Google Maps Search & Directions Scraper

Extract Google Maps places data + calculate routes with live traffic — in a single lightweight Actor run.

Pure HTTP · No Browser · 256 MB RAM · Sub-second per query · Pay-Per-Result

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🗺️ Why this Actor?

Feature	What you get
Dual-Mode Operation	Extract places and calculate routes in one unified run — no glue code, no webhook juggling
Zero Browser Overhead	Pure HTTP requests to Google Maps internal JSON endpoints — no Playwright, no Chrome, no 4GB RAM penalty
Ultra-Low Compute Cost	~0.002 CU per 1,000 places vs 0.5–2.0 CU for browser-based scrapers — 50× cheaper
Places Search	Name, PlaceID, address, coordinates, phone, website, rating, review count, hours, category
Directions & Traffic	Distance, duration, duration in traffic, turn-by-turn navigation steps, Google Encoded Polyline
Multi-Waypoint Routing	Up to 25 intermediate stops per route — perfect for delivery optimization
All Travel Modes	Driving, walking, bicycling, and transit
Route Avoidance	Optionally avoid tolls and highways
Transparent Pricing	Flat $2.50 / 1,000 results — no filter surcharges, no CU penalties, no setup fees
Smart Proxy Tiering	Datacenter default → automatic Residential fallback on rate limits
256 MB RAM	No browser overhead; runs in 256 MB containers with headroom to spare

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⚡ Quick start

1. Open this Actor on the Apify Console and click Start.
2. Choose your mode: Places, Directions, or Both.
3. For Places mode — paste search queries:

{
  "mode": "places",
  "searchQueries": ["coffee shops in Manhattan, New York"],
  "maxItemsPerQuery": 20,
  "language": "en",
  "country": "us"
}

4. For Directions mode — provide origin and destination:

{
  "mode": "directions",
  "origin": "Empire State Building, New York",
  "destination": "Times Square, New York",
  "travelMode": "driving"
}

5. Click Start and download results as JSON, CSV, or Excel.

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🔧 How it works

User Input → Places Search Request → Google Maps HTTP Endpoint
   ↓                ↓                        ↓
searchQueries  maxItemsPerQuery     /search?tbm=map&pb=...
   ↓                ↓                        ↓
origin         destination         /maps/preview/directions?pb=...
   ↓                                         ↓
               Strip )]}'\n prefix → JSON.parse() → Clean Dataset

The Actor communicates directly with Google Maps' internal JSON/Protobuf RPC endpoints — no headless browser, no DOM parsing, no WebGL, no fingerprint battles. Data is extracted from structured JSON arrays and normalized through strict whitelist domain projections.

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📥 Input

Basic Example — Places Search

{
  "mode": "places",
  "searchQueries": ["Italian restaurants in Chicago"],
  "maxItemsPerQuery": 100,
  "locationBias": { "lat": 41.8781, "lng": -87.6298, "zoom": 13 }
}

Full Example — Directions with Waypoints

{
  "mode": "directions",
  "origin": "O'Hare International Airport, Chicago",
  "destination": "Millennium Park, Chicago",
  "waypoints": ["Willis Tower, Chicago"],
  "travelMode": "driving",
  "avoidTolls": true,
  "language": "en",
  "country": "us"
}

Input Fields

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
mode	string	✅	places	places, directions, or both
searchQueries	string[]	for places	—	Place search queries (max 1,000 per run)
maxItemsPerQuery	integer	❌	20	Max results per query (1–500)
locationBias	object	❌	—	{ lat, lng, zoom } to center viewport
origin	string	for directions	—	Route starting point
destination	string	for directions	—	Route ending point
waypoints	string[]	❌	[]	Intermediate stops (max 25)
travelMode	string	❌	driving	driving, walking, bicycling, transit
avoidTolls	boolean	❌	false	Avoid toll roads
avoidHighways	boolean	❌	false	Avoid highways
language	string	❌	en	Language code for results
country	string	❌	us	Country code for regional bias
proxyConfiguration	object	❌	Apify Proxy	Proxy settings

---

📤 Output

Places Record Example

{
  "searchQuery": "coffee shops in Manhattan, New York",
  "placeId": "ChIJfbedxbZZwokRpbnR5BBdz1c",
  "title": "787 Coffee",
  "category": "Coffee shop",
  "address": "245 W 46th St, New York, NY 10036",
  "location": { "lat": 40.7597441, "lng": -73.9875048 },
  "phone": "(646) 596-7178",
  "website": "https://www.787coffee.com/",
  "rating": 4.9,
  "reviewsCount": 3673,
  "openingHours": ["Monday: 7:00 AM – 9:00 PM", "Tuesday: 7:00 AM – 9:00 PM"],
  "priceLevel": "$$",
  "url": "https://www.google.com/maps/place/?q=place_id:ChIJfbedxbZZwokRpbnR5BBdz1c",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-10-14T09:00:00.000Z"
}

