Google Maps Lead Monitor - Stateful Lead Generation with Change Detection

Monitor local markets. Detect new and updated listings. Prioritize outreach automatically.

Turn Google Maps into a recurring lead feed - without duplicates.

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What is the Google Maps Lead Monitor?

Google Maps Lead Monitor is an Apify Actor that extracts Google Maps business listings and (optionally) enriches them with contact data for outreach.

The key difference: it's stateful. It remembers what it has already seen - and only outputs what changed. Built for recurring lead monitoring, not one-time scraping.

What you get (first screen)

• Finds businesses + phone + website from Google Maps
• Attempts to find public contact channels (emails + contact forms) from business websites (best-effort)
• Runs on a schedule (weekly/daily) and outputs only new/updated listings (incremental mode)
• Exports as CSV/Excel for outreach
• Includes leadPriority (1-5) and opportunityScore (0-7) for prioritization

Sample row: leadPriority: 4 | opportunityScore: 6 | title: "Joe's Pizza" | primaryEmail: "hello@joespizza.com" | phone: "+1 212-555-0100" | bestContact: "email" | changeType: "new"

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Quickstart (30 seconds)

Mode A - First run (baseline)

Use the first time you scrape an area, or when you want a full list from scratch.

{
  "searchQueries": ["restaurant"],
  "location": "Berlin",
  "maxPlaces": 50,
  "leadMode": true,
  "runMode": "fresh",
  "resetState": true,
  "useProxy": true
}

Mode B - Recurring monitor (only new/updated)

Use for recurring runs so you only get new or updated leads.

{
  "searchQueries": ["restaurant"],
  "location": "Berlin",
  "maxPlaces": 200,
  "leadMode": true,
  "runMode": "incremental",
  "detectUpdates": true,
  "useProxy": true
}

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Who is this for?

• Lead generation agencies
• Local SEO consultants
• Sales teams monitoring new and updated local businesses
• Market intelligence & competitor tracking
• n8n / automation builders who need structured place data

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Why not just use a regular Google Maps scraper?

Most Google Maps scrapers are built for one-time extraction. This one is built for monitoring.

Regular scrapers:

• Return the same places every run
• Create duplicate rows
• Waste compute on already-seen listings

Google Maps Lead Monitor:

• Remembers previous runs
• Outputs only new/updated listings
• Designed for recurring monitoring workflows

Example: Weekly restaurant monitoring

• Week 1: 180 restaurants scraped -> baseline created
• Week 2: 12 new listings -> output = 12 rows
• Week 3: 7 new + 3 updated -> output = 10 rows

No duplicates. No manual filtering.

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What makes this different

• Lead scoring built-in - leadPriority, opportunityScore, and opportunityReason so you can sort and filter the best leads first.
• Incremental mode - only new and changed places are output; no duplicate rows across runs.
• Enrichment - attempts to find public contact channels (emails + contact forms) from business websites (best-effort).

Scores are based on signals like missing website/phone, high rating with low reviews, and other outreach-friendly patterns.

Built for agencies and automation workflows that run weekly or daily.

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Typical workflow

1. Run on a schedule in incremental mode.
2. Sort by leadPriority -> filter primaryEmail not empty (or hasContactForm=true).
3. Export CSV -> send to your CRM / n8n outreach workflow.

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Recommended dataset columns (CRM-style)

For the best experience in the Apify dataset table, pin these columns in the default dataset view:

leadPriority, opportunityScore, title, categoryName, rating, reviewsCount, primaryEmail, phone, bestContact, hasContactForm, website, city, state, changeType, scrapedAt

Tip: Sort by leadPriority desc -> filter where primaryEmail is not empty -> export CSV and start outreach.

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Key features

Stateful scraping & efficiency

Feature	Description
Smart state	Stores seen places in Apify Key-Value Store; skip duplicates across runs.
Incremental mode	Output only new and updated places; never charged for skipped duplicates.
Change detection	Compare key fields (rating, phone, website, etc.) to detect updates.
Caching	Optional in-run cache to avoid re-processing unchanged data.
Streaming	Optional real-time streaming of results as they are collected.

