Have you always wanted to scrape data from Google maps, but you don’t know which Google Maps scraper to use? This article provides you with the best Google map scrapers to help you scrape Google map data effortlessly.
Regular Web users are almost universally familiar with Google Maps. There is a lot of user-generated data on this site, such as the location of a business, customer reviews, and the final rating, all of which can be accessed through the service’s user interface.
Most serious businesses are shown on Google Maps, and some even provide information about their services to potential clients who are looking them up on the map. This is where many individuals begin their search for local businesses and services in new places.
Google Map is a wonderful data source for lead generation and review research, among other things, because of the large amount of geographical and business listing data it provides. Even though the information is open to the public, automated access for the purpose of data collection is not permitted. There is, unfortunately, no free way to acquire the data from Google. A limited free version of the Place API is available; however, it isn’t beneficial to scrapers who need to collect a large number of entries. It is for this reason that Google Maps data has increasingly been scraped using web scraping techniques.
Anti-scraping measures and Google Map’s JavaScript put me off my initial scraping effort. Before I could properly extract the data I needed, I had to learn how to scrape Google Maps and put what I had learned into practice.
Scrapy, Requests, and other HTTP requests that don’t load and interpret JavaScript won’t work for Google Maps scraping because JavaScript rendering is required for Google Maps scraping. I’ve compiled a list of the finest scrapers for Google Maps, along with instructions on how to use them to make your scraping adventure as simple as possible. Let’s get started right away!
6 Best Google Map Scrapers in 2024
1. Bright Data — Best Google Map Scraper that Provides Already-made Data Sets for Easy Google Map Scraping
- Price: Begins at 5 USD
- Platform Supported: SaaS, Cloud, Windows, Mac
- Data Forma: HTML, JSON
Bright data is undoubtedly one of the best Google map scrapers. Generally, you and I would agree that Bright Data has the top spot as the best web scraper. For this reason, I have to make it the first on this list because of how effective it is for scraping Google Maps.
One of the top Google map scrapers is Bright Data, and they claim to be able to offer their users ready-made data sets so that they don’t have to worry about being an expert in the field from the start. When you sign up with them, they handle most of the work for you, so all you have to do is sit back and chill and know that your data is being scraped effectively and in a manner that is easy to comprehend and read.
So if you have some knowledge of data gathering and would like to tailor the method they collect your data, they can help you with that as well. There is no better alternative if you are seeking to get all of the public online data that you care about.
2. Apify (Google Map Crawler) — Best for API Solution for Scraping Images and Reviews from Google Map
- Price: Begins at 49 USD (for 100 Actors Compute Units)
- Data Format: JSON
- OS Supported: Cloud-Based (accessed through API)
Apify is yet another high-quality Google map scraper, following in the footsteps of Bright Data. In terms of all-around web scraping tools, this Google Maps scraper is undoubtedly the best. All data extraction is automated by Apify, so you don’t need to know any code. If you’re a developer, you can utilize the Google Place API, but you don’t have much leeway. The API Google Map Crawler is the best tool for extracting reviews, business contact information, and photographs, among other things, from Google Map.
If you don’t want to deal with anti-scraping systems as a developer, this program has shown to be an excellent choice. When it comes to using this API solution, the developer gives clear documentation and instructions on how to collect data from Google Maps.
3. Octoparse — Best for Easy and Effective Scraping of Google Map
- Price: Begins at 75 USD monthly
- Data Format: SQLServer, MySQL, JSON, Excel, CSV
- Platform Supported: Desktop, Cloud
In my opinion, Octoparse is one of the best Google Maps scrapers out there. ” A broad scraping tool, rather than a Google Maps scraper, it may be used to extract data from all sorts of websites, including static and interactive ones. Anti-bot measures have been included in Octoparse in order to avoid detection and ban.
The Octoparse blog includes a guide on how to scrape company listings using Octoparse’s support for Google Map scraping. Both a download and a web service are offered for this piece of software. This is a premium app, but for a limited time, you may try it out for free.
4. ScrapeStorm — Powerful Google Map Scraper with Point and Click Interface for Easy Selection of Desired Items on Google Map
- Price: Begins at 49.99 USD monthly
- Data Format: Google Sheets, MySQL, JSON, Excel, CSV, TXT
- Platform Supported: Desktop
You can use ScrapeStorm, an advanced web scraper built by an ex-Google crawler team, to extract data from Google Maps. Using this web scraper, you can choose items of interest on the map by pointing and clicking. It can handle pagination and all other aspects of web scraping workflows.
Because the people working on this project have a lot of experience, you won’t run into any roadblocks. The diversity of data export formats allowed by ScrapeStorm, as opposed to those mentioned above, is a unique feature.
