Behavior
In compare mode (Google + Bing), the Bing column often shows ⚪ EMPTY on both PAA and Related Searches even when Google returns full data for the same query.
Root cause
This is not a tool bug. SerpAPI's engine=bing adapter only returns PAA on roughly 20-40% of queries, and Bing itself surfaces PAA / Related in far fewer SERPs than Google. When the upstream HTML has no PAA container, SerpAPI returns an empty array and we correctly map that to SurfaceStatus.EMPTY.
Workaround
- Treat Google as primary; use Bing as a cross-check when it happens to return data.
- If Bing is always empty for your vertical, switch the engine radio to
Google to stop spending 1 extra SerpAPI credit per submit.
References
seoserper/config.py module docstring — "Bing PAA is opportunistic"_EMPTY_MSG_TEMPLATES in app.py already surfaces this in-UI.
Behavior
In compare mode (Google + Bing), the Bing column often shows
⚪ EMPTYon both PAA and Related Searches even when Google returns full data for the same query.Root cause
This is not a tool bug. SerpAPI's
engine=bingadapter only returns PAA on roughly 20-40% of queries, and Bing itself surfaces PAA / Related in far fewer SERPs than Google. When the upstream HTML has no PAA container, SerpAPI returns an empty array and we correctly map that toSurfaceStatus.EMPTY.Workaround
Googleto stop spending 1 extra SerpAPI credit per submit.References
seoserper/config.pymodule docstring — "Bing PAA is opportunistic"_EMPTY_MSG_TEMPLATESinapp.pyalready surfaces this in-UI.