Google Maps Reviews Scraper: Ratings, Text & Owner Replies

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✅ Rebuilt 2026-08-18 — working again, and much cheaper

In February 2026 Google stopped showing reviews to logged-out visitors. Every scraper that read reviews off the Maps page, including this one, started returning empty results. An earlier note on this page claimed the problem was fixed by reading the rendered page instead. That claim was wrong and this page has been corrected: those runs were still returning zero reviews.

This Actor no longer tries to read the blocked page. It now reads reviews through a licensed upstream data source that has working access, so reviews flow again, including reviews posted in the last few days. Verified live 2026-08-18.

Two things got better as a side effect: every review now carries a real timestamp (reviewDateIso) instead of only "a month ago" text, and the Actor no longer needs a browser or proxy, so it is dramatically cheaper to run.

For Google Maps business listings (name, category, address, phone, website, rating, hours), the Google Maps Search Scraper is a separate, cheaper option when you don't need reviews.

Overview

Give this Actor one or more Google Maps place URLs and it returns their reviews as clean, structured rows: star rating, the full review text, a real timestamp, the reviewer's profile and Local Guide status, the owner's reply, per-category subratings (food, service, atmosphere) and any photos attached to the review.

No login. No cookies. No proxy configuration. No Google API key.

✅ Works after Google's 2026 logged-out review blackout · ✅ Real ISO timestamps · ✅ Owner replies included · ✅ Pay only for reviews delivered · ✅ MCP-ready for AI agents

How to scrape Google Maps reviews after the 2026 blackout

Google's official Places API caps you at five reviews per place, gives you no control over sort order, and needs a billing-enabled Google Cloud project. Reading the Maps page directly no longer works at all for logged-out visitors, which is what any scraper is.

This Actor takes the third route: it reads the same public reviews through a licensed upstream data source that still has access. You get far more than five reviews per place, you choose the sort order, and there is nothing to configure.

{
  "placeUrls": ["https://www.google.com/maps/place/Starbucks/@40.7566447,-73.9859019,17z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x89c258552071bcb3:0x5cc7129cc313de1a"],
  "maxReviews": 50,
  "sortBy": "newest"
}

Input configuration

Field	Type	Description
placeUrls	array	Google Maps place URLs. Paste straight from the Maps address bar. A bare place_id (ChIJ...) or data_id (0x...:0x...) also works. If a URL has no id but does have a place name, it is resolved automatically. Max 25 places per run.
maxReviews	integer	Maximum reviews per place, not per run. 50 with three places returns up to 150. Default 20, max 500.
sortBy	select	newest (default), mostRelevant, highestRating, lowestRating.
language	string	Two-letter language code, e.g. en, hi, fr. Default en.
country	string	Optional two-letter country code, e.g. in, us, gb.
includeReviewInsights	boolean	Adds one insights row per place. See below. Off by default.
litescrapeApiKey	string	Advanced and almost nobody needs it. Leave blank to use the Actor's own licensed source; supply your own key to bill upstream usage to yourself.

Finding a place URL

Search the place on Google Maps, click it, and copy the URL from your browser's address bar. That URL contains everything this Actor needs.

Output format

One row per review:

{
  "reviewId": "Ci9DQUlRQUNvZENodHljRjlvT21sUFEzcG5XakJQVURWeWNWVnpXbm81ZDBSdGVrRRAB",
  "placeId": "0x89c258552071bcb3:0x5cc7129cc313de1a",
  "placeName": "Starbucks Coffee Company",
  "reviewerName": "Melih can Odacioglu",
  "reviewerUrl": "https://www.google.com/maps/contrib/108626243016843073804",
  "reviewerIsLocalGuide": true,
  "reviewerReviewCount": 83,
  "rating": 1,
  "reviewText": "staff are extremely slow",
  "reviewDate": "3 days ago",
  "reviewDateIso": "2026-08-15T03:11:54Z",
  "ownerResponse": null,
  "ownerResponseDate": null,
  "photoCount": 1,
  "photoUrls": ["https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/..."],
  "subratings": { "food": 1, "service": 1, "atmosphere": 1 },
  "reviewUrl": "https://www.google.com/maps/reviews/...",
  "likes": 0
}

Every field that Google does not publish for a given review is returned as null rather than guessed. A rating-only review (very common) has reviewText: null and is still a real, charged row.

Each place also gets a _type: "summary" row, and every run ends with a _type: "run_summary" row carrying totals and the realised upstream cost.

