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[GH-ISSUE #1252] [BUG] Whoogle broken again. Way Forward #738
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Originally created by @Don-Swanson on GitHub (Oct 3, 2025).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/benbusby/whoogle-search/issues/1252
Originally assigned to: @Don-Swanson on GitHub.
Hey All
I just noticed it. I've been trying a bunch of other UA Strings, but Whoogle might be fully dead in the water this time. I'll have to take some time to contemplate if there is another easy way around this.
I'm open to ideas.
Potential thoughts are to scrape the Mullvad Leta results instead. They pay for Google's API so it's still google on the backend, but their results are cached, so not sure of any effects of that.
Let me know your thoughts.
@blackletum commented on GitHub (Oct 3, 2025):
I was just about to open an issue because I was having problems earlier today and completely nuked my install and set it up fresh and still had the same issue.
I had a few UA strings I had tested and all worked until today. Google seems really adamant to kill all of this.
How does SearX/XNG/etc and its forks handle google results?
Looking forward to what others come up with as well. I love Whoogle and have hosted it for half a decade now and I'd hate to have to replace it.
@mclardass commented on GitHub (Oct 3, 2025):
The days of "Don't be evil" was such a quaint time.. Good luck @Don-Swanson, I don't have any recommendations but appreciate the efforts.
@blackletum commented on GitHub (Oct 3, 2025):
I do know too that the folks over at Lynx have been having a heck of a time with Google as well. I did see this as well as others but it's too late for me to go through them, but I do wonder if they have any fixes over there as well.
git.sr.ht/~bptato/chawan@6b57aef32eedit:
saw these threads too, but i've got an early start tomorrow. hopefully some helpful info.
https://lists.nongnu.org/archive/html/lynx-dev/2025-10/
@inittux111 commented on GitHub (Oct 3, 2025):
Hello @Don-Swanson That's too bad! I have no idea. I've been using Kagi as my main search engine for a few months now and had been using Whoogle when on my mobile phone still. I would be sad to see Whoogle end but if there's not way around then there's no way around. No matter what happens many thanks and also to the previous developer of Whoogle.
@aibosss commented on GitHub (Oct 3, 2025):
Anyone with a working UA, please just post that youve got one working so that we know to continue searching..
I tried ~30 diff text-based browsers UA and all need to UPGRADE.
LibreY still work with Google..
Is there no way for the backend to scrape Google's javascript ?
@si1en7 commented on GitHub (Oct 3, 2025):
The problem with javascript is you need it to run #and/or render it. Whoogle doesn't currently provide that sort of functionality. Whoogle would need to be adapted to take advantage of either automated browsing or headless rendering, which requires additional resources and is slow.
@aibosss commented on GitHub (Oct 3, 2025):
I'd say not many additional resources as there are plenty of light libraries providing just that now, but yes it would be a bit slower, but I think text-based agents were already slowed down by Google for 1-2 months (longer page load time), so it would be similar speed as Whoogle was in the end.
@Don-Swanson commented on GitHub (Oct 3, 2025):
Well @aibosss Don't hold out on us, if you know of a better way that doesn't use many additional resources, please do share those thoughts.
@aibosss commented on GitHub (Oct 3, 2025):
Some ways here https://roundproxies.com/blog/scrape-google-search-results/
and especially https://github.com/web-agent-master/google-search
@Don-Swanson commented on GitHub (Oct 3, 2025):
@aibosss
Thanks for the enthusiasm, however it feels like you are just doing AI searches and throwing the findings here without testing or consideration of the project and its constraints. Using Playwright (like your second link suggests and like several of the examples in the first link allude to) is a non starter. As identified by @si1en7 It would severely balloon this lightweight simple project into something with an incredibly complex backend with 300-400MB of additional dependencies, this goes fundamentally against Whoogle's purpose (This might work better as a separate project with different goals that I'd love to see you develop).
The lightweight anti-detection methods your links suggest either appear to no longer work (likely due to the latest changes made by google) or cost money, which is not something this project will fund, and most end users will find another free project before spending money.
If you find something that you have tested to actually work, I invite you to share it along with your results. (Better yet, to create a PR with the required changes so that all can share in your discovery)
For everyone else, I'm going to try tonight and make a stopgap with a version that leverages leta results temporarily while I investigate how SearXNG maintains their google searches and see if it's feasible to implement.
@Don-Swanson commented on GitHub (Oct 3, 2025):
Hey All,
New Beta Release (AKA Stopgap) is in the pipeline, builds are happening now, and should be done soon.
https://github.com/benbusby/whoogle-search/releases/tag/v1.1.0-beta
@inittux111 commented on GitHub (Oct 4, 2025):
@Don-Swanson Thanks so much! When will the container image for this beta be available or will it only be built once it's officially been released?
@MadWalnut commented on GitHub (Oct 4, 2025):
You can use
benbusby/whoogle-search:1.1.0-beta, see release notes.@Don-Swanson commented on GitHub (Oct 4, 2025):
This has also been turned into a regular release.
Test this release and let us know of any CRITICAL bugs. As this is intended as a stopgap only, please do not report minor bugs related to this release—Major/Critical bugs only that must be fixed to keep the stopgap alive.
If you have genuine ideas on ways forward (no generic AI suggestions or "here's what I found in a search"), please bring them to the way forward discussion.
@pmonck commented on GitHub (Oct 4, 2025):
I have a working UA.
@boognish-rising commented on GitHub (Oct 5, 2025):
bit of a head scratcher since you posted immediately following @Don-Swanson's call for folks with helpful contributions, but in case you missed it, your input would be valuable in the way forward discussion. The project needs all the help it can get atm, so thanks in advance!
PS - disregard if you've already made your way over there.
@Don-Swanson commented on GitHub (Oct 8, 2025):
Closing as everyone should have realized by now that their instance has stopped and the current fix.