The Problem
Google sunsets the free web-wide CSE tier in January 2027. Teams running on the free 100 queries/day allocation face a hard deadline: either pay Google's new pricing, find an alternative, or watch production break. Most CSE users never planned for migration because the free tier seemed permanent. Now they need a drop-in replacement that returns richer data without a service gap.
The Scavio Solution
Run Scavio in parallel with CSE during a transition window, then cut over. Scavio's free tier gives 250 credits/month for validation. A single endpoint change swaps CSE for Scavio's structured SERP with AI Overviews, Knowledge Graph, and PAA that CSE never returned. No domain restriction, no CX ID, no quota surprises.
Before
Application relies on Google CSE free tier for web search. Returns basic title/link/snippet. No AI Overview or Knowledge Graph. Hard deadline of January 2027 with no migration plan.
After
Application calls Scavio search API with zero downtime. Returns AI Overview, Knowledge Graph, PAA, organic results. Free 250 credits/month for testing, $0.005/credit at scale. No deprecation risk.
Who It Is For
Teams running production applications on Google CSE's free tier who need a zero-downtime migration path before the January 2027 shutdown.
Key Benefits
- Parallel-run validation before CSE cutoff
- 250 free credits/month covers testing phase
- AI Overviews and Knowledge Graph CSE never provided
- No domain restriction or CX ID required
- One endpoint change, same query format
Python Example
import requests, os, json
API_KEY = os.environ["SCAVIO_API_KEY"]
# Phase 1: Run both CSE and Scavio in parallel, compare results
def parallel_test(query: str) -> dict:
"""Run query against Scavio and compare with CSE baseline."""
scavio_resp = requests.post(
"https://api.scavio.dev/api/v1/search",
headers={"x-api-key": API_KEY, "Content-Type": "application/json"},
json={"query": query, "country_code": "us"},
timeout=10,
)
scavio = scavio_resp.json()
organic = scavio.get("organic_results", [])
return {
"query": query,
"scavio_count": len(organic),
"has_ai_overview": bool(scavio.get("ai_overview")),
"has_kg": bool(scavio.get("knowledge_graph")),
"top_urls": [r.get("link", "") for r in organic[:5]],
}
# Phase 2: After validation, swap CSE calls to this
def search(query: str) -> dict:
resp = requests.post(
"https://api.scavio.dev/api/v1/search",
headers={"x-api-key": API_KEY, "Content-Type": "application/json"},
json={"query": query, "country_code": "us"},
timeout=10,
)
return resp.json()
test = parallel_test("kubernetes autoscaling best practices 2026")
print(f"Scavio results: {test['scavio_count']}, AI Overview: {test['has_ai_overview']}")JavaScript Example
const H = {'x-api-key': process.env.SCAVIO_API_KEY, 'Content-Type': 'application/json'};
// Phase 1: Parallel validation
async function parallelTest(query) {
const r = await fetch('https://api.scavio.dev/api/v1/search', {method:'POST', headers:H, body:JSON.stringify({query, country_code:'us'})});
const d = await r.json();
const organic = d.organic_results || [];
return {query, scavioCount:organic.length, hasAiOverview:!!d.ai_overview, hasKg:!!d.knowledge_graph, topUrls:organic.slice(0,5).map(r=>r.link)};
}
// Phase 2: Drop-in replacement
async function search(query) {
const r = await fetch('https://api.scavio.dev/api/v1/search', {method:'POST', headers:H, body:JSON.stringify({query, country_code:'us'})});
return r.json();
}
const t = await parallelTest('kubernetes autoscaling best practices 2026');
console.log('Scavio results: '+t.scavioCount+', AI Overview: '+t.hasAiOverview);Platforms Used
Web search with knowledge graph, PAA, and AI overviews