Review insights (optional, includeReviewInsights: true)

Adds one extra row per place, computed from the reviews already collected in the same run. No AI, no second fetch, no guesswork:

{
  "_type": "review_insights",
  "placeName": "Starbucks Coffee Company",
  "rating_distribution": { "1_star": { "count": 2, "pct": 20 }, "5_star": { "count": 4, "pct": 40 } },
  "reply_rate_negative_pct": 33.3,
  "top_complaint_terms": [{ "term": "slow", "count": 4 }, { "term": "queue", "count": 3 }],
  "rating_trend": [
    { "month": "2026-07", "review_count": 3, "avg_rating": 3.67 },
    { "month": "2026-08", "review_count": 7, "avg_rating": 3.57 }
  ],
  "based_on_reviews": 10,
  "based_on_negative_reviews": 3
}

• rating_distribution — how the stars actually split, not just the average.
• reply_rate_negative_pct — how often the owner answers 1 and 2 star reviews. The single best signal of whether a business manages its reputation.
• top_complaint_terms — the words that recur in negative reviews. Needs a decent sample: set maxReviews to 50 or more, or you will often get an empty list because nothing repeats.
• rating_trend — average rating month by month, so you can see a business getting better or worse.

Charged once per place, and only for a place that actually returned reviews.

Common use cases

• Reputation monitoring — schedule it daily on your own locations and your competitors', sorted by newest, and watch ratings move.
• Competitor teardown — pull lowestRating first to read exactly what customers complain about next door.
• Location benchmarking — run 25 branches in one go and rank them by rating distribution and owner reply rate.
• Pre-acquisition due diligence — rating_trend shows whether a business's reputation is improving or sliding.
• Review response workflows — find unanswered negative reviews (ownerResponse: null, rating <= 2) and work the list.

Getting started

1. Open Google Maps, find your place, copy the URL from the address bar.
2. Paste it into Place URLs.
3. Set Max reviews per place (start with 10 to see the shape, then raise it).
4. Optionally switch on Include review insights.
5. Click Start.

Run on a schedule

Reputation data is only useful if it is current. In Apify Console open this Actor → Schedules → Add schedule → pick a frequency (daily works well for monitoring) → Save. It reruns with the same input automatically. Combine a daily schedule with sortBy: newest and a modest maxReviews to keep costs low while never missing a new review.

FAQ

Do I need a Google account, cookies, or an API key? No. Nothing to log into and nothing to configure.

Why did this Actor stop returning reviews earlier in 2026? Google stopped rendering reviews for logged-out visitors in February 2026. Any scraper reading the Maps page directly, including this one, went empty. It now reads through a licensed upstream source instead, which is why it works again.

How many reviews can I get per place? Up to 500 per run via maxReviews. That is far beyond Google's official Places API, which caps at five.

Why is top_complaint_terms empty? A term has to recur to be a pattern. On a handful of reviews nothing repeats. Raise maxReviews to 50 or more.

Why is reviewText null on some rows? Plenty of people leave a star rating and no words. That is a real review, so it is returned rather than dropped.

Am I charged if a place returns nothing? No. You are charged per review delivered, and the insights row is only charged for a place that actually returned reviews. A blocked or empty run costs you nothing.

Is scraping Google Maps reviews legal? This Actor collects only publicly visible review content. Public data can still contain personal data under laws like the GDPR, so collect only what you have a legitimate purpose for, and keep it no longer than you need.

Use in Claude, ChatGPT and any MCP agent

https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=themineworks/google-maps-reviews

Or call it programmatically:

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN' });

const run = await client.actor('themineworks/google-maps-reviews').call({
  placeUrls: ['https://www.google.com/maps/place/...'],
  maxReviews: 50,
  sortBy: 'newest',
  includeReviewInsights: true,
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

🛠️ Complete your Google Maps pipeline

Pair this reviews scraper with the rest of the themineworks Google Maps and lead gen suite:

• Google Maps Search Scraper: turn a Maps search into a plain business listing dataset, no email step, the cheapest way to find the businesses in the first place.
• Google Maps Leads Scraper: turn a Maps search into B2B leads with verified emails.
• Website Contact Scraper: extract emails, phones, and socials from any domain list.
• Email Verifier & Validator: MX and SMTP verify addresses before you send.
• B2B Leads Finder: find named decision makers at target companies.

Common flow: google-maps-search-scraper finds businesses, maps-leads adds verified emails, then google-maps-reviews pulls reviews for the same businesses to gauge reputation.

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Disclaimer: This Actor is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Google LLC. Google and Google Maps are trademarks of Google LLC. Use scraped public data in line with GDPR, CCPA, and your local laws.

Found a bug or have a feature request? Open an issue on the Actor's Apify Console page or reach out through the Apify profile.

Related guides

• Google Maps Reviews Scraper: Extract Ratings, Text and Owner Replies Without an API

Last verified: 2026-08