Instagram Location Scraper

A powerful Apify actor that scrapes Instagram posts from specific locations, extracting comprehensive post data including images, videos, captions, engagement metrics, and user information. Perfect for location-based social media analysis, competitor research, and content discovery.

Enter Instagram location URLs, usernames, or keywords to scrape posts. The actor will automatically detect the input type and convert usernames/keywords to location URLs. Configure proxy settings if needed.

💬 For custom solutions or feature requests, contact us at dev.scraperengine@gmail.com

Why Choose Us?

• Intelligent Proxy Management: Automatic proxy fallback system ensures reliable data collection even when Instagram blocks requests
• Comprehensive Data Extraction: Captures all post details including media URLs, engagement metrics, user profiles, and location data
• Bulk Processing: Process multiple locations simultaneously with efficient pagination
• Production-Ready: Built with robust error handling, retry logic, and detailed logging
• Flexible Configuration: Customize sort order, item limits, and proxy settings to fit your needs
• Smart Input Detection: Automatically detects and converts URLs, usernames, or keywords to location URLs

Key Features

• ✅ Location-Based Scraping: Extract posts from any Instagram location page
• ✅ Multiple Input Types: Accepts location URLs, usernames, or keywords - automatically converts to location URLs
• ✅ Smart Proxy Fallback: Automatically switches from no proxy → datacenter → residential proxy if blocked
• ✅ Pagination Support: Automatically handles pagination to extract all available posts
• ✅ Rich Data Extraction:
  • Post metadata (ID, code, URL, creation date)
  • Engagement metrics (likes, comments)
  • Media content (images, videos with quality info)
  • Audio/music information
  • User profile data
  • Location coordinates and details
• ✅ Sort Options: Choose between "ranked" (default) or "recent" post sorting
• ✅ Bulk Input Support: Process multiple location URLs, usernames, or keywords in a single run
• ✅ Session Authentication: Optional session ID support for authenticated requests
• ✅ Detailed Logging: Real-time progress updates and error reporting
• ✅ Structured Output: Clean JSON format ready for analysis

Input

The actor accepts the following input parameters:

Input Schema

{
  "startUrls": [
    "https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/213131048/berlin-germany/",
    "mrbeast",
    "berlin"
  ],
  "sortOrder": "ranked",
  "maxComments": 0,
  "maxItems": 100,
  "sessionId": "",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
startUrls	Array of Strings	Yes	-	List of Instagram location URLs, usernames, or keywords. Examples: 'https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/213131048/berlin-germany/' (URL), 'mrbeast' (username), 'berlin' (keyword). The actor automatically detects the input type and converts usernames/keywords to location URLs.
sortOrder	String	No	"ranked"	How to sort posts. Options: "ranked" (most popular) or "recent" (newest first).
maxComments	Integer	No	0	Maximum number of comments to extract per post. Set to 0 to disable comment extraction.
maxItems	Integer	No	100	Maximum number of posts to extract per location. Set to 0 for unlimited (extracts all available posts).
sessionId	String	No	""	Instagram session ID cookie value (required for authentication). Get this from your browser cookies when logged into Instagram. Leave empty for unauthenticated requests (may have limited access).
proxyConfiguration	Object	No	{"useApifyProxy": false}	Proxy configuration. If useApifyProxy is false, the actor starts with direct requests. If blocked, it automatically falls back to datacenter and then residential proxies.

Example Input

{
  "startUrls": [
    "https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/213131048/berlin-germany/",
    "https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/212988663/new-york-new-york/",
    "mrbeast",
    "paris"
  ],
  "sortOrder": "recent",
  "maxItems": 500,
  "maxComments": 0,
  "sessionId": "your_session_id_here",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}

Input Types

The actor supports three types of input in the startUrls array:

1. Location URLs: Full Instagram location page URLs

   • Example: "https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/213131048/berlin-germany/"
   • Used directly without conversion

2. Usernames: Instagram usernames (with or without @)

   • Example: "mrbeast" or "@mrbeast"
   • The actor searches for locations in the user's posts

3. Keywords: Location keywords for searching

   • Example: "berlin" or "new york"
   • The actor searches Instagram for locations matching the keyword

Output

The actor outputs structured JSON data for each scraped post. All results are saved to the Apify dataset and can be exported in JSON, CSV, or Excel formats.