5. ParseHub — Best for Non-tech Individuals to Scrape Google Map without Stress
- Price: Free
- Data Format: JSON, Excel
- Platform Supported: Desktop, Cloud
Using ParseHub, you can extract data from Google Maps and other geographic maps. Non-technical people who want to extract data from the Internet are big fans of this software. Additionally, API support is available for those developers that don’t want to create their own unique scrapers from the ground up.
In the absence of a budget, ParseHub is the ideal option because it offers a free tier. However, the free tier doesn’t have all of the capabilities you’ll need, and there are a lot of limitations. A Google Map Scraper that doesn’t limit you in any way is ParseHub’s premium edition.
6. WebHarvy — Best Google Map Scraper for Non-coders to Scrap Google Map Data
- Price: Begins at 139 USD (for one user interface)
- Data Format: TSV, XML, JSON, Excel, CSV, TXT
- Platform Supported: Desktop
One of the greatest online scrapers for non-coders is WebHarvy. A web scraping tool that may be used to extract data from any page on the Internet is available. Simply point and click on the interface to choose the objects you want to save from the web.
WebHarvy includes regular expression support, which makes it ideal for sifting through text strings to find content that is hidden inside them. Google Maps company listings and reviews can be scraped with WebHarvy.
How to Use Selenium and Python to Scrape Google Map
When it comes to scraping Google Maps, you don’t have to rely on pre-existing Google Maps scrapers because you can create your own. Google Map scrapers that have already been built for usage as independent tools have either unneeded functionality or missing functionalities. Developing a Google Map scraper doesn’t take long because there are libraries and frameworks you can use to create a scraper that meets your specific needs.
Because the Google Map website relies so heavily on JavaScript to generate and output results, you can’t use standard scraping tools to extract data from it. Scrapy will also not work because it does not support JavaScript; thus, you can’t use the Requests and Beautifulsoup combo.
You’ll need Selenium if you’re going to use Python to create Google Map scrapers. This program automates the use of web browsers to accomplish predefined tasks. Using this application, you may open Google Chrome, search for certain businesses on Google Maps, click on them, and copy the information presented.
However, even if Selenium will complete the job, there is a chance that it will be flagged and blocked. Because of this, you’ll need to use anti-scraping measures, such as rotating proxies that change your IP address after every request or after a predetermined amount of time.
It is also necessary to modify the user agent, set random timing in requests, and replicate human activities such as clicking and dragging the pointer around. As a general rule, you’ll want to keep your requests from being misinterpreted as coming from a computer program.
Install Selenium and Python
In order to utilize Python and Selenium, you must first install a Chrome driver. For Selenium to work, you’ll need a Chrome browser. If you want to use Python on your computer, go to the official Python website and download the most recent version. To download and install Selenium, do “pip install selenium” in the command line.
To connect Selenium to your browser, you’ll need to install a browser driver after installing Python and Selenium. Popular web browsers are supported by Selenium. Google Chrome is a good choice. Google Chrome drivers are available on the Google Chrome Drivers website. You can download it in a zip file. Create a new folder in your script-making location and paste the contents of the archive. To learn how to utilize Selenium for Python programming, I advise you to go through this Selenium Python guide.
FAQs
Q. Is scraping Google Map legal?
Scraping data from the Google Maps API is not permitted. The place id of any location can be saved and used at a later time by retrieving it from a database.
Q. Why should I scrape Google Maps?
If you wish to collect location, reviews, ratings, and contact details of local firms, then the answer is Google Maps. The number one source of local business leads is the Google Maps business listings. Data can be scraped from websites using a Web Scraper or Web Scraping Software.
Q. What is the best Google Map Scraper to use?
There are numerous Google map scrapers you can choose from. For easy search, you can pick from the list of this article about the best Google map scrapers. Bright Data tops the list because it is one of the most reliable Google map scrapers you can use.
You can also try out Apify and WebHarvy, which are other great options. In terms of all-around web scraping tools, this Google Maps scraper is undoubtedly the best. The reason I recommend Apify is that all data extraction is automated by it, so you don't need to know any code. However, the tool has been designed to be versatile, and you are free to create and execute your own codes within it.
For WebHarvy, it is a visual online scraping software that can extract data from any site with a few clicks of a mouse. Scraping B2B leads from Google Maps and other local business listings websites such as Manta, Yelp, and Yellow Pages is possible with WebHarvy.
It has an easy-to-use and visually appealing user interface for selecting the data you need to scrape. For the record, Bright Data, Apify, and WebHarvy are hot picks of best Google Map scrapers in this market as of now.
Conclusion
To scrape Google Maps, you don’t need to be an expert. All you need is a basic understanding of how to automate your access to the site and extract the relevant data. You’ll agree with me when I say that we’ve talked about how to accomplish this. A lack of coding skills is no longer an impediment to using web scrapers, and some of the best are featured in this article.