Scraping & reliability

Feature	Description
Playwright (Chromium)	Full JavaScript rendering for Google Maps search and place pages.
Consent handling	Automatically accepts consent dialogs (EN, DE, FR, ES, IT).
Proxy support	Use Apify Proxy to reduce blocks and consent redirects (useProxy: true).
Navigation timeout	Configurable navigationTimeout (seconds); increase if pages load slowly.
Page detection	Detects consent/captcha/blocked pages and logs clear warnings.
Rate limiting	Modes: adaptive, conservative, moderate, aggressive.

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Data you get

From search results:

• title, address, rating, reviewsCount, categoryName, price, url, placeId

With place details on (leadMode: true or includePlaceDetails: true):

• phone, website, coordinates, openingHours

With contacts enrichment (includeContacts: true):

• Attempts to find public emails and contact forms from the business website (best-effort)

Optional extras:

• Reviews (includeReviews: true, requires place details): review text, author, date, rating -> datasets: reviews, reviews-flat
• Images (includeImages: true): optional image extraction

Download as JSON, CSV, or Excel from the run's Storage tab.

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How it works

When place details are off (list-only):

• The actor opens each search URL, scrolls the results, extracts list cards, and pushes one row per place.

When place details are on (leadMode or includePlaceDetails: true):

• It uses a two-phase crawl:

  • LIST - extract places from search and enqueue each as a DETAIL request (uniqueKey = placeId)
  • DETAIL - open each place URL, extract phone/website/openingHours, merge with list data, push one merged row per place

The queue drains with no idle wait; run log shows detailPagesEnqueued, detailPagesSuccess, detailPagesFailed and requestsTotal = 1 + DETAIL count.

Use detailsConcurrency (default 2) and maxDetailsToFetch (default = maxPlaces) to limit parallel detail fetches and avoid CPU overload.

Run modes

Fresh mode (runMode: "fresh"):

• Full scan; output all places; update state.

Incremental mode (runMode: "incremental"):

• Skip already-seen places; output only new/updated; charge only for written items.

Run 1 (fresh):        Scrape -> store state -> output all
Run 2 (incremental):  Scrape -> compare to state -> output new/updated only

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How to use

1. Open the Actor on Apify Store -> Input tab.
2. Paste one of the Quickstart inputs above (Mode A or B), or set searchQueries, location, maxPlaces, leadMode: true, useProxy: true.
3. Click Start. Results go to the run's default dataset.
4. Open Storage -> Datasets -> default -> sort by leadPriority desc, filter primaryEmail not empty if you want email leads -> export CSV or Excel.

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Cost

Apify bills by compute (time and resources used per run), not by number of rows.

Incremental mode reduces compute by skipping duplicates and outputting only new/updated places. This actor does not add any extra per-row fees.

Use maxPlaces and navigationTimeout to keep runs predictable.

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Input options

Full schema: .actor/input_schema.json. Below is a reference of the main options, grouped for clarity.

Search & location

Option	Type	Default	Description
searchQueries	array of strings	["restaurant"]	Search terms (e.g. ["restaurant", "cafe"]).
location	string	-	Location string (e.g. "New York, NY").
categories	array of strings	-	Google Maps categories to filter results.
customGeolocation	object	-	Custom area: Polygon, MultiPolygon, or Point with coordinates.
placeIds	array of strings	-	Google Maps Place IDs to scrape directly (no search).
placeUrls	array of strings	-	Full Google Maps place URLs to scrape directly.
targetCategory	string	-	Optional. When set, places whose category contains this text get +1 on opportunityScore.

Lead mode & data

Option	Type	Default	Description
leadMode	boolean	true	One toggle: enables includePlaceDetails, includeContacts, includeEnrichment and keeps includeReviews off.
includePlaceDetails	boolean	false (or from leadMode)	Two-phase crawl: LIST then DETAIL. Extract phone/website/openingHours and merge into output.
includeContacts	boolean	false (or from leadMode)	Enrich with contact info from the website (best-effort).
includeReviews	boolean	false	Extract reviews; requires includePlaceDetails: true. Off by default to save cost.
detailsConcurrency	integer	2	When place details are on: max concurrent detail-page requests.
maxDetailsToFetch	integer	= maxPlaces	When place details are on: cap how many place detail pages to fetch.

