Introduction
In this guide, you'll explore the art of extracting valuable data from Google Maps. Uncover a range of tools and techniques that empower you to scrape images, extract restaurant data, gather contact details, extract reviews, and delve into various other data extraction processes.
Welcome to your in-depth guide on extracting valuable data from Google Maps. This manual will guide you through a variety of techniques and tools to help you extract images, restaurant data, contact details, reviews, and more. Whether you're a researcher, developer, or an individual seeking to utilize publicly available Google Maps data, this guide is tailored to assist you in reaching your data-related objectives.
What's the Purpose of This Manual?
The Google Maps Scraper, an early creation of Actowiz Solutions, has continuously adapted to the evolving Google Maps website, ensuring the extraction of high-quality data. With over 40,000 users and numerous added features, navigating the complexity of the scraper can be challenging. Hence, we've crafted this manual to assist you in navigating specific Google Maps scraping scenarios. Feel free to explore these cases, and if you encounter any issues or find a case missing, please inform us for continuous improvement.
Restaurants
How do you retrieve restaurant data from Google Maps?
Utilize the Google Maps Scraper. Input "restaurants" in the Search term field, specify the City name in the Location field and set the desired Number of results. The resultant dataset will include the scraped restaurants from the specified city.
How to Extract Data from Restaurant Chains?
With the Google Maps Scraper, it's effortless to scrape not just generic restaurants but also specific chains like McDonald's or Starbucks. Input the chain's name in the Search terms, include the Location, and set the Number of results. In the Search options, scrape only places containing the search term in their title. Click Start, and after the scrape, you'll obtain a dataset consolidating all franchise restaurants.
How to Extract Restaurant Menus from Google Maps?
Utilize the Google Maps Scraper to scrape restaurants, pubs, cafes, and different gastronomic establishments. No specific input for menu scraping is required; simply scrape restaurants as usual, specifying the desired quantity and location. The resulting dataset will include links to menus if they are available on Google Maps.
Contact Details
How do you retrieve phone numbers from Google Maps?
Leverage the Google Maps data extraction tool. Regardless of your chosen method—be it by URL, search term + location, or coordinates—the tool ensures the extraction of phone numbers and addresses from your targeted places. The tool will automatically extract the listings as long as the listings include contact details on the Google Maps website. For instance, extracting phone numbers from 100 bagel-selling places in NYC can be achieved effortlessly.
To ensure the extraction of all listed phone numbers from business listings on Google Maps, consider using the Google Maps Email Extractor. This tool goes further by visiting the websites associated with these listings and retrieving all phone numbers mentioned on those sites.
How to Extract Addresses from Google Maps?
Employ the Google Maps web scraping tool. Regardless of the location, method, or extraction approach, you opt for—whether by search term, URL, or coordinates—the tool guarantees the extraction of addresses from your targeted places. As long as the listings include their contact information on the Google Maps website, extracting addresses becomes straightforward.
To enrich the addresses obtained from business listings on Google Maps with social media details, incorporate the Google Maps Email Extractor. This advanced tool takes an additional step by visiting the associated websites of those listings and capturing all the mentioned social media profiles, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more. It serves as a valuable method to construct a comprehensive database replete with relevant contact details.
To extract emails from Google Maps, employ a two-step approach using the Google Maps Scraper and Google Maps Email Extractor. Directly scraping business emails from Google Maps is not feasible, so the two tools work collaboratively. The Maps Scraper visits each place on Google Maps, checking for website addresses. The Email Extractor then scrapes each website to search for emails in the Contact Us section. This combined process ensures comprehensive email extraction.
Is it possible to download emails from Google Maps business listings into an Excel file?
Absolutely! Once you've extracted contact data from Google Maps, you can easily filter and download it in Excel. Simply select the pertinent categories in the "Selected fields," like contact details, phone, address, etc., and choose your preferred file format for a seamless download experience.
Reviews
How to Extract Google Reviews?
The most straightforward method is to utilize the reviews feature in the Google Maps Scraper. Begin by selecting places for scraping, either via URL or search term. Configure the review parameters, including freshness, URL, and the number of reviews per place, along with reviewer details. Optionally, you can choose to scrape only reviews having particular keywords and categorize them by ranking, relevance, or newness.
The output will be a dataset containing Google reviews and associated information, such as review text, owner responses, upvote count, posting time, reviewer activity, and whether the review is marked as a Local Guide on Google Maps. In our example, we focused on scraping Google restaurant reviews.
