Yellowpages Scraper

Extract comprehensive business listings from Yellowpages.com including contact information, ratings, addresses, categories, and detailed business profiles. Perfect for lead generation, market research, competitive analysis, and business intelligence.

What is Yellowpages Scraper?

This powerful web scraper automatically extracts business data from Yellowpages.com, one of America's largest online business directories. Collect thousands of business listings with accurate contact details, customer ratings, operating hours, services offered, and location information.

Key Features

• Multi-Method Data Extraction - Intelligently combines JSON-LD structured data parsing with HTML extraction for maximum reliability and data quality
• Comprehensive Business Information - Extracts business names, phone numbers, emails, physical addresses, websites, ratings, review counts, categories, and more
• Smart Pagination Handling - Automatically processes multiple pages of search results with configurable limits
• Detail Page Scraping - Optional deep scraping of individual business profile pages for complete information including descriptions, hours, services, and establishment year
• Advanced Anti-Bot Protection - Built-in stealth techniques, browser fingerprinting prevention, and proxy rotation for reliable data extraction
• Flexible Search Options - Search by business category, location, or provide custom search URLs
• Deduplication - Automatic removal of duplicate entries based on business identifiers
• Structured Data Output - Clean, normalized JSON output ready for analysis or integration

Why Use This Yellowpages Scraper?

• ✅ Lead Generation - Build targeted prospect lists for B2B sales and marketing
• ✅ Market Research - Analyze competitors, market trends, and business density by location
• ✅ Data Enrichment - Supplement existing databases with verified business contact information
• ✅ Local Business Intelligence - Track business openings, closures, and market saturation
• ✅ Review Analysis - Collect ratings and review counts for reputation monitoring
• ✅ Directory Building - Create custom business directories and listings platforms
• ✅ High Performance - Optimized for speed with HTTP-first approach and browser fallback
• ✅ Cost Effective - Efficient resource usage minimizes compute costs

How to Use

Quick Start

1. Click Start to configure the scraper
2. Enter a business category (e.g., "restaurants", "plumbers", "auto-repair-service")
3. Specify a location (e.g., "los-angeles-ca", "new-york-ny")
4. Set maximum results and pages to control scraping scope
5. Enable Collect Full Details for comprehensive business information (optional)
6. Click Start and wait for results

Input Parameters

Configure the scraper using these parameters to customize your data extraction:

Parameter	Type	Description	Default
Custom Search URL	String	Optional custom Yellowpages.com search URL. If not provided, URL will be built from category and location parameters.	None
Business Category	String	Business type or service to search. Examples: "restaurants", "dentists", "auto-repair-service", "plumbers", "real-estate-agents"	auto-repair-service
Location	String	City and state in URL format. Examples: "los-angeles-ca", "new-york-ny", "chicago-il", "houston-tx"	los-angeles-ca
Maximum Businesses	Integer	Maximum number of business listings to extract (1-1000)	50
Maximum Pages	Integer	Maximum number of search result pages to process. Each page typically contains ~30 listings (1-100)	5
Collect Full Details	Boolean	Visit each business profile page to extract complete information including description, hours, services, and year established. Increases runtime but provides comprehensive data.	false
Proxy Configuration	Object	Proxy settings for requests. Strongly recommended to avoid blocking and rate limiting. Apify Proxy is enabled by default.	{ useApifyProxy: true }

Input Example

{
  "category": "restaurants",
  "location": "new-york-ny",
  "maxResults": 100,
  "maxPages": 5,
  "collectDetails": true,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}

Output Data

The scraper provides structured business data in JSON format with the following fields:

Standard Output Fields

Field	Type	Description
name	String	Business name
phone	String	Primary phone number
address	Object	Complete address including street, city, state, zip, and formatted full address
website	String	Business website URL
url	String	Yellowpages profile page URL
rating	Number	Average customer rating (0-5)
reviewCount	Number	Total number of customer reviews
categories	Array	Business categories and service types
image	String	Business image URL
searchCategory	String	Search category used for scraping
searchLocation	String	Search location used for scraping
scrapedAt	String	ISO timestamp of data extraction

Additional Fields (When Detail Collection Enabled)

Field	Type	Description
email	String	Business email address
description	String	Business description and overview
hours	String	Operating hours and schedule
services	Array	List of services offered
yearEstablished	String	Year the business was established
priceRange	String	Price range indicator (e.g., "$$", "$$$")

Output Example

{
  "name": "Joe's Auto Repair",
  "phone": "(555) 123-4567",
  "email": "contact@joesauto.com",
  "address": {
    "street": "123 Main Street",
    "city": "Los Angeles",
    "state": "CA",
    "zip": "90001",
    "full": "123 Main Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90001"
  },
  "website": "https://www.joesautorepair.com",
  "url": "https://www.yellowpages.com/los-angeles-ca/mip/joes-auto-repair-12345",
  "rating": 4.5,
  "reviewCount": 127,
  "categories": ["Auto Repair", "Oil Change", "Brake Service"],
  "description": "Family-owned auto repair shop serving Los Angeles for over 30 years...",
  "hours": "Mon-Fri: 8AM-6PM, Sat: 9AM-4PM, Sun: Closed",
  "services": ["Oil Changes", "Brake Repair", "Engine Diagnostics", "Transmission Service"],
  "yearEstablished": "1993",
  "priceRange": "$$",
  "image": "https://www.yellowpages.com/images/joes-auto.jpg",
  "searchCategory": "auto-repair-service",
  "searchLocation": "los-angeles-ca",
  "scrapedAt": "2025-12-21T10:30:00.000Z"
}

Use Cases

Lead Generation & Sales Prospecting

Build targeted lists of potential customers for B2B sales campaigns. Extract contact information for specific business types in desired locations to create qualified prospect databases.