Limits

Option	Type	Default	Description
maxPlaces	integer	100	Stop after this many valid places (1-100000).
maxResults	integer	100	Alias for maxPlaces; if both set, the lower value is used.
maxCrawledPlacesPerSearch	integer	-	Cap places crawled per search query (optional).

Data & enrichment

Option	Type	Default	Description
includeImages	boolean	false	Extract images for each place.
includeEnrichment	boolean	false	Enable additional data enrichment.
includeReviewerNames	boolean	true	If false, reviewer names are omitted/anonymized (reviews views).
minimalLogging	boolean	false	Avoid logging place titles/addresses/URLs at info level (privacy-friendly).

Performance & reliability

Option	Type	Default	Description
navigationTimeout	integer	90	Max seconds to wait for a Google Maps page to load (10-300).
useProxy	boolean	false	Use Apify Proxy; recommended to reduce blocks/consent pages.
maxConcurrency	integer	10	Max concurrent requests (1-50).
rateLimit	string	"adaptive"	adaptive, conservative, moderate, aggressive.
enableCaching	boolean	true	Enable in-run caching to avoid re-processing unchanged data.
streamResults	boolean	false	Stream results to the dataset in real time.

State & incremental mode

Option	Type	Default	Description
runMode	string	"fresh"	"fresh" = full scan; "incremental" = output only new/updated.
stateKey	string	"places-state"	KVS key where the actor stores seen places between runs.
resetState	boolean	false	Clear stored state before running (fresh baseline).
dedupeStrategy	string	"placeId"	placeId or a hash of key fields.
detectUpdates	boolean	true	In incremental mode, emit places whose key fields changed as updated.
updateFields	array of strings	see code	Fields used to detect updates (default: title, address, rating, reviewsCount, phone, website, categoryName, openingHours).

Export & output

Option	Type	Default	Description
exportFormat	string	"json"	json, csv, or excel.
compressOutput	boolean	false	Compress output files.
saveSearchResults	boolean	false	Save all extracted list items to dataset search-results for follow-up runs.

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n8n integration

This actor works with the Apify integration for n8n. Install the Apify community node (@apify/n8n-nodes-apify), add credentials, then use Run Actor.

Workflow shape

• Trigger: Webhook / Schedule / Manual
• Apify: Run Actor (this actor)
• Optional: Get Dataset Items to process results (use defaultDatasetId)

Canonical input (Apify Console style)

{
  "searchQueries": ["restaurant"],
  "location": "New York, NY",
  "maxPlaces": 20,
  "useProxy": true
}

n8n-style input (short keys)

{
  "query": "restaurants",
  "city": "Berlin",
  "limit": 20,
  "workflowId": "{{ $workflow.id }}",
  "executionId": "{{ $execution.id }}",
  "nodeName": "Run Actor"
}

The actor maps:

• query -> searchQueries
• city -> location
• limit -> maxPlaces

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OpenClaw integration (optional)

Send scraped places to an OpenClaw gateway so an agent can use the data. Uses bounded concurrency so outbound calls don't block scraping.

Option	Type	Default	Description
openClaw.enabled	boolean	false	Enable sending places to OpenClaw.
openClaw.gatewayUrl	string	-	OpenClaw gateway base URL.
openClaw.token	string	-	Bearer token; prefer env OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN.
openClaw.agentId	string	"main"	Target agent id header.
openClaw.concurrency	integer	5	Max concurrent outbound requests (1-20).
openClaw.sendMode	string	"perPlace"	perPlace or batch.
openClaw.batchSize	integer	10	Places per batch if sendMode is batch.
openClaw.api	string	"responses"	responses or chatCompletions.

Example:

{
  "searchQueries": ["cafe"],
  "location": "Berlin",
  "maxPlaces": 20,
  "openClaw": {
    "enabled": true,
    "gatewayUrl": "https://gateway.example.com:18789",
    "agentId": "main",
    "concurrency": 5,
    "sendMode": "perPlace",
    "api": "responses"
  }
}

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Usage recommendations

• Use Apify Proxy: set useProxy: true to reduce consent pages, blocks, and bot detection.
• Navigation timeout: if you see "Navigation timed out", increase navigationTimeout (e.g. 120-180).
• Memory: Playwright needs headroom; use 2-4 GB for larger runs.
• Incremental runs: use runMode: "incremental" for monitoring so you only pay for new/updated places.

