Google Play Store contains valuable data -- app listing URLs, listing titles, SERP snippets (rating, reviews, installs as text), and more. Scraping this data directly means dealing with anti-bot detection, CAPTCHAs, IP rotation, and constantly breaking selectors. The Scavio API handles all of that and returns clean, structured JSON from a single POST request.
This tutorial shows you how to scrape Google Play Store using Ruby and the Scavio API. By the end, you will have a working Ruby script that fetches real-time Google Play Store data and parses the results.
Prerequisites
- Ruby installed on your machine
- A Scavio API key (free tier includes 50 credits on signup -- no credit card required)
Step 1: Install Dependencies
Install net/http to make HTTP requests:
# net/http and json are in Ruby's standard libraryStep 2: Make Your First Google Play Store Search
Send a POST request to the Scavio Google Play Store API endpoint with your query. The API returns structured JSON with app listing URLs, listing titles, SERP snippets (rating, reviews, installs as text), and more.
# Scavio has no Play Store endpoint. This searches play.google.com listing pages through
# Google - ratings and install counts appear in the snippet text, not as structured
# fields.
require "net/http"
require "json"
api_key = "sk_live_your_key"
query = "site:play.google.com habit tracker"
uri = URI("https://api.scavio.dev/api/v2/google")
http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = true
request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(uri)
request["Authorization"] = "Bearer #{api_key}"
request["Content-Type"] = "application/json"
request.body = { query: query }.to_json
response = http.request(request)
data = JSON.parse(response.body)
puts JSON.pretty_generate(data)Step 3: Example Response
The API returns structured JSON. Here is an example response for a Google Play Store search:
{
"search_parameters": { "q": "cold brew coffee", "hl": "en", "gl": "us" },
"organic_results": [
{
"position": 1,
"title": "how do you guys make cold brew? : r/Coffee",
"link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/Coffee/comments/oi7rm7/how_do_you_guys_make_cold_brew/",
"snippet": "i wanna learn how to make cold brew coffee but theres a lot of ways...",
"source": "Reddit"
}
],
"related_searches": [{ "query": "cold brew ratio", "link": "https://www.google.com/search?q=cold+brew+ratio" }],
"response_time": 2841,
"credits_used": 1,
"credits_remaining": 4821
}Every field is structured and typed -- no HTML parsing, no CSS selectors, no regex extraction. Your Ruby code can access any field directly.
Step 4: Full Working Example
Here is a complete, runnable Ruby script that searches Google Play Store and prints the results:
require "net/http"
require "json"
# Search Google Play Store data with the Scavio API.
# POST /api/v2/google - rows come back under organic_results.
# Scavio has no Play Store endpoint. This searches play.google.com listing pages through
# Google - ratings and install counts appear in the snippet text, not as structured
# fields.
API_URL = "https://api.scavio.dev/api/v2/google"
def search_play_store(query)
api_key = ENV.fetch("SCAVIO_API_KEY")
uri = URI(API_URL)
http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = true
request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(uri)
request["Authorization"] = "Bearer #{api_key}"
request["Content-Type"] = "application/json"
request.body = { query: query }.to_json
response = http.request(request)
raise "Scavio API error: #{response.code}" unless response.is_a?(Net::HTTPSuccess)
JSON.parse(response.body)
end
data = search_play_store("site:play.google.com habit tracker")
puts JSON.pretty_generate(data)Why Use Scavio Instead of Scraping Google Play Store Directly?
- No proxy management. Direct scraping requires rotating proxies to avoid IP bans. Scavio handles all of this server-side.
- No CAPTCHA solving. Google Play Store aggressively blocks automated requests. Scavio returns clean data every time.
- Structured JSON output. No HTML parsing or CSS selector maintenance. Get typed, consistent data from every request.
- Multi-platform in one API. Search Google, Amazon, YouTube, and Walmart from the same API key with the same authentication pattern.
- Free tier included. 50 credits on signup with no credit card required. Each search costs 1 credit.