Is it possible to exclusively download Google Maps reviews in Excel without including other data?
Certainly! If you've gathered a variety of Google Maps data and wish to download only the reviews without cleaning the dataset, you can accomplish this directly on the platform. Simply navigate to the Reviews tab in the Output section to preview the reviews before downloading. To exclusively download Google reviews, select Reviews in the Export tab and choose the Excel format.
Categories
Is it possible to perform Google Maps scraping based on categories?
Absolutely! You can scrape Google Maps with ease by choosing from a vast selection of over 2,500 official place categories. Whether you're interested in car dealerships, dollar stores, bookshops, or air taxis, all categories are conveniently accessible in an extensive drop-down list. Enjoy the benefits of a more streamlined search process, the choice between one-word or two-word subcategories, the capability to add multiple categories at once, and the flexibility to combine searching words with a category or exclusively use a category. Dive into this feature in the Search & filters section.
Visualizations
Is it feasible to create visualizations for data obtained through Google Maps scraping?
Certainly! While extracting data, you have the option to view it on a map, and it can be exported later. The visualization of your data on OpenStreetMap is readily available in the Live View tab. Once the extraction process concludes, your map will be securely stored in the Key-Value Store as a results-map.html file for future utilization.
The data extracted using Google Maps Scraper is incredibly versatile. It can be exported in JSON, CSV, HTML, and XLS formats, allowing seamless integration into any preferred visualization tool or platform. As an illustration, we utilized scraped gas prices in conjunction with kepler.gl.
Big Ambitions
Is it possible to perform a comprehensive Google Maps scrape for an entire city, aiming to extract information from all places?
Certainly! To scrape all Google places within a city, utilize specific parameters in Google Maps Data Scraper. Keep in mind that this process may take some time. Simply input the city's name and a large number. Scroll down to opt for "Scraping places with no search terms -> Scrape using OCR tool" in a dropdown list.
Here's an illustration of web scraping all places on Google Maps in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The dataset encompasses a diverse array of locations, ranging from sculptures and mailing services to airlines and restaurants, showcasing the breadth of information obtained.
Is it possible to conduct a comprehensive Google Maps scrape for an entire country, extracting information across various locations?
Certainly! To extract the whole country using Google Maps, use the Google Maps Scraper tool by providing the relevant search terms and the country's name. Set maximum numbers as higher as possible, and you're ready to
It took nearly an hour, but we successfully gathered information on all hospital facilities in Switzerland, totaling 166. We now have comprehensive details, including general information, contact details, location, ratings, and the option to include reviews. This involved extracting Google Maps data across the entire albeit small country.
Is it possible to exclusively scrape cities and bypass sparsely populated areas on Google Maps?
Absolutely! Utilize the "Deeper region scrape" option in Google Maps Scraper to extract more places. This feature is particularly valuable when extracting data from countries like Australia or Canada, or regions with extensive areas of low population. With this setting, the scraper will bypass unpopulated areas such as deserts, forests, mountains, and lakes. Instead, it will concentrate on places with Google Maps pins, which typically represent cities. The scraper ensures thorough coverage by dividing areas into cities and zooming in appropriately to capture every pin on Google Maps.
Note: Activating this feature may extend the runtime due to the extraction of more places. However, rest assured that the increased runtime is well worth it, as it enables efficient scraping of vast areas, such as states or even entire continents!
Sentiment Analysis
Is it possible to employ this tool for conducting sentiment analysis on Google Maps reviews?
It's possible to combine the features of Google Maps Reviews Scraper and AI Text Analyzer to carry out comprehensive full-text analytics on Google reviews. This combination allows you to extract different kinds of reviews, such as those of restaurants, museums, businesses, and ratings and replies from business owners. However, simply extracting reviews is not sufficient for performing sentiment analysis on Google. The second component, the text analysis tool, is designed to meticulously analyze the entire dataset and identify the most significant attributes of each review. This ensures that the dataset is ready for further processing using any preferred sentiment analysis tools.
Geolocation
What is the process for extracting longitude and latitude from Google Maps places?
Simply utilizing Google Maps Scraper to scrape a place on Google Maps is sufficient. Typically, Google Maps URLs already contain the coordinates of the selected place, and extracting them is all that's needed.
Navigate to the Google Maps URL section and copy-paste the URL of the Google place you're interested in. You can include multiple places to extract coordinates from. In the dataset, you'll find both the longitude and latitude of each place.
