How to Scrape LinkedIn Profiles Using Google Custom Search API

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How to Scrape LinkedIn Profiles Using Google Custom Search API

Looking for an efficient way to generate LinkedIn leads for your marketing campaigns? A powerful method exists using Google’s Custom Search API to extract LinkedIn profiles based on specific criteria. This approach allows you to compile valuable lead information including names, titles, profile links, and description snippets – all without complex scraping tools.

The workflow outputs a structured list of LinkedIn profiles that can be used for sending direct messages or incorporating into marketing strategies. By leveraging Google’s search capabilities, you can filter profiles based on specific job roles, locations, industries, and other criteria.

Setting Up the Google Custom Search API

Before implementing this workflow, you’ll need to set up two key components:

  1. Enable the Custom Search API: Visit cloud.google.com/console and enable the Custom Search API. Once enabled, create credentials and obtain an API key.
  2. Configure a Programmable Search Engine: Create a programmable search engine that searches the entire web, then save the search engine ID for use in your workflow.

Building the Workflow

The workflow consists of several components working together:

1. Define Search Parameters

Begin by configuring how many pages of results you want to retrieve. Each page typically contains 10 records, so requesting 10 pages would yield approximately 100 records.

2. Configure the Query Search

Create an HTTP request with the following parameters:

  • Base URL for the Google Custom Search API
  • Your API key from Google
  • The search engine ID (CX) you created
  • Your specific query (e.g., “DevOps engineer New York site:linkedin.com”)
  • Pagination control formula to retrieve multiple result pages

3. Process the Results

The raw results need processing to extract the useful information. A code node can transform the data into a structured JSON format containing name, title, link, snippet, and image data for each profile.

4. Update Google Sheets

Connect the workflow to Google Sheets to store the extracted profile information. This requires configuring a connection to your Google account and specifying which fields to save.

5. Implement Rate Limiting

Add a wait node (5-10 seconds) between API calls to prevent hitting Google’s rate limits.

6. Handle Pagination

Include logic to check if additional pages should be retrieved based on the maximum page setting configured at the start.

Benefits and Limitations

This approach offers several advantages:

  • It’s free for up to 10,000 records per day with a standard Google account
  • No need for specialized scraping tools
  • Easy integration with marketing workflows
  • Highly customizable search criteria

With this workflow, you can efficiently generate LinkedIn leads based on job titles, locations, and other criteria, providing valuable data for your outreach and marketing campaigns.

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