Google Maps API Data at Scale

Google Maps business data via search API returns structured JSON with business names, addresses, phone numbers, ratings, and review counts at $0.005 per query. Outscraper charges $0.002 per result but caps at 500 free results. For lead generation teams extracting 1,000-5,000 businesses per month, the search API approach is simpler and requires no scraping infrastructure.

The Google Maps Data Problem

Google Maps does not offer a public API for bulk business search results. The Places API charges $0.032 per request and limits the data you can extract. Scraping Google Maps directly requires headless browsers, residential proxies, and custom JavaScript execution to handle infinite scroll. Most scrapers break within weeks as Google updates its anti-bot measures.

Extracting Business Listings

import requests, os

API_KEY = os.environ["SCAVIO_API_KEY"]

def get_local_businesses(query, location=None):
    params = {"platform": "google_maps", "query": query}
    if location:
        params["location"] = location
    resp = requests.post("https://api.scavio.dev/api/v1/search",
        headers={"x-api-key": API_KEY},
        json=params)
    data = resp.json()
    businesses = []
    for b in data.get("local_results", []):
        businesses.append({
            "name": b.get("title", ""),
            "address": b.get("address", ""),
            "phone": b.get("phone", ""),
            "rating": b.get("rating", ""),
            "reviews": b.get("reviews", 0),
            "website": b.get("website", ""),
            "type": b.get("type", ""),
        })
    return businesses

# $0.005 per query
leads = get_local_businesses("plumbers", "Austin, TX")
print(f"Found {len(leads)} businesses")
for b in leads[:5]:
    print(f"  {b['name']} | {b['rating']} ({b['reviews']} reviews) | {b['phone']}")

Lead Generation Pipeline

Extract businesses by category and location, then filter by review count and rating. Businesses with 10-50 reviews and ratings below 4.0 are often actively looking for help improving their online presence. Businesses with no website listed are candidates for web development outreach. Run 200 location-category queries to build a list of 2,000+ businesses for $1.

Enrichment After Extraction

Follow up each Maps extraction with a Google web search for the business name to find their social profiles, recent news, and competitor comparisons. This two-step approach (Maps query + web query) costs $0.01 per business and produces a richer lead profile than Maps data alone.

When Outscraper or SerpAPI Wins

Outscraper specializes in Google Maps with dedicated fields for opening hours, photos, and detailed review text. SerpAPI ($50/month for 5,000 searches) offers mature Google Maps parsing with location-specific results. For teams needing review text extraction or photo URLs, these specialized tools provide deeper data than a general search API.