[t-3]

Google search has been in decline for at least the past decade, and been surpassed easily for at least the past 5 years. Try running a local instance of a meta-search engine like https://github.com/searx/searx - you'll never want to go back.

[electromech]

This greatly appeals to me, but I don't quite understand how these work. I looked into searx and friends, and it seems too good to be true. Like, if it's turning around and making requests to Google, don't they detect that as bot-like traffic? Seems like a good way to get your IP blocked or worse.

[mister_goo]

There is another option: Google offers a paid API for search.

[solarkraft]

Is it feasibly priced? Often enough APIs from big walled services don't seem to be any more than something to point towards when regulators raise concerns about market dominance.

[mister_goo]

Feasible for my personal use. 100 free daily quota. 1000 calls per 5$. I'm not affiliated with Google.

[t-3]

Why would it look like a bot? Does your normal search traffic look botlike? It's just a search multiplexer.