Search Provider Selection Expert

You are an expert in selecting the optimal search provider for different use cases. This skill provides comprehensive comparison of providers, cost-benefit analysis, and decision frameworks.

When To Use This Skill

This skill activates when users:

• Choose between Serper and Apify for Instagram searches
• Optimize search costs
• Need quality vs speed tradeoffs
• Compare provider capabilities
• Debug provider-specific issues
• Implement new search providers
• Benchmark provider performance

Core Knowledge

Provider Comparison Matrix

Provider	Type	Cost/Result	Speed	Quality	Best For
Serper	Google SERP	$0.0001	1-3s	Handles only	Discovery
Apify	Direct scraper	$0.01-0.05	10-60s	Full profiles	Deep data
ScapeCreators	API service	$0.005	5-15s	Medium data	Screening
Instagram API	Official	Free (limited)	1-2s	Full profiles	Verified only
Perplexity Sonar	AI search	$0.0005	3-5s	Context	Semantic

Provider Details

1. Serper (Primary for Discovery)

Endpoint: https://google.serper.dev/search

Use Case: Lightweight Instagram handle discovery

Pros:

• Extremely cheap ($0.0001 per query)
• Fast (1-3 seconds)
• High volume (100 requests/second)
• No Instagram rate limits (uses Google)
• Returns relevant handles

Cons:

• Handles only (no profile data)
• Limited to 20 results per query
• Quality depends on Google ranking
• May miss private accounts

Cost Example:

10 keywords x $0.001 = $0.01 per search job
1000 search jobs = $10 total

Rate Limits:

• Free tier: 2,500 requests/month
• Paid tier: 100 requests/second
• No daily cap

Implementation: /lib/instagram-us-reels/clients/serper.ts

Testing Script:

# Quick test
curl -X POST 'https://google.serper.dev/search' \
  -H 'X-API-KEY: your-key' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "q": "site:instagram.com \"fitness\" reels",
    "num": 10,
    "gl": "us"
  }'

2. Apify (For Deep Enrichment)

Actors:

• apify/instagram-profile-scraper - Full profiles
• apify/instagram-post-scraper - Post details
• apify/instagram-hashtag-scraper - Hashtag searches

Use Case: Deep profile scraping after discovery

Pros:

• Complete profile data (bio, followers, engagement)
• Post content and metrics
• Historical data available
• Handles private account detection

Cons:

• Expensive ($0.01-0.05 per profile)
• Slow (10-60 seconds per profile)
• Rate limited by Instagram
• Can get blocked if overused
• Requires actor warm-up time

Cost Example:

1000 profiles x $0.03 = $30 per enrichment
100 search jobs = $3,000 total (not sustainable!)

Rate Limits:

• Actor-specific (typically 10-50 concurrent)
• Instagram may block after ~1000 requests/day
• Requires proxy rotation

Implementation: /lib/platforms/instagram-similar/api.ts

Testing Scripts:

node scripts/test-apify-instagram-simple.js
node scripts/test-apify-instagram-correct.js
node scripts/test-both-hashtag-scrapers.js

3. ScapeCreators (Middle Ground)

API: Custom API service

Use Case: Profile screening before expensive enrichment

Pros:

• Moderate cost ($0.005 per profile)
• Medium speed (5-15 seconds)
• Basic profile data (followers, bio, verified)
• Less likely to be blocked
• Good for filtering

Cons:

• Not as comprehensive as Apify
• Still relatively expensive for bulk
• May have outdated data
• Limited to public accounts

Cost Example:

1000 profiles x $0.005 = $5 per screening
100 search jobs = $500 total (affordable)

Implementation: /lib/instagram-us-reels/clients/scrapecreators.ts

4. Instagram Official API

Use Case: Verified business accounts, official partnerships

Pros:

• Free (within limits)
• No blocking concerns
• Official data
• Reliable

Cons:

• Requires app approval
• Limited to business accounts
• Heavy restrictions
• Not viable for discovery

Not Recommended For: Influencer discovery platform

5. Perplexity Sonar (AI-Powered)

API: Perplexity Sonar API

Use Case: Semantic search, keyword expansion, context understanding

Pros:

• AI-powered semantic search
• Good for keyword expansion
• Provides context and explanations
• Cheap ($0.0005 per query)

Cons:

• Not for direct scraping
• Returns text, not profiles
• Limited structure
• Rate limited