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Example inputs

Basic search (proxy + higher timeout):

{
  "searchQueries": ["restaurant", "cafe"],
  "location": "New York, NY",
  "maxResults": 50,
  "useProxy": true,
  "navigationTimeout": 120
}

Incremental run (only new/updated):

{
  "searchQueries": ["plumber"],
  "location": "London, UK",
  "maxPlaces": 200,
  "runMode": "incremental",
  "useProxy": true
}

Scrape by place URLs:

{
  "placeUrls": ["https://www.google.com/maps/place/My+Business/..."],
  "includePlaceDetails": true,
  "navigationTimeout": 90
}

Custom geolocation (polygon):

{
  "searchQueries": ["restaurant"],
  "customGeolocation": {
    "type": "Polygon",
    "coordinates": [[
      [-0.322813, 51.597165],
      [-0.31499, 51.388023],
      [0.060493, 51.389199],
      [0.051936, 51.60036],
      [-0.322813, 51.597165]
    ]]
  }
}

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Output

Results are stored in the default dataset (one object per place). Download as JSON, CSV, or Excel from the run's Storage tab.

Example JSON

[
  {
    "title": "Joe's Pizza",
    "address": "123 Main St, New York, NY 10001",
    "phone": "+1 212-555-0100",
    "website": "https://joespizza.com",
    "rating": 4.5,
    "reviewsCount": 72,
    "categoryName": "Pizza restaurant",
    "price": "$$",
    "url": "https://www.google.com/maps/place/Joes+Pizza/...",
    "placeId": "ChIJ...",
    "scrapedAt": "2026-02-23T14:30:00.000Z",
    "changeType": "new",
    "opportunityScore": 6,
    "opportunityReason": ["no_website", "high_rating", "low_reviews"]
  }
]

Dataset views (when enabled)

Dataset	When	Contents
default	always	Places (one row per place)
reviews	includeReviews	One row per review (full fields)
reviews-flat	includeReviews	Flat review rows for CSV/automation
place-details	includePlaceDetails	Flattened place detail rows
list-vs-detail-mismatch	includePlaceDetails	Places where list differs from detail page
changes	incremental run	New/updated places (optional view)

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Data & privacy

This actor may collect data that qualifies as personal data under GDPR and similar laws, including:

• Place/business data: addresses, phone numbers, websites, business names
• Review data (when includeReviews: true): reviewer names, review text, review URLs, reviewer photos

You should have a legitimate purpose for processing this data and comply with GDPR, Google's Terms of Service, and any other applicable law. Limit retention and access (e.g. via Apify retention settings and downstream controls). Enabling reviews or contacts increases the amount of personal data collected; use includeReviewerNames: false for more privacy-friendly output.

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Development

• Node.js 20+ required.
• Setup: npm install then npx playwright install chromium
• Local test: npm run test:local [input-file.json]
• Scripts: npm start (Apify), npm test, npm run lint

See FEATURES.md for architecture and technical details.

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FAQ

Is it legal to scrape Google Maps?

This actor extracts publicly visible data from Google Maps (business names, addresses, ratings, etc.). You are responsible for complying with Google's Terms of Service, GDPR, and other applicable laws. Do not scrape personal data without a legitimate purpose.

Why am I seeing "Navigation timed out"?

Google Maps can be slow to load. Increase navigationTimeout (e.g. 90-180 seconds) and ensure the run has enough memory (2-4 GB). Using useProxy: true can also improve reliability.

Where do I get reviews data?

Enable includePlaceDetails: true and includeReviews: true. Reviews appear in the reviews and reviews-flat datasets for that run (Storage -> Datasets).

Support and feedback

• Use the Issues tab on the Actor Store page (or repository) for bugs and feature requests.
• You can run this actor via the Apify API, schedule it, and connect results to Zapier/Make/n8n.
• For custom scraping needs or enterprise use, contact the maintainer via the Actor Store page.

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License

Apache-2.0