Hotfrog Email Scraper

Hotfrog Email Scraper

Read this before you run anything. Hotfrog blocks most of its listing pages from search engines, so the Hotfrog Email Scraper often returns nothing at all - our own measured Google run came back with zero result blocks.

That is not a defect in the Actor. It is a property of how Hotfrog exposes its directory to search engines, and no Google-based tool can read pages that Google is not allowed to index.

If you need local business emails today, use the Brownbook Email Scraper, the Cylex Email Scraper or the Fyple Email Scraper instead. They cover the same local-directory ground far better.

Why the Hotfrog Email Scraper still exists

Indexing policies change. Directories loosen and tighten their crawl rules over time, and a domain that returns nothing this quarter can open up next quarter.

The Hotfrog Email Scraper is kept published and maintained so that if Hotfrog's index reopens, you already have a configured Actor pointed at it. Running it costs very little precisely because there is so little to fetch.

It is also useful as a control. If you are benchmarking directory coverage across a market, a zero from the Hotfrog Email Scraper is a real data point about that directory's visibility.

What the Hotfrog Email Scraper does

The Hotfrog Email Scraper builds Google queries with the site: operator against hotfrog.com. It parses each returned result block structurally, locating the <h3> title and the smallest surrounding block.

A domain-filtered regex extracts emails from that block text. Matches are normalised, deduplicated globally and written to your Apify dataset immediately.

The Hotfrog Email Scraper never logs into Hotfrog, never uses a Hotfrog API and never opens the Hotfrog website. There is no browser, no JavaScript rendering, no authentication and no cookies - which is also why it cannot route around Hotfrog's crawl restrictions.

Features of the Hotfrog Email Scraper

Every capability below is implemented in the Hotfrog Email Scraper and applies to any results Google does return.

Feature	What it means in practice
Google site: search over hotfrog.com	Targets whatever Hotfrog pages Google has indexed
Query expansion	Base, quoted and intitle: variants plus one query per modifier; base queries run first
Domain filtering	Only emails ending in your customDomains values are kept
Global deduplication	Each email is emitted once per run across every query and page
Email normalisation	Handles name [at] domain [dot] com, name (at) domain, name @ domain.com, domain .com, zero-width characters and the full-width ＠
Junk filter	Rejects email@, yourname@, test@, xxx@ and single-character locals
Boundary-correct matching	@gmail.com does not match inside @gmail.company or @gmail.com.br
Soft-wrap repair	Drops a hit that is only the tail of another email in the same block
Structural block parsing	Works from the <h3> title, not Google's CSS class names
Whole-page fallback parser	A markup change degrades to "emails without account details", not "no emails"
Concurrency control	asyncio worker pool with a shared stop signal on maxEmails
Retries and block detection	Up to 3 attempts per page, exponential backoff, fresh proxy session per request, CAPTCHA and consent pages detected and retried
Failed-query requeue	Blocked or failed queries are retried once at the end of the run
Resumable state	Key-value store state keyed by an input hash, saved on PERSIST_STATE, MIGRATING and ABORTING
Run summary logging	Pages fetched, blocked pages, retries and emails per page

Note the distinction the run log makes. A blocked page is retried; an empty index simply produces no blocks, which is what the Hotfrog Email Scraper typically encounters.

How the Hotfrog Email Scraper works

A run of the Hotfrog Email Scraper follows six steps, whether or not it finds anything.

1. Read your input: keywords, location, email domains and limits.
2. Build queries such as site:hotfrog.com electrician "@gmail.com" "Manchester".
3. Fetch Google result pages through the Apify GOOGLE_SERP proxy using async aiohttp.
4. Parse each result block structurally to isolate title, business label and snippet.
5. Extract and normalise emails with a domain-filtered regex.
6. Deduplicate globally and push each lead to the dataset immediately.

Steps 4 through 6 only do work when step 3 returns indexed listing pages. On Hotfrog they usually have nothing to chew on, which is why the Hotfrog Email Scraper so often finishes with an empty dataset.

Input fields for the Hotfrog Email Scraper

These are the exact inputs the Hotfrog Email Scraper accepts, with its shipped defaults.

