DataForSEO Labs vs Google Ads API: tip for low-volume keyword research projects
When building software, you obviously want to save as much investment as possible. The less you pay for data, the more budget you can allocate for building up your project.
The reality, however, can be different. If you’ve spent any amount of time doing keyword research, you’d know that an overwhelming majority of keywords you get out of any SEO software are irrelevant and a complete waste of time. Now, for developers of this software, such a situation can mean a black hole in the budget now and financial struggles in the future. After all, why would anybody pay for a tool that makes their life more difficult?
Nonetheless, this “pay for what you don’t need” approach still persists among SEO data providers. Having said that, here at DataForSEO, we don’t waste your money. Firstly, you pay for what you use only, and secondly, you can choose which of our products suits your specific needs better.
In particular, you might have noticed that we offer two products that seem similar at first glance – Keywords for Keywords in DataForSEO Google Ads API and Keyword Ideas in DataForSEO Labs API. Yet, if we get to the specifics of these endpoints, one may turn out more cost-efficient than the other in some cases.
What’s the difference?
1 Keywords For Keywords
The main feature of the Keywords for Keywords endpoint of Keyword Data API is the ability to provide keyword ideas and search volume trends. Here, Google Ads is used as the main data source. However, since this method doesn’t allow setting the limit of keywords in the response, it’s not quite efficient for low-volume clients of DataForSEO. Not every SEO software project requires hundreds of keyword ideas for a single term, and especially so if you take into account the cost – $0.075 per each live or $0.05 per standard request.
Example request
POST https://api.dataforseo.com/v3/keywords_data/google_ads/keywords_for_keywords/live
[
{
"location_code": 2840,
"keywords": [
"phone",
"watch"
]
}
]
Response sample
{
"version": "0.1.20221214",
"status_code": 20000,
"status_message": "Ok.",
"time": "9.2646 sec.",
"cost": 0.075,
"tasks_count": 1,
"tasks_error": 0,
"tasks": [
{
"id": "04031717-1535-0368-0000-779190587ce7",
"status_code": 20000,
"status_message": "Ok.",
"time": "9.1802 sec.",
"cost": 0.075,
"result_count": 1840,
"path": [
"v3",
"keywords_data",
"google_ads",
"keywords_for_keywords",
"live"
],
"data": {
"api": "keywords_data",
"function": "keywords_for_keywords",
"se": "google_ads",
"location_code": 2840,
"keywords": [
"phone",
"watch"
]
},
"result": [
{
"keyword": "phone",
"location_code": 2840,
"language_code": null,
"search_partners": false,
"competition": "HIGH",
"competition_index": 100,
"search_volume": 368000,
"low_top_of_page_bid": 1.53,
"high_top_of_page_bid": 4.53,
"monthly_searches": [
{
"year": 2023,
"month": 2,
"search_volume": 301000
},
{
"year": 2023,
"month": 1,
"search_volume": 368000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 12,
"search_volume": 368000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 11,
"search_volume": 368000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 10,
"search_volume": 301000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 9,
"search_volume": 368000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 8,
"search_volume": 368000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 7,
"search_volume": 368000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 6,
"search_volume": 301000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 5,
"search_volume": 301000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 4,
"search_volume": 301000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 3,
"search_volume": 368000
}
],
"keyword_annotations": {
"concepts": null
}
},
{
"keyword": "watch",
"location_code": 2840,
"language_code": null,
"search_partners": false,
"competition": "HIGH",
"competition_index": 94,
"search_volume": 550000,
"low_top_of_page_bid": 0.59,
"high_top_of_page_bid": 2.26,
"monthly_searches": [
{
"year": 2023,
"month": 2,
"search_volume": 368000
},
{
"year": 2023,
"month": 1,
"search_volume": 450000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 12,
"search_volume": 550000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 11,
"search_volume": 550000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 10,
"search_volume": 823000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 9,
"search_volume": 450000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 8,
"search_volume": 450000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 7,
"search_volume": 550000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 6,
"search_volume": 673000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 5,
"search_volume": 450000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 4,
