Measuring Google Keyword Rankings Without an API: Rendered-DOM Reading via Real Browser Tabs — A Case Study of a New Domain (veltrixcode.com)

Google's Custom Search JSON API — the only official self-serve route to programmatic Google search results — was closed to new customers on 20 January 2026 and is discontinued on 1 January 2027. Small site owners who want to know where they rank on Google therefore need a method that does not depend on that API. This paper documents one such method: reading the rendered DOM of real Google search-result pages (SERPs) in ordinary browser tabs, and reports a first case study applying it to a new domain, veltrixcode.com. On 6 November 2026 the method was used to check 10 active keywords for the domain. Both brand terms ranked #1. All 8 non-branded terms were not ranked. A separate accuracy audit of the tool against ground truth matched 47 of 53 comparable fields (88.7%); all six mismatches were link counts. The method works and is reproducible with free tooling, but this case study is a single snapshot of one new domain with a small keyword set.