Cost Example:

10 keyword expansions x $0.0005 = $0.005 per search

Implementation: /lib/instagram-us-reels/clients/sonar.ts

Provider Selection Decision Tree

Start: Need Instagram creators

├─ Discovery Phase (Need 100-1000 handles)
│  ├─ Budget: Low ($0.01-0.10)
│  │  └─ Use: Serper ✓
│  ├─ Budget: Medium ($1-10)
│  │  └─ Use: Serper + ScapeCreators
│  └─ Budget: High ($10+)
│     └─ Use: Serper + Apify (selective)
│
├─ Enrichment Phase (Need full profiles)
│  ├─ Volume: <100 profiles
│  │  └─ Use: Apify ✓
│  ├─ Volume: 100-1000 profiles
│  │  └─ Use: ScapeCreators
│  └─ Volume: >1000 profiles
│     └─ Use: Lazy enrichment (enrich on user click)
│
└─ Semantic Phase (Need keyword expansion)
   └─ Use: Perplexity Sonar + GPT-4 ✓

Current Pipeline Strategy

Instagram US Reels Pipeline:

1. Keyword Expansion (GPT-4o-mini)
   - Cost: $0.0001
   - Time: 2-5s
   - Input: 1 keyword → Output: 10 keywords

2. Handle Discovery (Serper)
   - Cost: $0.01 (10 queries)
   - Time: 20-30s
   - Input: 10 keywords → Output: 100-200 handles

3. Deduplication (Local)
   - Cost: $0
   - Time: <1s
   - Input: 200 handles → Output: 150 unique handles

4. Lazy Enrichment (On-Demand)
   - Cost: $0 upfront, $0.03 per clicked profile
   - Time: Instant discovery + 10s on click
   - User clicks 10 profiles → $0.30

Total Cost: $0.01 discovery + $0.30 enrichment = $0.31

Cost Comparison (1000 profiles):

Strategy	Cost	Time	Quality
Serper only	$0.01	30s	Handles only
Serper + Lazy Enrich	$0.01 + $0.30/10 clicks	30s + 10s/click	High
Serper + ScapeCreators	$5.01	30s + 2h	Medium
Apify only	$30	30min-1h	Highest
Serper + Apify (all)	$30.01	30s + 30min	Highest

Rate Limit Strategies

Serper:

• Sequential processing (1 keyword at a time)
• 2-second delay between queries
• Exponential backoff on 429

Apify:

• Parallel runs (10-20 concurrent)
• Actor-level queuing
• Retry failed with longer delay

ScapeCreators:

• Batch requests (50-100 at a time)
• Respect API rate limits
• Circuit breaker after N failures

Common Patterns

Pattern 1: Cost-Optimized Discovery

// Good: Use cheapest provider for discovery
async function discoverCreators(keywords: string[]) {
  // Step 1: Serper for handles ($0.01)
  const handles = [];
  for (const kw of keywords) {
    const batch = await fetchSerperHandles({ query: kw, num: 20 });
    handles.push(...batch);
  }

  // Step 2: Dedupe (free)
  const unique = [...new Set(handles)];

  // Step 3: Return lightweight results
  return unique.map(handle => ({
    username: handle,
    profileUrl: `https://instagram.com/${handle}`,
    source: 'serper'
  }));

  // Step 4: Enrich later (lazy, on-demand)
  // User clicks → Fetch full profile via Apify/ScapeCreators
}

Pattern 2: Quality-Optimized Discovery

// Good: Use multiple providers for best quality
async function discoverCreatorsHighQuality(keywords: string[]) {
  // Step 1: Serper for initial handles ($0.01)
  const handles = await fetchSerperHandles(keywords);

  // Step 2: Screen with ScapeCreators ($5)
  const screened = await screenProfiles(handles);

  // Step 3: Filter by quality
  const qualified = screened.filter(p =>
    p.followers > 10000 &&
    p.engagementRate > 0.02 &&
    !p.isPrivate
  );

  // Step 4: Deep enrich top 50 with Apify ($1.50)
  const top50 = qualified.slice(0, 50);
  const enriched = await enrichWithApify(top50);

  return enriched;
}

Pattern 3: Hybrid Approach (Current)

// Good: Cheap discovery + lazy enrichment
async function instagramUSReelsSearch(keyword: string, targetResults: number) {
  // Phase 1: Keyword expansion ($0.0001)
  const keywords = await expandKeywords(keyword);

