What is Trending Places & Spots Scraper?

Trending Places & Spots Scraper turns a category and location search into a clean, structured dataset of verified, trending restaurants, cafes, parks, attractions, and event venues you can filter, export, and monitor.

Give it a category (e.g., restaurants, cafes, street food) and a location (e.g., Nagpur, Mumbai, Goa, Dubai, London), and it returns one row per place with the venue name, trend score, address, rating, review count, Google Maps link, phone number, website, opening hours, coordinates, and social mention context.

It combines live social signals from Instagram and Facebook, search interest from Google Trends & Autocomplete, and community discussions from Reddit, with optional physical venue verification from OpenStreetMap and Google Maps. A built-in NLP engine deduplicates mentions, filters out dish names and generic spam, and ranks real establishments by overall buzz and reliability.

Because it runs on Apify, you also get scheduling, run monitoring, proxy rotation, an API, and integrations with Google Sheets, BigQuery, Make, and Zapier without maintaining a server.

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What data can you extract?

Field	Example	Meaning
rank	1	Position in the ranked result list
spot	Tandoori Villa	Verified place or venue name
category	restaurants	Search category
location	Nagpur	City or region where the place is located
trend_score	86	0–100 composite ranking score (higher = trending more)
mention_count	4	How many times the place appeared across sources
sources	["verified_poi", "instagram", "google_trends"]	Sources that identified or corroborated the venue
source_count	3	Number of distinct sources corroborating the venue
verified	true	Whether a physical map or directory source confirmed the venue
address	West High Court Road, Dharampeth, Nagpur	Street address when available
rating	4.2	Star rating (from Google Maps) when available
review_count	669	Total user reviews (from Google Maps) when available
maps_url	https://www.google.com/maps/place/...	Direct Google Maps link when available
phone	+91 98765 43210	Contact phone number when available
website	https://example.com	Official website when available
opening_hours	Mon–Sun: 11:00–23:00	Operating hours when available
venue_type	Restaurant	Classified category of venue
latitude / longitude	21.1381 / 79.0558	Geographic coordinates when available
sample_context	Verified venue: Tandoori Villa (Restaurant) located in Nagpur	Snippet from post, review, or directory entry
extracted_at	2026-10-27T10:15:42+00:00	ISO timestamp of extraction

Each run also writes:

• Dataset — one flat row per venue, ready for CSV, Excel, Google Sheets, BigQuery, or API retrieval.
• SUMMARY — run metadata, spot counts, raw record metrics, source breakdown, and pipeline status.
• OUTPUT — the full structured results payload and summary stored in the Key-Value Store for download or webhook delivery.

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Why use this Actor?

• Verified places, not directory spam. Uses OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, and verified directories to confirm that every result is an actual physical establishment, rejecting dish names, generic labels, or directory sites like Zomato, Yelp, or TripAdvisor.
• Real social trend signals. Analyzes public Instagram hashtags, reels, and Facebook posts to capture where real people are going and what they are recommending right now.
• Live search interest. Pulls real-time Google Trends and search suggestions to detect sudden spikes in consumer interest.
• Multi-source NLP ranking. Uses spaCy natural language processing and weighted scoring to reward places that have cross-platform consensus (e.g., an Instagram trend corroborated by an OpenStreetMap physical entry ranks higher than a single unverified social post).
• Rich contact & location details. Extracts street addresses, phone numbers, websites, operating hours, ratings, review counts, and exact coordinates whenever available.
• Excel & CSV ready. Every run formats results into tabular dataset rows ready for one-click export to .xlsx, .csv, .json, or downstream BI dashboards.
• Apify Proxy on by default. Browser traffic is automatically routed through Apify Proxy, preventing rate limits and datacenter IP blocks on social and map platforms.
• Any category, any city. Works seamlessly for restaurants, rooftop bars, cafes, street food markets, tourist attractions, public parks, local festivals, garba events, gyms, salons, and more.
• No account or login required. Runs out of the box using public search, social signals, and open geospatial data. No Instagram, Facebook, or Google API keys are required.

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How to use it

1. Enter a category (e.g. restaurants, cafes, street food, parks, garba events).
2. Enter a location (e.g. Nagpur, Mumbai, Goa, Dubai, London).
3. Select your sources (keep the default mix of Instagram, Facebook, and Google Trends, or add Reddit, OpenStreetMap, and Google Maps).
4. Choose your pipeline mode (social recommended for fast discovery; google_maps for browser-scraped ratings and contact details).
5. Set Maximum places (e.g. 50 or 100) and click Start.
6. Open the Dataset tab to view your places, or download them as Excel, CSV, or JSON.
7. For ongoing monitoring, attach an Apify Schedule to receive fresh trending spots weekly.

No login, cookies, or API keys are required.