The scraper will retrieve geolocation data, even if you opt for the first section with Location, Search, and total results. The section with URLs is simply more specific and easier to use for demonstrating the scraping results.
Particular Google Maps data
How to find Google places id?
Each location on Google Maps possesses a unique place ID, serving as a distinctive identifier within Google Maps database. Different place IDs are integral to efficiently organizing your Google Maps data. With knowledge of the ID alone, you can retrieve comprehensive information about a place from Google Maps. The extraction of place IDs is achievable using Google Maps Scraper, regardless of the method chosen for scraping places (by URL, geolocation, or search term). In every dataset, you'll consistently find a place ID. Here's the example of a place ID obtained after extracting Vasco da Gama Bridge.
If you possess a dataset with numerous scraped places and wish to retain only specific fields like place name and place ID, you can easily preselect the desired fields before downloading the data.
Google Maps Images
What is the process for extracting images and photos from Google Maps using scraping methods?
To extract images from Google Maps places, a two-step process is required involving two Actors: Google Maps Scraper for image extraction and Download Images from Dataset Actor for bulk downloading. The second Actor is essential because the scraper retrieves image URLs, not the actual image files. Instead of manually opening each image URL and saving the file, the Download Images from Dataset Actor performs this task efficiently. Alternatively, you have the option to create a Google Images Scraper yourself.
In summary, follow these steps for your action plan:
1. Generate a dataset by extracting data from Google places.
2. Launch the Google Maps Scraper.
3. Set up the scraper to extract data from the places, including images.
4. Execute the scraper and locate the dataset containing the extracted Google Maps data.
5. Make a note of the dataset ID for future reference.
2. Find image attributes
Review the resulting datasets in the JSON format.
Utilize Cmd+F or Ctrl+F to locate specific attributes containing image URLs. Naturally, for data of Google Maps, this field is referred to as imageUrls.
3. Move on and image download
- Launch the Download Images option from Dataset Actor.
- Copy the dataset ID obtained from the earlier steps and paste it into the corresponding field.
- Paste image fields (e.g., imageUrls) in other designated fields.
- Stipulate the desired number of images for download.
- Click the Start button to initiate the download process.
4. Download images
Initiate the download of Google Maps images by clicking on the Zip File URL.
If uncertain, refer to the steps outlined in the Readme of the Download Images from Dataset for guidance.
What is the process for extracting images from Google Maps reviews through scraping?
If you're looking for useful insights and visual content for your projects, scraping images from Google Maps reviews can be a valuable pursuit. This guide will show you how to do this effectively. Here's what you need to do:
Step 1: Get the necessary tools
To extract reviews and relevant information from Google Maps, you'll need the Google Maps Scraper tool. Additionally, the Download Images from Dataset Actor will help you download images in bulk.
Step 2: Extract reviews and create a dataset
Open the Google Maps Scraper tool and configure it to extract places, reviews, and images. Then, run the scraper and inspect the dataset for reviews and images. Take note of the dataset ID for future reference.
2. Identify image fields
Access the dataset with extracted reviews. Find the attribute containing image URLs of reviews, which is typically called reviewImageUrls for Google Maps reviews.
3. Move on and download image
To start downloading images from a dataset, launch the Download Images from Dataset Actor. Copy the dataset ID from the previous steps and paste it into the corresponding field. Then, paste the image field, such as reviewImageUrls, into the designated field. If you need to specify the number of images to download, do so now. Finally, click the Start button to initiate the image download process.
4. Download images
Upon completion of the download process, click on the Zip File URL.
This action will download a zip file comprising all the images extracted from the Google Maps reviews.
In case you encounter any challenges during the bulk image download, refer to the visual instructions provided in the Actor's readme.
Congratulations! You are now well-equipped to start your Google Maps scraping journey. This guide has provided you with the necessary knowledge and tools to extract, scrape, or analyze data using Google Maps efficiently. Regardless of whether you focus on extracting images, scraping contact information, or exploring particular Google Maps data, you have the expertise to conduct your data extraction projects successfully.
Remember to adhere to Google's terms of service and respect the privacy and rights of others with each data extraction. As technology advances, so do the possibilities provided by Google Maps. Stay curious, explore new features, and continue to harness the wealth of information available through this powerful platform.
For more details, contact Actowiz Solutions now! You can also reach us for all mobile app scraping, instant data scraper and web scraping service requirements.
