Google Maps Places Scraper

🗺️ Powerful Google Maps scraper that extracts business information from Google Maps search results with intelligent scrolling and optional detailed data collection.

✨ Features

• 🔍 Multi-term search: Search for multiple keywords in a single run
• 📍 Location-based: Target specific cities, regions, or countries
• 🌐 Multi-language support: Scrape in any language (French, English, Spanish, etc.)
• 🎯 Smart scrolling: Automatically loads more results with intelligent stopping mechanism
• ⚡ Speed optimization: Optional detailed data collection (phone & website) for faster runs
• 🆔 Google Place ID extraction: Includes unique Google Place IDs for each business
• 📊 Excel export: Results automatically saved as Excel file
• 🔒 Proxy support: Compatible with Apify proxy for reliable scraping
• 📈 Scalable: Handle hundreds of results efficiently

🚀 Quick Start

Input Parameters

{
  "searchTerms": ["restaurant", "café", "boulangerie"],
  "location": "Paris, France",
  "maxCrawledPlacesPerSearch": 50,
  "language": "fr",
  "includeDetails": true,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}

Basic Usage

1. Simple restaurant search:

{
  "searchTerms": ["restaurant"],
  "location": "Lyon, France",
  "maxCrawledPlacesPerSearch": 20
}

2. Multi-category business search with details:

{
  "searchTerms": ["dentist", "pharmacy", "bakery"],
  "location": "Marseille, France",
  "maxCrawledPlacesPerSearch": 30,
  "includeDetails": true,
  "language": "fr"
}

3. Fast bulk scraping (no phone/website):

{
  "searchTerms": ["hotel", "restaurant", "shop"],
  "location": "Nice, France",
  "maxCrawledPlacesPerSearch": 100,
  "includeDetails": false
}

📋 Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
searchTerms	Array[String]	✅	["restaurant"]	List of search terms (e.g., "restaurant", "hotel", "pharmacy")
location	String	✅	"Paris"	Target location (city, region, country)
maxCrawledPlacesPerSearch	Number	❌	20	Maximum results per search term
language	String	❌	"fr"	Language code (fr, en, es, de, it, etc.)
includeDetails	Boolean	❌	false	Collect phone numbers and websites (slower but more complete)
proxyConfiguration	Object	❌	null	Proxy settings for reliable scraping

🔧 Parameter Details

• searchTerms: Can include business types, services, or specific names
• location: Be specific for better results (e.g., "Paris 15ème" vs "Paris")
• includeDetails:
  • false: Fast scraping, basic info only
  • true: Complete data with phone & website (2-3x slower)
• language: Affects Google Maps interface language and result formatting

📊 Output Data Structure

Each scraped place contains:

{
  "Place name": "Le Petit Bistrot",
  "Total Score": 4.5,
  "Reviews Count": 123,
  "Street": "15 Rue de la Paix",
  "City": "Paris",
  "Country Code": "FR",
  "Website": "https://lepetitbistrot.fr",
  "Phone": "+33 1 42 86 17 20",
  "Category Name": "Restaurant français",
  "URL": "https://www.google.com/maps/place/...",
  "Place ID": "ChIJN1t_tDeuEmsRUsoyG83frY4",
  "Search Term": "restaurant",
  "Address": "15 Rue de la Paix, 75002 Paris"
}

📈 Data Quality

• Place ID: 95%+ success rate (unique Google identifier)
• Basic info: 99%+ (name, address, rating, category)
• Phone numbers: 60-80% when includeDetails: true
• Websites: 40-60% when includeDetails: true

🛠️ Advanced Usage

API Integration

// Using Apify API
const { ApifyApi } = require('apify-client');

const client = new ApifyApi({
    token: 'YOUR_API_TOKEN'
});

const input = {
    searchTerms: ['restaurant', 'café'],
    location: 'Toulouse, France',
    maxCrawledPlacesPerSearch: 50,
    includeDetails: true,
    language: 'fr'
};

const run = await client.actor('your-actor-id').call(input);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();

Bulk Processing

For large-scale scraping:

1. Set includeDetails: false for initial data collection
2. Use extracted Place ID for detailed information via Google Places API
3. Process multiple locations in parallel runs

🎯 Best Practices

Performance Optimization

• Fast mode: Use includeDetails: false for quick data collection
• Batch processing: Group similar search terms together
• Location specificity: Use precise locations for better targeting

Rate Limiting

• Built-in delays between requests
• Automatic retry mechanism
• Proxy rotation support

Data Quality

• Duplicate detection by business name
• Address standardization
• Rating and review count validation

🔍 Use Cases

🏢 Business Intelligence

• Market research and competitor analysis
• Local business directory creation
• Lead generation for B2B services

📊 Data Analysis

• Restaurant rating analysis by location
• Business density mapping
• Market penetration studies

🎯 Marketing

• Local SEO competitor research
• Advertising target identification
• Market opportunity assessment

📁 Output Formats

Dataset Items

Each result is pushed to Apify dataset as JSON object

Excel Export

• Automatic Excel file generation (results.xlsx)
• Organized columns with proper formatting
• Ready for analysis in spreadsheet software

CSV Export

• Available through Apify platform
• Compatible with most data analysis tools

⚡ Performance Metrics

Metric	Value
Speed (basic)	~50-100 places/minute
Speed (detailed)	~20-30 places/minute
Success Rate	95%+
Memory Usage	~200MB average
Timeout	30 minutes max

🛡️ Reliability Features

• Smart scrolling: Stops when no new results are found
• Error handling: Continues on individual place failures
• Browser management: Automatic restart on crashes
• Proxy support: Reduces blocking and improves reliability

🌍 Global Coverage

Works worldwide with local Google Maps versions:

• 🇫🇷 France (google.fr)
• 🇺🇸 United States (google.com)
• 🇬🇧 United Kingdom (google.co.uk)
• 🇩🇪 Germany (google.de)
• 🇪🇸 Spain (google.es)
• 🇮🇹 Italy (google.it)
• And 190+ other countries

🔧 Technical Details

Built With

• Playwright: Modern browser automation
• Apify SDK: Scalable web scraping platform
• Pandas: Data processing and Excel export
• Smart algorithms: Intelligent result detection

Browser Configuration

• Stealth mode to avoid detection
• Optimized for Google Maps
• Mobile and desktop compatibility
• Custom headers and user agents

📞 Support & Updates

• 🐛 Bug reports: Use GitHub issues or Apify support
• 🔄 Updates: Regular improvements and new features
• 📚 Documentation: Always up-to-date with latest changes
• 💬 Community: Active support in Apify Discord
• 📬 Contact: franck.friard@backboneagency.fr

📄 License & Fair Use

This scraper is designed for legitimate business intelligence and research purposes. Please:

• Respect robots.txt and terms of service
• Use reasonable request rates
• Consider Google Places API for commercial applications
• Ensure compliance with local data protection laws

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Made with ❤️ for the Apify community

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