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Inputs

Input	Type	What it does
category	string	Type of place to find, e.g. restaurants, cafes, parks, tourist attractions, garba events
location	string	City, region, or country to search in, e.g. Nagpur, Mumbai, Goa, Dubai, London
sources	array	Data sources to query: instagram, facebook, google, venues, reddit, google_maps, overpass
pipeline	enum	Pipeline mode: social (fast, social-first), optimized, or google_maps (full browser scraping)
max_spots	integer	Maximum number of ranked places to save to the dataset (1–200, default 50)
proxyConfiguration	object	Apify Proxy settings; Apify Proxy is used by default to prevent rate limits
instagram_cookies	string	Optional Netscape cookies.txt or sessionid cookie for authenticated Reel downloads

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Example inputs

Restaurants in Nagpur (Default, Social-First)

{
  "category": "restaurants",
  "location": "Nagpur",
  "sources": ["instagram", "facebook", "google"],
  "pipeline": "social",
  "max_spots": 50
}

Cafes in Goa with Ratings & Google Maps Contact Details

{
  "category": "cafes",
  "location": "Goa",
  "sources": ["instagram", "facebook", "google", "venues", "google_maps"],
  "pipeline": "google_maps",
  "max_spots": 100
}

Parks & Nature Spots with Reddit Community Discussions

{
  "category": "parks",
  "location": "Nagpur",
  "sources": ["instagram", "facebook", "google", "reddit"],
  "pipeline": "social",
  "max_spots": 50
}

Weekly Trend Watch for Tourist Attractions in Dubai

{
  "category": "tourist attractions",
  "location": "Dubai",
  "sources": ["instagram", "facebook", "google"],
  "pipeline": "social",
  "max_spots": 100
}

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Output

Dataset

One row per place, ordered by trend_score. Places lacking physical verification are still returned but flagged with "verified": false, allowing you to filter them out downstream if desired.

{
  "rank": 1,
  "spot": "Tandoori Villa",
  "category": "restaurants",
  "location": "Nagpur",
  "trend_score": 86,
  "mention_count": 4,
  "sources": ["verified_poi", "instagram", "google_trends"],
  "source_count": 3,
  "verified": true,
  "address": "West High Court Road, Dharampeth, Nagpur",
  "rating": 4.2,
  "review_count": 669,
  "maps_url": "https://www.google.com/maps/place/...",
  "phone": "+91 98765 43210",
  "website": "https://example.com",
  "opening_hours": "Mon–Sun: 11:00–23:00",
  "venue_type": "Restaurant",
  "latitude": 21.1381,
  "longitude": 79.0558,
  "sample_context": "Verified venue: Tandoori Villa (Restaurant) located in Nagpur",
  "extracted_at": "2026-10-27T10:15:42+00:00",
  "search_category": "restaurants",
  "search_location": "Nagpur"
}

SUMMARY

A compact JSON object saved in the Key-Value Store under OUTPUT containing search parameters, source breakdown counts, total raw records processed, and total ranked places found:

{
  "category": "restaurants",
  "location": "Nagpur",
  "sources": ["instagram", "facebook", "google", "venues"],
  "source_counts": {
    "instagram": 18,
    "facebook": 12,
    "google": 24,
    "venues": 35
  },
  "pipeline": "social",
  "total_spots": 50,
  "total_raw_records": 89,
  "scraped_at": "2026-10-27T10:15:42+00:00"
}

OUTPUT

The full list of ranked spots along with the summary metadata is also saved under the OUTPUT key in the default Key-Value Store for simple downstream consumption or download.

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How the trend score works

The Actor calculates a composite trend score (0–100) for every extracted establishment using the following factors:

• Source Reliability Weighting — Verified physical databases (OpenStreetMap, Overpass, Google Maps) receive higher base weights (0.95–1.00) than raw social mentions (0.55) or web search snippets (0.35).
• Cross-Source Corroboration — When a venue is discovered on social media (e.g. Instagram or Facebook) and confirmed by a physical map database, its score receives a significant consensus multiplier.
• Search Velocity & Buzz — Spikes in Google Trends search interest and query autocomplete boost a venue's ranking.
• Popularity Signals — High ratings and substantial review counts from Google Maps add an additional popularity lift.
• Single-Source Noise Penalty — Unverified, one-off social media mentions are downranked to filter out random noise and personal accounts.

Scores are calculated relative to the specific search query and location. They provide an accurate ranking metric within each run.

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Scheduling

You can track rising venues and trending spots over time by creating a scheduled task in the Apify Console (Actors → Trending Places Scraper → Schedules).

{
  "category": "cafes",
  "location": "Mumbai",
  "sources": ["instagram", "facebook", "google"],
  "pipeline": "social",
  "max_spots": 50
}

Running this Actor weekly or monthly lets you:

• Monitor newly viral cafes, restaurants, or nightspots before they hit mainstream guides.
• Detect seasonal pop-ups, food festivals, and event venues automatically.
• Feed fresh lead lists or recommendation feeds into your CRM, database, or mobile app via webhooks.