Field	Type	Default	Meaning
keywords	array (required)	["small business", "services"]	Search terms describing the businesses you want
location	string	""	Optional location phrase added to every query
customDomains	array	["@gmail.com", "@yahoo.com"]	Only emails on these domains are kept; @ optional
maxEmails	integer 1-10000	20	Stop after this many unique emails
countryCode	string	""	Two-letter country for the search proxy (US, GB, DE...)
expandQueries	boolean	true	Search each keyword x domain pair in several phrasings
queryModifiers	array	["email", "contact", "enquiries", "owner", "get a quote"]	Extra words combined with each keyword when expansion is on
maxPagesPerQuery	integer 1-50	30	Page cap per query
maxConcurrency	integer 1-20	5	Parallel queries

Example input for the Hotfrog Email Scraper

{
  "keywords": ["electrician", "removals", "commercial cleaning"],
  "location": "Manchester",
  "customDomains": ["@gmail.com", "@yahoo.co.uk", "@hotmail.co.uk"],
  "maxEmails": 100,
  "countryCode": "GB",
  "expandQueries": true,
  "queryModifiers": ["email", "contact", "enquiries"],
  "maxPagesPerQuery": 30,
  "maxConcurrency": 5
}

Location and country settings in the Hotfrog Email Scraper

Hotfrog operates in the US, UK, Australia and parts of Europe, so in principle location and countryCode should be your main levers. In practice the index restriction limits what either can do.

If you want to test whether coverage has reopened, try a large market first. "Manchester", "Birmingham", "Sydney", "Melbourne", "Phoenix" and "Auckland" are reasonable probes.

Set countryCode to match: GB, AU, US or NZ. A matching vantage point gives the Hotfrog Email Scraper its best chance of seeing whatever regional pages are indexed.

If several probes return nothing, stop the Hotfrog Email Scraper and switch Actors rather than burning compute on more permutations.

There is no keyword, domain list or location that makes the Hotfrog Email Scraper read pages Google was never allowed to index.

Output fields from the Hotfrog Email Scraper

When the Hotfrog Email Scraper does find a row, that row carries all fourteen fields below.

Field	Meaning
network	Platform name
keyword	The keyword that produced the lead
query	The exact Google query used
title	Raw result title
accountName	Account label Google prints
fullName	Display name parsed from a profile-style title; empty for post captions
username	URL-safe handle when the platform exposes one; otherwise null
profileUrl	Canonical account URL when a handle is known; otherwise empty
url	Direct platform link when exposed, else the profile URL
description	Bio snippet, cleaned of labels and engagement counters
email	Lower-cased email address
emailDomain	The matched domain
possiblyTruncated	true when Google's snippet ellipsis touched the email
foundAt	ISO 8601 UTC timestamp

Example output from the Hotfrog Email Scraper

This is the shape of a row on the rare occasions the Hotfrog Email Scraper finds one. Most runs return an empty dataset.

[
  {
    "network": "Hotfrog",
    "keyword": "electrician",
    "query": "site:hotfrog.com electrician \"@gmail.com\" \"Manchester\"",
    "title": "Northgate Electrical Services - Hotfrog",
    "accountName": "Northgate Electrical Services",
    "fullName": "Northgate Electrical Services",
    "username": null,
    "profileUrl": "",
    "url": "",
    "description": "Domestic and commercial electrical contractor covering Greater Manchester. Enquiries northgate.elec@gmail.com",
    "email": "northgate.elec@gmail.com",
    "emailDomain": "@gmail.com",
    "possiblyTruncated": false,
    "foundAt": "2026-08-31T13:41:02.775Z"
  }
]

Use cases for the Hotfrog Email Scraper

Be realistic. These are the situations where running the Hotfrog Email Scraper is a sensible use of time.

Use case	Who runs it	Typical setup
Index-availability probe	Data engineer	One keyword, one city, maxEmails: 20
Directory coverage benchmark	Market researcher	Same keyword run across several sibling directory Actors
Long-tail sweep after a policy change	Growth team	Re-run quarterly to see whether coverage reopened
Completeness check on an existing list	RevOps team	Confirm nothing unique sits on Hotfrog
Multi-source local lead build	Local marketing agency	Run Brownbook and Cylex first; add this as a tail
Cheap regression test	Developer	Verify Actor configuration and proxy setup end to end

For a real local lead-generation programme, the Brownbook, Cylex and Fyple Actors do the work this one cannot.