Directions Record Example

{
  "origin": "Empire State Building, New York",
  "destination": "Times Square, New York",
  "waypoints": [],
  "travelMode": "driving",
  "distanceMeters": 1219,
  "distanceText": "0.8 mile",
  "durationSeconds": 393,
  "durationText": "7 min",
  "durationInTrafficSeconds": 365,
  "durationInTrafficText": "6 min",
  "trafficCondition": "Fastest route, despite the usual traffic",
  "polyline": "yvvwFjtubMaAcBiAmB...",
  "steps": [
    {
      "instruction": "Head north on 5th Ave toward W 34th St",
      "distanceMeters": 182,
      "durationSeconds": 55
    }
  ],
  "warnings": [],
  "scrapedAt": "2026-10-14T09:00:00.000Z"
}

Output Fields

Field	Type	Description
searchQuery / origin	string	Source query or route start
placeId	string	Google Place ID
title	string	Business or place name
category	string	Primary business category
address	string	Full formatted address
location	object	{ lat, lng } coordinates
phone	string	Business phone number
website	string	Business website URL
rating	number	Aggregate star rating (0–5)
reviewsCount	integer	Total number of reviews
openingHours	string[]	Daily hours array
distanceText	string	Human-readable distance
durationText	string	Human-readable travel time
durationInTrafficText	string	Real-time traffic duration
polyline	string	Google Encoded Polyline (route shape)
steps	object[]	Turn-by-turn navigation steps

---

💰 Cost, limits, proxy

Metric	Value
Pricing	$2.50 per 1,000 items / routes
Memory	256 MB (minimal container)
Runtime / 1,000 places	~30 seconds
Runtime / 1,000 routes	~75 seconds
Compute Units / 1,000 places	< 0.003 CU
Proxy	Apify Datacenter (default) → Residential (auto-escalation on 429)
Max items per query	500
Max waypoints	25 per route
Max queries per run	1,000

---

📋 Recipes

1. B2B Lead Prospecting — Coffee Shops in NYC

{
  "mode": "places",
  "searchQueries": [
    "coffee shops in Manhattan",
    "coffee shops in Brooklyn"
  ],
  "maxItemsPerQuery": 100
}

2. Field Sales Route Optimization

{
  "mode": "directions",
  "origin": "Madison Square Garden, New York",
  "destination": "JFK Airport, Queens",
  "waypoints": ["Brooklyn Bridge", "Red Hook, Brooklyn"],
  "travelMode": "driving",
  "avoidTolls": false
}

3. Unified Pipeline — Find Plumbers + Calculate Delivery Routes

{
  "mode": "both",
  "searchQueries": ["plumbing supplies in Chicago"],
  "maxItemsPerQuery": 20,
  "origin": "My Warehouse, Chicago",
  "destination": "Downtown Chicago",
  "travelMode": "driving"
}

---

🔍 Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause	Fix
Empty dataset	Rate-limited by Google	Reduce concurrency; enable Residential proxies
Results in wrong language	language/country mismatch	Set "language": "en" and "country": "us" explicitly
Missing phone/website	Not publicly listed on Google Maps	Normal — these fields are null when unavailable
Route not found	Invalid location names	Use full address format or "lat,lng" coordinate string
Direction duration mismatch	Traffic data unavailable at query time	Try again — traffic data is real-time

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❓ FAQ

Q: How much does this Actor cost to run? A: Flat $2.50 per 1,000 places or routes. No filter taxes, no detail penalties, no CU surprises. A 10,000-place scrape costs approximately $25.

Q: Is this faster than other Google Maps scrapers? A: Yes. By skipping headless browsers and using direct HTTP endpoints, this Actor processes queries 10–50× faster with 16× less memory (256 MB vs 4 GB).

Q: Can I scrape private or unlisted locations? A: No. This Actor only accesses publicly visible Google Maps business listings and routing data.

Q: Does this work for any country? A: Yes. Set "language" and "country" input fields to target any Google Maps regional endpoint.

Q: Is this legal to use? A: This Actor scrapes publicly accessible data from Google Maps web interfaces. Ensure compliance with Google's Terms of Service and applicable privacy laws (GDPR, CCPA). You are responsible for how you use the extracted data.

Q: Can I republish or rebrand this Actor? A: No. This Actor is proprietary. You may run it on Apify. You may not copy, rebrand, or republish it. See ./LICENSE.

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⚠️ Limitations

• Public Google Maps data only. Private or login-protected business data is not accessible.
• Review text and individual reviewer profiles are intentionally excluded (GDPR compliance).
• High-volume runs on residential IP segments may trigger rate limits.
• You are responsible for compliance with Google Maps Terms of Service and privacy laws in your jurisdiction.

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🚀 Run it

Open the Actor on Apify Console and click Start.

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License

Proprietary. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2026 REXREUS.

You may run this Actor on Apify under the terms of your Apify account. You may not copy, rebrand, republish, redistribute, or claim authorship of this Actor. See ./LICENSE.