its own homepage. It paces requests, rotates network exits when Baidu shows a security check, and falls back from the desktop result page to the mobile one when needed. It does not use a browser, so runs stay fast and inexpensive.

Limits

  • A single unfiltered Baidu query serves roughly 10–28 organic rows on page 1 and stops after a few pages. Partitioning works: different date windows, site:, filetype:, script (language) and the mobile view each return different pages, and unions of 160–240+ unique URLs per topic are reproducible. Split a broad topic into narrower queries to get deeper coverage.
  • The realtime news feed serves roughly 137–190 articles per query and then repeats its tail. The custom date range and narrower queries expose additional articles (measured +42 % coverage when adding date windows).
  • Image search stops at about 1,446 images per query regardless of the result-count label Baidu prints.
  • About 60 % of web results show a date and most show a publisher name. Those fields are omitted when Baidu does not display them.
  • English queries return fewer Chinese-news matches than Chinese queries; an empty news result can be a genuine "no coverage" answer.

FAQ

Why did a run return fewer rows than maxResults? Because Baidu ran out of results for that query, or because its security check blocked the remaining pages. The status message names the affected queries.

Does the actor need a proxy or cookies? No. It creates an anonymous Baidu session at runtime. Proxy exits are handled automatically when Baidu challenges a request.

Why does imageUrl sometimes equal thumbnailUrl? A few source pages block direct hotlinking or do not expose an original URL. In that case the actor returns the Baidu-hosted image so the row still has a working URL.

What is a serpFeature row? Baidu's non-organic modules — direct answers, knowledge panels, related searches and related videos. Enable includeSerpFeatures to receive them; they are separate rows and do not reduce the organic result count.

Can I use a custom date window? Yes — set dateFrom and dateTo (YYYY-MM-DD). The window overrides timeRange and is applied by Baidu itself for web and news results.

Why is publishedAt missing on some rows? Baidu only shows a date on part of its results, and relative dates such as "3天前" are converted to an ISO timestamp. When the page shows no date, both date and publishedAt are omitted.

Can I combine exactPhrase, siteRestrict and excludeWords? Yes — these operators are combined into one Baidu query.

Does language translate my query? No. It restricts results to pages written in the chosen Chinese script; it does not translate or rewrite the search term.

Is this affiliated with Baidu? No. This actor reads public Baidu result pages and is not affiliated with Baidu, Inc.

Python quickstart

Use a schema-derived input and the Python standard library to start a run. An Apify account and token are required for execution.

Open the step-by-step Python guide →

Source build jthHKZPxOzYQB27j5. Documentation is regenerated from the default published build; private drafts are not included.