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How much does it cost?

This Actor is paid per result, with no hidden start fees:

Event	Price
Place result	$5 per 1,000 rows ($0.005 per row)
Actor start	$0.00 per run

A typical 50-place run costs about $0.25; a 200-place run costs about $1.00. The per-result price includes dataset generation, deduplication, NLP extraction, and Key-Value Store outputs. Apify platform usage is included in the per-event price.

• You are charged only for valid places saved to the dataset.
• A run that returns zero places is charged only minimal platform compute.
• Set max_spots to cap the cost of any run.
• Use Apify's Max charge (USD) setting to establish a strict budget limit per run.

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FAQ

Do I need a proxy?
Apify Proxy is enabled by default and recommended. Social media networks and Google Maps frequently serve rate-limiting challenges or consent screens to datacenter IPs. Residential proxies provide the highest success rate when scraping Instagram reels or Google Maps.

Why did I get zero places?
The most common causes are an IP block on social platforms, an overly narrow category, or a location with minimal public social posts. Check the run log to view how many raw records each source returned. Broadening your category or location often resolves this.

Can I get phone numbers, websites, and opening hours?
Yes. OpenStreetMap provides addresses and coordinates; including google_maps in your sources adds star ratings, review counts, phone numbers, websites, and opening hours where available.

How does it prevent food dishes or queries from appearing as places?
The Actor uses a multi-layer filtering engine: pattern matching, blacklists of generic dish names (e.g. "mutton biryani", "cold coffee"), platform exclusions (e.g. "TripAdvisor", "Zomato"), and spaCy NER validation to ensure only legitimate venues and establishments are output.

Can I export data directly to Excel or Google Sheets?
Yes. Every dataset row has a flat, tabular schema. In the Apify Console, navigate to the Dataset tab and click Export to download your data as an Excel (.xlsx), CSV, or JSON file, or connect it directly to Google Sheets via the Apify Google Sheets integration.

Can I call it from Python, JavaScript, or an automation tool?
Yes. Every Apify Actor provides a built-in REST API and official client libraries for Python (apify-client) and JavaScript/Node.js (apify-client). You can also trigger runs and receive dataset webhooks in Make, n8n, Zapier, or via the Apify MCP server for AI agents.

Does it require Instagram or Facebook login credentials?
No. The scraper queries public hashtags, directories, and search indexes. Cookies are strictly optional and only needed if you wish to download authenticated Instagram Reel media.

Is this an official Meta or Google API?
No. It reads publicly available web and geospatial data. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Meta Platforms, Google LLC, or OpenStreetMap.

Is scraping social media and public maps legal?
Yes, collecting publicly accessible web data for market research, travel intelligence, and business analytics is recognized as legitimate in many jurisdictions. However, you are responsible for adhering to applicable data privacy laws (e.g., GDPR, CCPA) and platform terms of service. Do not use the Actor to harvest private personal data or overload external infrastructure.

Does it book reservations or event tickets?
No. It is a research and data extraction tool. Booking tables, purchasing tickets, and processing payments are outside its scope.

Why is it slower than a pure-HTTP scraper?
It uses Playwright headless browsers to render live JavaScript content, hashtags, and dynamic feeds on Instagram, Facebook, and Google Maps just like a real user. This ensures maximum data extraction accuracy at the cost of slight browser rendering overhead.

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Limitations

• Browser-based scraping — Rendering dynamic social feeds requires browser resources and takes longer than simple HTTP requests.
• Platform UI shifts — Instagram and Facebook frequently update page layouts; while self-healing selectors and fallbacks are implemented, major platform redesigns may require Actor maintenance.
• Data completeness — Not every venue has a public phone number, website, or listed operating hours; unavailable fields are returned empty.
• Dynamic trends — Social buzz changes rapidly; results represent a snapshot of current and recent signals at the time of the scrape.
• Rate limits — Intense querying without proxies on social sources may trigger temporary rate limiting.

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Support

Found a bug, have a feature request, or need an additional data field? Open an issue on the Actor's Issues tab in the Apify Console and provide:

• Your input JSON configuration (with any credentials omitted),
• The run ID from the Apify Console,
• A description of what you expected versus what was returned.

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Disclaimer

This Actor accesses publicly available place and social-media data for legitimate research, market intelligence, and business analysis purposes. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Meta Platforms, Inc., Google LLC, or the OpenStreetMap Foundation. Users are responsible for complying with each platform's terms of service and applicable data protection regulations. The author and publisher assume no liability for misuse. Verify critical venue details prior to making travel or commercial commitments.

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Keywords

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