Output Schema

Each post in the output contains the following structure:

{
  "type": "post",
  "id": "3761820491792436654",
  "code": "DQ0q85qEs2u",
  "url": "https://www.instagram.com/p/DQ0q85qEs2u/",
  "createdAt": "2025-11-09T10:52:49Z",
  "likeCount": 1,
  "commentCount": 0,
  "caption": "#esmocongress2025 #berlin #dataize",
  "isAvailable": true,
  "isLikeAndViewCountsDisabled": false,
  "isPinned": false,
  "isPaidPartnership": false,
  "isCarousel": true,
  "isVideo": false,
  "owner": {
    "id": "222741818",
    "username": "sihyun_sung_photography",
    "fullName": "",
    "profilePicUrl": "https://instagram.fdac142-1.fna.fbcdn.net/...",
    "isPrivate": false,
    "isVerified": false
  },
  "location": {
    "id": "1681866845218607",
    "name": "Messe Berlin",
    "city": "",
    "lat": 52.503101530657,
    "lng": 13.272066565882
  },
  "video": null,
  "image": {
    "url": "https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/...",
    "width": 1440,
    "height": 1440
  },
  "audio": null
}

Output Fields

Field	Type	Description
type	String	Always "post" for post items
id	String	Unique Instagram post ID
code	String	Short code used in post URLs
url	String	Full URL to the Instagram post
createdAt	String	ISO 8601 timestamp of when the post was created
likeCount	Integer	Number of likes on the post
commentCount	Integer	Number of comments on the post
caption	String	Post caption text (empty string if no caption)
isAvailable	Boolean	Whether the post is currently available
isLikeAndViewCountsDisabled	Boolean	Whether like/view counts are hidden
isPinned	Boolean	Whether the post is pinned by the user
isPaidPartnership	Boolean	Whether the post is a paid partnership
isCarousel	Boolean	Whether the post is a carousel (multiple images/videos)
isVideo	Boolean	Whether the post contains video content
owner	Object	User who created the post (see Owner Object below)
location	Object	Location information (see Location Object below)
video	Object/null	Video details if post contains video (see Video Object below)
image	Object/null	Image details if post contains image (see Image Object below)
audio	Object/null	Audio/music information if available (see Audio Object below)

Owner Object

Field	Type	Description
id	String	User's Instagram ID
username	String	User's Instagram username
fullName	String	User's full name
profilePicUrl	String	URL to user's profile picture
isPrivate	Boolean	Whether the account is private
isVerified	Boolean	Whether the account is verified

Location Object

Field	Type	Description
id	String	Location ID
name	String	Location name
city	String	City name (if available)
lat	Float	Latitude coordinate
lng	Float	Longitude coordinate

Video Object

Field	Type	Description
id	String	Video ID
url	String	URL to the video file
width	Integer	Video width in pixels
height	Integer	Video height in pixels
duration	Float	Video duration in seconds

Image Object

Field	Type	Description
url	String	URL to the image file
width	Integer	Image width in pixels
height	Integer	Image height in pixels

Audio Object

Field	Type	Description
id	String	Audio ID
title	String	Audio/music title
artist	String	Artist name
coverArt	String	URL to cover art image
duration	Integer	Duration in milliseconds
audioUrl	String	URL to audio file

🚀 How to Use the Actor (via Apify Console)

1. Log in to Apify: Go to https://console.apify.com and sign in to your account.

2. Find the Actor: Navigate to the Actors section and search for "Instagram Location Scraper" or find it in your actor list.

3. Configure Input:

   • Click on the actor to open it
   • In the INPUT tab, configure your settings:
     • Add one or more Instagram location URLs, usernames, or keywords in the startUrls field (as strings, not objects)
     • Choose your preferred sortOrder (ranked or recent)
     • Set maxItems to limit the number of posts (or 0 for unlimited)
     • Optionally provide a sessionId for authenticated requests
     • Configure proxy settings if needed (default: no proxy)

4. Run the Actor: Click the Start button to begin the scraping process.

5. Monitor Progress:

   • Watch real-time logs in the LOG tab
   • Monitor proxy fallback events and extraction progress
   • Track the number of posts extracted

6. Access Results:

   • Once complete, go to the OUTPUT tab
   • View results in the table format
   • Export data as JSON, CSV, or Excel

7. Export Data:

   • Click Export button
   • Choose your preferred format (JSON, CSV, or Excel)
   • Download the file to your computer

Best Use Cases

• Location-Based Marketing Research: Analyze what content performs well at specific locations
• Competitor Analysis: Monitor competitor posts at key business locations
• Event Monitoring: Track posts from event venues and locations
• Tourism Insights: Understand what visitors post about specific destinations
• Brand Monitoring: Track mentions and posts at your business locations
• Content Discovery: Find trending content and influencers at specific locations
• Geographic Analytics: Analyze posting patterns and engagement by location
• Social Media Intelligence: Gather location-based social media data for research
• User Location Analysis: Extract locations from specific user profiles

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I find a location URL?