"search_volume": 368000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 3,
"search_volume": 450000
}
],
"keyword_annotations": {
"concepts": null
}
},
{
"keyword": "iphone 12",
"location_code": 2840,
"language_code": null,
"search_partners": false,
"competition": "HIGH",
"competition_index": 100,
"search_volume": 823000,
"low_top_of_page_bid": 0.98,
"high_top_of_page_bid": 3.64,
"monthly_searches": [
{
"year": 2023,
"month": 2,
"search_volume": 673000
},
{
"year": 2023,
"month": 1,
"search_volume": 823000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 12,
"search_volume": 1000000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 11,
"search_volume": 823000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 10,
"search_volume": 823000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 9,
"search_volume": 1000000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 8,
"search_volume": 823000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 7,
"search_volume": 823000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 6,
"search_volume": 823000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 5,
"search_volume": 823000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 4,
"search_volume": 823000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 3,
"search_volume": 1000000
}
],
"keyword_annotations": {
"concepts": [
{
"name": "iphone",
"concept_group": {
"name": "Retailer",
"type": "BRAND"
}
},
{
"name": "apple",
"concept_group": {
"name": "Company",
"type": "BRAND"
}
}
]
}
},
{
"keyword": "apple watch",
"location_code": 2840,
"language_code": null,
"search_partners": false,
"competition": "HIGH",
"competition_index": 100,
"search_volume": 2240000,
"low_top_of_page_bid": 0.29,
"high_top_of_page_bid": 2.46,
"monthly_searches": [
{
"year": 2023,
"month": 2,
"search_volume": 1500000
},
{
"year": 2023,
"month": 1,
"search_volume": 1830000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 12,
"search_volume": 3350000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 11,
"search_volume": 3350000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 10,
"search_volume": 2240000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 9,
"search_volume": 2240000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 8,
"search_volume": 1830000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 7,
"search_volume": 1830000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 6,
"search_volume": 1830000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 5,
"search_volume": 1830000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 4,
"search_volume": 1500000
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 3,
"search_volume": 1500000
}
],
"keyword_annotations": {
"concepts": [
{
"name": "apple",
"concept_group": {
"name": "Company",
"type": "BRAND"
}
}
]
}
}
]
}
]
}
See our docs to learn more about the Keywords For Keywords endpoint >>
2 Keyword Ideas
Now, let’s take a look at the Keyword Ideas endpoint in DataForSEO Labs API. Unlike the previous product, it allows setting a limit for keywords. That ultimately gives you more flexibility and makes it possible to pay for the number of keywords that your tool requires – even if there are only 10-20 keyword ideas. Using this endpoint, you pay $0.01 for the request and then $0.0001 per every keyword in the results array.
Let’s say, you need to get ten keyword ideas with search volume trends. In this case, you pay:
$0.01 + 10 x $0.0001 = $0.011
At the same time, with the Keywords For Keywords endpoint, it would still cost you $0.05 in the standard queue or $0.075 in the faster live mode. As you see, the Keyword Ideas endpoint is more beneficial as long as you don’t need more than 500 keyword ideas for a single term.
Besides that, the Keyword Ideas and all other DataForSEO Labs API endpoints work in the live mode and deliver results in up to 2 seconds, while the live mode of Google Ads API is more costly than standard and generally takes up to 7 seconds.
The thing is, unlike Keywords for Keywords that depends on an external data source, the Keyword Ideas endpoint works based on DataForSEO’s own keyword database, which allows us to minimize the time it takes to return a task’s results.
The Keyword Ideas endpoint relies on keyword categories for finding the most relevant terms. According to our observations, keywords found by using this algorithm are just as relevant as those from Google Keyword Planner. You can also use filters to cherry-pick the most promising search terms.
What’s more, using the Keyword Ideas endpoint, on top of relevant categories, search volume data for the last month and past 12 months, cost-per-click, and competition, you will also receive:
— Search intent;
— Keyword difficulty;
— SERP features appearing for this keyword, location, and language;
— The average number of backlinks, referring domains, and more of the surfaced results.
