Download contacts from Google maps with Node.js

Apify’s wide range of tools use a technique called web scraping to extract public data from websites. These scrapers access the website the same way as you would with a browser, find the image, video, or text you want, and download it for you. They’re a fast and efficient way to get data at scale.

Web scraping is a handy method for collecting information from various websites. It's like having a digital assistant that visits web pages on your behalf, pulling out the details you need such as prices, descriptions, addresses, and contact information. But it's more than just text; this tool can also download images and videos, making it a comprehensive way to gather content from the online world. It takes care of all the complex, technical parts, so you don't have to.

Web scraping is a method where you choose websites to collect specific content, including text, images, and videos. You begin by identifying the web pages that host the visual media you're interested in. Next, you use a web scraping tool tailored to locate the parts of the page containing the images or videos you want to download. Once the tool is set up and run, it navigates to the chosen web pages, identifies the images and videos, and downloads them for you. It's a streamlined way to gather pictures and videos from online sources without having to manually download each item.

Yes, web scraping is legal for gathering public information from websites. But be careful with personal or confidential data, as well as intellectual property, because laws and regulations might protect them. It's good practice to check the website's rules or terms of service to know what's allowed. If you're not sure, getting legal advice can help ensure you're using web scraping correctly and within the law.

Actors are serverless cloud programs that run on the Apify platform and do computing jobs. They’re called Actors because, like human actors, they perform actions based on a script. They can perform anything from simple actions (such as filling out a web form or sending an email) to complex operations (such as crawling an entire website or removing duplicates from a large dataset). Actor runs can be as short or as long as necessary. They could last seconds, hours, or even run infinitely.

Running Actors will consume the platform usage credits included in your plan. Excess usage will be charged to your next invoice. The exact platform usage depends on the specific Actor, the type of job it performs, how often it runs, and for how long. The easiest way to find out the platform usage of an Actor is to perform a test run. You can then review your platform usage in your Billing settings and figure out the best subscription plan for your needs. Check out our pricing page to find out more.

We don’t impose any hard limits on data collection. If you're a paying user, you can continue using the platform and will be charged for overage until you reach your own configured usage limits. If you're on the free plan, you'll be blocked until the next billing cycle.

We can gather data from hundreds of popular websites, including Google Search, Google Maps, Amazon, Instagram, TikTok, and many more. Check out Apify Store to see the full list of 1,500+ Actors.

Apify works great with both Python, JavaScript, Node.js, TypeScript, Scrapy, Selenium, Playwright, and Puppeteer. You can choose to work with existing Actors, or build your own using our web scraping code templates.