Market Research & Competitive Analysis

Analyze market density, competitor distribution, pricing strategies, and service offerings across different locations. Track business growth patterns and identify underserved markets.

Data Enrichment & CRM Integration

Enhance existing customer databases with verified contact information, ratings, and business details. Integrate fresh data into CRM systems for improved sales and marketing campaigns.

Local Business Directories

Create custom business directories, comparison websites, or niche vertical search platforms with up-to-date business listings and contact information.

Reputation Monitoring

Track business ratings and review counts over time. Monitor your own business listings or competitor sentiment across locations.

Business Intelligence

Gather insights on industry trends, service availability, and market opportunities. Analyze business distribution patterns for strategic planning and expansion decisions.

Performance & Efficiency

• Fast HTTP-First Approach - Prioritizes fast HTTP requests with browser fallback only when needed
• Smart Resource Usage - Blocks unnecessary resources (fonts, media, trackers) for faster page loads
• Batch Processing - Efficient data batching reduces API calls and improves performance
• Intelligent Pagination - Automatic page detection and navigation with configurable limits
• Optimized Memory Usage - Streams data to dataset to handle large extraction jobs

Typical Runtime

• 50 businesses (without details) - 2-3 minutes
• 50 businesses (with details) - 5-8 minutes
• 200 businesses (without details) - 8-12 minutes
• 200 businesses (with details) - 20-30 minutes

Runtime varies based on proxy quality, target location, and website response times.

Anti-Bot Protection & Stealth Features

The scraper includes advanced stealth capabilities to ensure reliable data extraction:

• Browser Fingerprinting Prevention - Removes automation indicators (navigator.webdriver, etc.)
• Realistic User Agents - Rotates through genuine Firefox user agent strings
• Human-Like Behavior - Random delays, viewport variations, and realistic navigation patterns
• Proxy Support - Built-in Apify Proxy integration with residential proxy support
• Request Headers Optimization - Realistic HTTP headers matching genuine browser traffic
• Resource Blocking - Blocks tracking scripts and analytics to improve stealth and speed
• Retry Mechanism - Automatic retries with exponential backoff for failed requests

Data Quality & Reliability

• Multi-Tier Extraction - Combines JSON-LD structured data with HTML parsing for maximum accuracy
• Automatic Deduplication - Removes duplicate entries based on business identifiers
• Data Validation - Cleans and validates extracted data before output
• Fallback Strategies - Multiple extraction methods ensure data is captured even when page structure changes
• Error Handling - Graceful error recovery prevents scraping failures

Requirements & Best Practices

Requirements

• Apify Account - Free tier available with sufficient resources for testing
• Proxy Configuration - Strongly recommended (Apify Proxy enabled by default)
• JavaScript Support - Modern Node.js runtime (automatically provided)

Best Practices

• Start with small batches (50-100 businesses) to test configuration
• Use specific categories and locations for targeted results
• Enable detail collection only when comprehensive data is needed (increases runtime)
• Use proxies to avoid rate limiting and IP blocks
• Schedule regular runs to keep data fresh and up-to-date
• Export data in preferred format (JSON, CSV, Excel) for analysis
• Respect rate limits and website terms of service

Integration & Export Options

The scraper seamlessly integrates with Apify's ecosystem:

• API Access - Retrieve data via RESTful API for custom integrations
• Webhooks - Trigger downstream processes when scraping completes
• Data Export - Download results in JSON, CSV, Excel, or XML formats
• Cloud Storage - Push data directly to Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, or Azure Blob
• Database Integration - Connect to PostgreSQL, MongoDB, or MySQL databases
• Marketing Tools - Export to HubSpot, Salesforce, or other CRM platforms
• Scheduling - Set up automated scraping jobs on custom schedules

Troubleshooting

No Results Returned

• Verify category and location format match Yellowpages.com URL structure
• Check if the search combination has available listings on the website
• Enable proxy configuration to avoid blocks
• Try a more common category or larger city

Incomplete Data

• Enable "Collect Full Details" for comprehensive business information
• Some businesses may have limited public information available
• Check if specific fields are populated on the Yellowpages.com website

Slow Performance

• Reduce maxPages or maxResults for faster execution
• Disable detail collection if only basic information is needed
• Ensure proxy configuration is properly set up
• Consider upgrading to higher performance Apify proxies

Rate Limiting or Blocks

• Enable Apify Proxy in configuration
• Reduce scraping speed by lowering maxPages
• Use residential proxies for better success rates
• Add delays between requests (built-in by default)

Legal & Ethical Considerations

• This scraper is provided for educational and research purposes
• Always review and comply with Yellowpages.com's Terms of Service
• Respect robots.txt and website policies
• Use data responsibly and in compliance with applicable laws (GDPR, CCPA, etc.)
• Avoid excessive requests that could impact website performance
• Do not use scraped data for spam, harassment, or illegal activities

Support & Feedback

Need help or have suggestions? We're here to assist:

• Report issues or request features through Apify Console
• Check documentation for detailed configuration options
• Review example runs to understand expected output format
• Contact Apify support for technical assistance

Version History

Version 1.0.0

• Initial release with core scraping functionality
• JSON-LD and HTML extraction support
• Pagination handling and deduplication
• Optional detail page scraping
• Advanced anti-bot protection
• Proxy configuration support

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Made with ❤️ for the Apify community

Extract business data efficiently and reliably with professional-grade scraping technology.