Realistic expectations from the Hotfrog Email Scraper

Our measured Google run of the Hotfrog Email Scraper returned zero result blocks, zero identified businesses and zero emails. Comparable runs on Brownbook returned 9 blocks and 9 unique emails; N49 and Fyple both returned 10 and 10.

So the honest answer to "how many results should I expect" is: quite possibly none. Budget your time accordingly.

Widening customDomains, adding keywords or changing location will not overcome an index restriction. Those levers help on directories Google is allowed to crawl.

Responsible use, GDPR and CAN-SPAM

If the Hotfrog Email Scraper does return rows, they contain only addresses published on a public listing. Sending obligations still sit with you, and this is guidance rather than legal advice.

CAN-SPAM requires accurate headers, an honest subject line, a physical postal address and a working opt-out honoured promptly. GDPR and UK GDPR require a lawful basis, a privacy notice and a route to erasure - directly relevant given Hotfrog's UK and European footprint.

A sole trader's firstname@gmail.com is personal data even when published for business reasons. Suppress opt-outs, record provenance, and do not resell the raw dataset.

Limitations of the Hotfrog Email Scraper

The first bullet is the one that matters most when evaluating the Hotfrog Email Scraper.

• Hotfrog blocks most of its listing pages from search engines, so this Actor often returns nothing. This is the dominant limitation and the reason to prefer the Brownbook, Cylex and Fyple Actors for local-directory coverage.
• Only finds businesses whose email is publicly visible in Google's index.
• Google caps a single query at roughly 300 results, which is why query expansion exists.
• possiblyTruncated: true means Google's snippet ellipsis touched the address - verify before sending.
• username and profileUrl are populated only when Google's result exposes a handle. Rows without one still carry accountName, fullName and the email. This is a Google limitation, not a bug.
• Requires the Apify GOOGLE_SERP proxy; the Hotfrog Email Scraper cannot run without Apify proxy credentials.
• Free Apify plans are capped at 100 emails per run; paid plans are uncapped.
• Results vary with keywords, domains and location, and no volume is guaranteed.

Hotfrog Email Scraper FAQ

How many results should I expect from the Hotfrog Email Scraper?

Very likely zero. Hotfrog blocks most of its listing pages from search engines, and our measured run returned nothing. Treat any row you do get as a bonus.

Is the Actor broken?

No. The Hotfrog Email Scraper reads publicly indexed Google results, and Hotfrog restricts what Google may index. An empty dataset is the correct outcome, not a failure.

What should I run instead?

The Brownbook Email Scraper, Cylex Email Scraper and Fyple Email Scraper cover the same local-directory ground and returned 9 to 10 blocks each in our measured runs.

Would a browser-based scraper do better?

Possibly, but that is not what this Actor is. The Hotfrog Email Scraper deliberately uses only publicly indexed search results - no browser, no login, no API.

Can changing keywords fix the yield?

No. Keyword changes cannot make Google index pages it is not permitted to crawl.

Does countryCode help?

It aligns the search vantage point with Hotfrog's regional sites, which is worth trying once. It will not overcome the index restriction.

Why keep it published?

Because indexing policies change. If Hotfrog reopens its listings, the Hotfrog Email Scraper is already configured and ready.

Do I still need Apify proxy credentials?

Yes. The Hotfrog Email Scraper runs on the Apify GOOGLE_SERP proxy and cannot operate without it, even when the run returns nothing.

Will an empty run still cost compute?

It costs very little, since there are few pages to fetch. That is why using it as a periodic probe is inexpensive.

Does the free plan matter here?

Rarely. The free plan's 100-email run cap is almost never the binding constraint on the Hotfrog Email Scraper.

What do the output rows look like if I do get some?

Exactly the fourteen fields listed above, with username typically null and profileUrl empty.

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Thomasnet Email Scraper	Public contact emails from Thomasnet
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Tupalo Email Scraper	Public contact emails from Tupalo
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Angi Email and Phone Number Scraper	Emails and phone numbers from Angi
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Brownbook Email and Phone Number Scraper	Emails and phone numbers from Brownbook

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