Navigate to the location page on Instagram (either through search or by clicking a location tag on a post), then copy the URL from your browser. The URL format is: https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/[LOCATION_ID]/[location-name]/

Alternatively, you can use a location keyword (e.g., "berlin") and the actor will search for matching locations automatically.

Can I use usernames or keywords instead of URLs?

Yes! The actor accepts three types of input:

• URLs: Full Instagram location page URLs
• Usernames: Instagram usernames (e.g., "mrbeast") - the actor will extract locations from the user's posts
• Keywords: Location keywords (e.g., "berlin", "new york") - the actor will search Instagram for matching locations

How do I get a session ID?

1. Log in to Instagram in your browser
2. Open Developer Tools (F12)
3. Go to the Application/Storage tab
4. Navigate to Cookies → https://www.instagram.com
5. Find the sessionid cookie
6. Copy its value and paste it into the sessionId field

Note: Session IDs expire after some time. You may need to refresh it periodically.

What happens if Instagram blocks my requests?

The actor has intelligent proxy fallback:

1. Starts with direct requests (no proxy) by default
2. If blocked, automatically switches to datacenter proxy
3. If datacenter fails, switches to residential proxy with 3 retries
4. Once residential proxy works, it sticks with it for all remaining requests
5. All proxy transitions are logged for transparency

Can I scrape multiple locations at once?

Yes! Simply add multiple URLs, usernames, or keywords to the startUrls array. The actor will process each input sequentially.

What's the difference between "ranked" and "recent" sort order?

• ranked: Shows posts sorted by Instagram's algorithm (most popular/relevant first)
• recent: Shows posts sorted by creation date (newest first)

How many posts can I extract?

You can set maxItems to any number, or 0 for unlimited. The actor will extract all available posts up to your limit. Note that Instagram may have limits on how many posts are available for a location.

Do I need to configure proxies?

Not necessarily. The actor starts with no proxy by default. If Instagram blocks your requests, the actor automatically falls back to proxies. However, if you expect high-volume scraping, you may want to enable Apify proxy from the start.

How long does scraping take?

Scraping time depends on:

• Number of locations/usernames/keywords
• Number of posts per location
• Instagram's response time
• Whether proxy fallback is needed
• Whether session ID is provided (authenticated requests may be faster)

Typically, 100 posts take 2-5 minutes, but this can vary.

Can I extract comments?

The maxComments parameter is available in the input schema, but comment extraction requires additional API calls that may not be fully implemented in the current version. Set it to 0 to disable.

What data format is the output?

All output is in JSON format, which can be exported as JSON, CSV, or Excel files from the Apify console.

Is the actor free to use?

Apify actors consume compute units. Check your Apify plan for pricing details. The actor is optimized to minimize compute usage through efficient pagination and request handling.

Do I need a session ID?

A session ID is optional but recommended for:

• Better access to posts (some posts may require authentication)
• More reliable keyword and username searches
• Higher rate limits

Without a session ID, the actor will still work but may have limited access to some content.

Support and Feedback

If you encounter any issues or have questions:

1. Check the actor logs for detailed error messages
2. Review the proxy fallback logs to understand connection issues
3. Ensure your location URLs are valid and accessible
4. Verify your Apify account has sufficient compute units
5. Try providing a valid session ID if you're having authentication issues

💬 For custom solutions or feature requests, contact us at dev.scraperengine@gmail.com

Cautions

• Public Data Only: This actor collects data only from publicly available Instagram location pages. It does not access private accounts or password-protected content.

• Rate Limiting: Instagram may implement rate limiting. The actor includes retry logic and proxy fallback to handle this, but very high-volume scraping may still encounter limits.

• Session ID Security: Never share your session ID publicly. Treat it like a password. If compromised, log out of Instagram and generate a new session ID.

• Legal Compliance: Users are responsible for ensuring their use of this actor complies with:

  • Instagram's Terms of Service
  • Local data protection and privacy laws (GDPR, CCPA, etc.)
  • Copyright and intellectual property laws
  • Any applicable regulations in your jurisdiction

• Data Usage: Be mindful of how you use the scraped data. Respect user privacy and do not use data for spam, harassment, or other malicious purposes.

• API Changes: Instagram may change their API structure, which could temporarily affect the actor's functionality. The actor is maintained to adapt to such changes.

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Note: This actor is designed for legitimate research, analysis, and business intelligence purposes. Always use scraped data responsibly and in compliance with applicable laws and platform terms of service.