# Google Maps Review Scraper (`michikatsu/gmaps-review-scraper`) Actor

Scrape Google Maps reviews for any place by CID or Maps URL — no fixed store list required. Each review (reviewer, rating, text, date, owner reply) is pushed as a clean dataset row, ready for ETL, sentiment analysis, or reporting pipelines.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/michikatsu/gmaps-review-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Touma](https://apify.com/michikatsu) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per usage

This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-usage

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Google Maps Review Scraper

Scrapes Google Maps reviews for any list of places (via `cid` and/or a raw
Maps URL), optionally filtered to a specific month/year. No bundled store
list -- pass whatever places you want at run time.

### Input

| field | required | notes |
|---|---|---|
| `targets` | one of `targets`/`targetsCsv` | JSON array of `{name, cid, mapsUrl}` -- only `cid` or `mapsUrl` is required per item |
| `targetsCsv` | one of `targets`/`targetsCsv` | CSV text, columns `name,cid,mapsUrl` |
| `month` | no | 1-12. **Omit for ALL reviews, any date.** |
| `year` | no | paired with `month`; defaults to 2026 if `month` is set and this isn't |
| `maxReviewsPerPlace` | no | cap per place; omit for no cap |
| `workers` | no | concurrency, default 6 |
| `limit` | no | only process the first N targets (testing) |

### Example run -- specific month, one place

```json
{
  "targets": [
    {"name": "Bata Shoe Store - Esplanade, Kolkata", "cid": "1886281027832551729"}
  ],
  "month": 7,
  "year": 2026
}
```

### Example run -- ALL reviews (no date filter), multiple places by URL

```json
{
  "targets": [
    {"name": "Store A", "mapsUrl": "https://www.google.com/maps/place/.../@..."},
    {"name": "Store B", "cid": "5850262627799758060"}
  ],
  "workers": 8
}
```

### Example run -- bulk via CSV

```json
{
  "targetsCsv": "name,cid,mapsUrl\nStore A,1886281027832551729,\nStore B,,https://www.google.com/maps/place/...",
  "month": 7,
  "year": 2026,
  "workers": 10
}
```

### Output

Each row pushed to the actor's default dataset is one review:
`name`, `cid`, `mapsUrl` (from the input target) plus the review fields --
`review_id`, `reviewer_name`, `rating`, `review_text`, `review_date_iso`,
`owner_reply_text`, etc. (see `botguard_lib.parse_review` for the full
field list). Pull it from the dataset via the Apify API/export the same
way any other actor's output is consumed.

### Notes

- Occasional per-place failures are retried automatically (up to 3
  attempts) before being logged.
- `workers` above ~8-10 increases the chance of rate limiting -- start
  conservative and raise it once you've confirmed a run stays stable.

# Actor input Schema

## `targets` (type: `array`):

List of places. Each item needs at least one of 'cid' (numeric Google place cid) or 'mapsUrl' (any google.com/maps/place/... link). 'name' is optional, just used to tag output rows.

## `targetsCsv` (type: `string`):

Alternative bulk input: CSV text with columns name,cid,mapsUrl (header row required). Only cid or mapsUrl is required per row. Merged with 'targets' if both are given.

## `month` (type: `integer`):

1-12. Leave EMPTY to fetch ALL reviews regardless of date. Set this (and optionally year) to keep only reviews from that month.

## `year` (type: `integer`):

Paired with 'month'. Ignored if 'month' is empty. Defaults to 2026 if 'month' is set but this is left empty.

## `maxReviewsPerPlace` (type: `integer`):

Stop paginating a place once this many matching reviews are collected. Leave empty for no cap (pages until Google runs out or a 50-page safety limit is hit).

## `workers` (type: `integer`):

Higher = faster but more likely to trip Google's rate limiting

## `limit` (type: `integer`):

Only process the first N targets -- leave empty for a full run

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "targets": [
    {
      "name": "Bata Shoe Store - Esplanade, Kolkata",
      "cid": "1886281027832551729"
    },
    {
      "name": "Bata Shoe Store - Kankaria Estates, Kolkata",
      "mapsUrl": "https://www.google.com/maps/place/?q=place_id:ChIJuVoHzwR3AjoR7HS_LN1OMFE"
    }
  ],
  "workers": 6
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `reviews` (type: `string`):

Every scraped review as a dataset item.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "targets": [
        {
            "name": "Bata Shoe Store - Esplanade, Kolkata",
            "cid": "1886281027832551729"
        },
        {
            "name": "Bata Shoe Store - Kankaria Estates, Kolkata",
            "mapsUrl": "https://www.google.com/maps/place/?q=place_id:ChIJuVoHzwR3AjoR7HS_LN1OMFE"
        }
    ],
    "workers": 6
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("michikatsu/gmaps-review-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "targets": [
        {
            "name": "Bata Shoe Store - Esplanade, Kolkata",
            "cid": "1886281027832551729",
        },
        {
            "name": "Bata Shoe Store - Kankaria Estates, Kolkata",
            "mapsUrl": "https://www.google.com/maps/place/?q=place_id:ChIJuVoHzwR3AjoR7HS_LN1OMFE",
        },
    ],
    "workers": 6,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("michikatsu/gmaps-review-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "targets": [
    {
      "name": "Bata Shoe Store - Esplanade, Kolkata",
      "cid": "1886281027832551729"
    },
    {
      "name": "Bata Shoe Store - Kankaria Estates, Kolkata",
      "mapsUrl": "https://www.google.com/maps/place/?q=place_id:ChIJuVoHzwR3AjoR7HS_LN1OMFE"
    }
  ],
  "workers": 6
}' |
apify call michikatsu/gmaps-review-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,michikatsu/gmaps-review-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/U39OfV4ok4NYkN28R/builds/QANey4LXI0hmVexzY/openapi.json