Example request
POST https://api.dataforseo.com/v3/dataforseo_labs/google/keyword_ideas/live
[
{
"keywords": [
"phone",
"watch"
],
"location_code": 2840,
"language_code": "en",
"include_serp_info": true,
"limit": 4
}
]
Response sample
{
"version": "0.1.20221214",
"status_code": 20000,
"status_message": "Ok.",
"time": "0.5355 sec.",
"cost": 0.0104,
"tasks_count": 1,
"tasks_error": 0,
"tasks": [
{
"id": "04031717-1535-0400-0000-0c357e47a94d",
"status_code": 20000,
"status_message": "Ok.",
"time": "0.4238 sec.",
"cost": 0.0104,
"result_count": 1,
"path": [
"v3",
"dataforseo_labs",
"google",
"keyword_ideas",
"live"
],
"data": {
"api": "dataforseo_labs",
"function": "keyword_ideas",
"se_type": "google",
"keywords": [
"phone",
"watch"
],
"location_code": 2840,
"language_code": "en",
"include_serp_info": true,
"limit": 4
},
"result": [
{
"se_type": "google",
"seed_keywords": [
"phone",
"watch"
],
"location_code": 2840,
"language_code": "en",
"total_count": 2367754,
"items_count": 4,
"offset": 0,
"offset_token": "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",
"items": [
{
"se_type": "google",
"keyword": "nec telephone instrument",
"location_code": 2840,
"language_code": "en",
"keyword_info": {
"se_type": "google",
"last_updated_time": "2023-03-21 23:08:32 +00:00",
"competition": null,
"competition_level": null,
"cpc": null,
"search_volume": 0,
"low_top_of_page_bid": null,
"high_top_of_page_bid": null,
"categories": [
10007,
10878,
12171
],
"monthly_searches": [
{
"year": 2023,
"month": 2,
"search_volume": 0
},
{
"year": 2023,
"month": 1,
"search_volume": 0
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 12,
"search_volume": 0
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 11,
"search_volume": 0
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 10,
"search_volume": 0
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 9,
"search_volume": 0
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 8,
"search_volume": 0
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 7,
"search_volume": 0
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 6,
"search_volume": 0
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 5,
"search_volume": 0
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 4,
"search_volume": 0
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 3,
"search_volume": 0
}
]
},
"keyword_properties": {
"se_type": "google",
"core_keyword": null,
"keyword_difficulty": null,
"detected_language": "en",
"is_another_language": false
},
"serp_info": null,
"avg_backlinks_info": null,
"search_intent_info": {
"se_type": "google",
"main_intent": "transactional",
"foreign_intent": null,
"last_updated_time": "2023-03-04 04:38:05 +00:00"
}
},
{
"se_type": "google",
"keyword": "pelostop teléfono",
"location_code": 2840,
"language_code": "en",
"keyword_info": {
"se_type": "google",
"last_updated_time": "2023-03-21 10:57:56 +00:00",
"competition": null,
"competition_level": null,
"cpc": null,
"search_volume": 10,
"low_top_of_page_bid": null,
"high_top_of_page_bid": null,
"categories": [
10007,
10878,
12171
],
"monthly_searches": [
{
"year": 2023,
"month": 2,
"search_volume": 0
},
{
"year": 2023,
"month": 1,
"search_volume": 0
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 12,
"search_volume": 0
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 11,
"search_volume": 0
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 10,
"search_volume": 0
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 9,
"search_volume": 0
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 8,
"search_volume": 10
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 7,
"search_volume": 0
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 6,
"search_volume": 0
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 5,
"search_volume": 0
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 4,
"search_volume": 0
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 3,
"search_volume": 0
}
]
},
"keyword_properties": {
"se_type": "google",
"core_keyword": null,
"keyword_difficulty": null,
"detected_language": "es",
"is_another_language": true
},
"serp_info": null,
"avg_backlinks_info": null,
"search_intent_info": {
"se_type": "google",
"main_intent": "transactional",
"foreign_intent": null,
"last_updated_time": "2023-03-02 02:30:42 +00:00"
}
},
{
"se_type": "google",