  // Phase 2: Handle discovery ($0.01)
  const handles = await fetchSerperHandles(keywords);

  // Phase 3: Return immediately with handles
  return {
    results: handles.map(h => ({
      username: h,
      profileUrl: `https://instagram.com/${h}`,
      isEnriched: false
    })),
    cost: 0.01,
    enrichmentAvailable: true
  };

  // Phase 4: User triggers enrichment on-demand
  // GET /api/creators/:username/enrich
  // → Calls Apify/ScapeCreators for that one profile ($0.03)
}

Anti-Patterns (Avoid These)

Anti-Pattern 1: Using Apify for Discovery

// BAD: Expensive and slow
async function discoverWithApify(keywords: string[]) {
  const handles = await fetchSerperHandles(keywords); // 100 handles
  const profiles = await apifyClient.call('instagram-profile-scraper', {
    usernames: handles // $3-5, takes 10+ minutes
  });
  return profiles;
}

Why it's bad: 300x more expensive, much slower

Anti-Pattern 2: No Provider Fallback

// BAD: Single point of failure
async function fetchProfiles(handles: string[]) {
  return await apifyClient.call('instagram-profile-scraper', {
    usernames: handles
  });
  // If Apify is down or rate limited, entire search fails!
}

Why it's bad: No resilience

Do this instead:

// GOOD: Fallback chain
async function fetchProfiles(handles: string[]) {
  try {
    return await apifyClient.call('instagram-profile-scraper', { usernames: handles });
  } catch (error) {
    logger.warn('Apify failed, trying ScapeCreators');
    return await scapeCreatorsClient.fetchProfiles(handles);
  }
}

Anti-Pattern 3: Parallel Serper Requests

// BAD: Exceeds rate limits
const results = await Promise.all(
  keywords.map(kw => fetchSerperHandles({ query: kw }))
);

Why it's bad: 429 errors, wasted requests

Troubleshooting Guide

Problem: Which Provider Should I Use?

Decision Matrix:

Use Serper when:

• Need 100-1000 handles quickly
• Budget is tight
• Quality screening done later
• Instagram discovery phase

Use Apify when:

• Need full profile data
• Volume <100 profiles
• Budget allows ($0.01-0.05/profile)
• Quality is critical

Use ScapeCreators when:

• Need basic profile data
• Volume 100-1000 profiles
• Middle ground on cost/quality
• Pre-screening before Apify

Use Lazy Enrichment when:

• User behavior is unpredictable
• Cost optimization critical
• Fast initial results needed
• Only 5-10% profiles viewed

Related Files

• /lib/instagram-us-reels/clients/serper.ts - Serper client
• /lib/platforms/instagram-similar/api.ts - Apify integration
• /lib/instagram-us-reels/clients/scrapecreators.ts - ScapeCreators client
• /lib/instagram-us-reels/clients/sonar.ts - Perplexity client
• /scripts/test-both-hashtag-scrapers.js - Comparison script
• /scripts/quick-test-instagram-apis.js - Quick test
• /scripts/test-instagram-keyword-comparison.js - Benchmark

Testing Providers

Compare All Providers:

node scripts/test-instagram-keyword-comparison.js

Test Apify:

node scripts/test-apify-instagram-simple.js

Test Serper:

curl -X POST 'https://google.serper.dev/search' \
  -H 'X-API-KEY: $SERPER_API_KEY' \
  -d '{"q":"site:instagram.com fitness reels","num":10}'

Cost Calculator

Formula:

Total Cost = (Keywords × $0.001) + (Handles × EnrichmentCost)

Where EnrichmentCost:
- Lazy (5% click): $0.0015 per handle
- ScapeCreators: $0.005 per handle
- Apify: $0.03 per handle

Example:

10 keywords, 1000 handles
- Serper: 10 × $0.001 = $0.01
- Lazy (5% click): 1000 × $0.0015 = $1.50
- Total: $1.51

vs Apify All:
- Serper: $0.01
- Apify: 1000 × $0.03 = $30
- Total: $30.01

Savings: 95%!

Recommendation

Current Best Practice (Instagram US Reels):

1. Discovery: Serper ($0.01)
2. Enrichment: Lazy (on-demand, ~$0.30 for 10 profiles)
3. Total: $0.31 average per search job

Why: 95% cost savings, instant results, same quality for viewed profiles