"keyword": "strowger telephone 1905",
"location_code": 2840,
"language_code": "en",
"keyword_info": {
"se_type": "google",
"last_updated_time": "2023-03-20 16:32:10 +00:00",
"competition": 0.25,
"competition_level": "LOW",
"cpc": null,
"search_volume": 10,
"low_top_of_page_bid": null,
"high_top_of_page_bid": null,
"categories": [
10007,
10878,
12171
],
"monthly_searches": [
{
"year": 2023,
"month": 2,
"search_volume": 10
},
{
"year": 2023,
"month": 1,
"search_volume": 10
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 12,
"search_volume": 10
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 11,
"search_volume": 10
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 10,
"search_volume": 10
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 9,
"search_volume": 0
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 8,
"search_volume": 10
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 7,
"search_volume": 10
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 6,
"search_volume": 10
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 5,
"search_volume": 10
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 4,
"search_volume": 10
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 3,
"search_volume": 10
}
]
},
"keyword_properties": {
"se_type": "google",
"core_keyword": null,
"keyword_difficulty": null,
"detected_language": "en",
"is_another_language": false
},
"serp_info": null,
"avg_backlinks_info": null,
"search_intent_info": {
"se_type": "google",
"main_intent": "transactional",
"foreign_intent": null,
"last_updated_time": "2023-03-06 09:45:43 +00:00"
}
},
{
"se_type": "google",
"keyword": "vtech kidibuzz 3 reviews",
"location_code": 2840,
"language_code": "en",
"keyword_info": {
"se_type": "google",
"last_updated_time": "2023-03-21 11:46:01 +00:00",
"competition": 1,
"competition_level": "HIGH",
"cpc": null,
"search_volume": 110,
"low_top_of_page_bid": null,
"high_top_of_page_bid": null,
"categories": [
10007,
10878,
12171
],
"monthly_searches": [
{
"year": 2023,
"month": 2,
"search_volume": 40
},
{
"year": 2023,
"month": 1,
"search_volume": 110
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 12,
"search_volume": 480
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 11,
"search_volume": 210
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 10,
"search_volume": 70
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 9,
"search_volume": 40
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 8,
"search_volume": 140
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 7,
"search_volume": 170
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 6,
"search_volume": 70
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 5,
"search_volume": 50
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 4,
"search_volume": 40
},
{
"year": 2022,
"month": 3,
"search_volume": 70
}
]
},
"keyword_properties": {
"se_type": "google",
"core_keyword": null,
"keyword_difficulty": 18,
"detected_language": "en",
"is_another_language": false
},
"serp_info": {
"se_type": "google",
"check_url": "https://www.google.com/search?q=vtech%20kidibuzz%203%20reviews&num=100&hl=en&gl=US&gws_rd=cr&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&uule=w+CAIQIFISCQs2MuSEtepUEUK33kOSuTsc",
"serp_item_types": [
"organic",
"video",
"people_also_ask",
"images",
"related_searches",
"google_reviews",
"knowledge_graph"
],
"se_results_count": 35,
"last_updated_time": "2023-03-17 13:45:09 +00:00",
"previous_updated_time": "2023-02-12 01:51:59 +00:00"
},
"avg_backlinks_info": {
"se_type": "google",
"backlinks": 19.9,
"dofollow": 6.5,
"referring_pages": 17.2,
"referring_domains": 6.3,
"referring_main_domains": 6.9,
"rank": 19.8,
"main_domain_rank": 577.5,
"last_updated_time": "2023-03-17 13:45:56 +00:00"
},
"search_intent_info": {
"se_type": "google",
"main_intent": "transactional",
"foreign_intent": null,
"last_updated_time": "2023-03-05 18:39:25 +00:00"
}
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
See our docs to learn more about the Keyword Ideas endpoint >>
Bottom line
Using the Keyword Ideas endpoint for keyword research provides SEO software projects with tons of opportunities. The crucial one is an opportunity to reduce expenses as you get essential keyword ideas and valuable data for your tool without paying for extra terms you don’t need. The best part is – you can try it for free!