How to Scrape Google Maps Data for Free: 3 Practical Methods Compared

Scraping Google Maps data can be a valuable way to gather business information for lead generation. While paid solutions like Appify exist, there are also free alternatives that can help you collect data without spending money. Let’s explore three different methods for scraping Google Maps data, including a free option using Google Maps API.

Method 1: Using Appify (Paid Solution)

Appify provides a straightforward way to scrape Google Maps data but at a cost. The workflow is simple:

• Create a form that captures keyword and location parameters
• Send these parameters to Appify via API
• Retrieve the scraped data from Appify
• Filter results to find businesses with email addresses
• Store the filtered data in Google Sheets
• Send personalized emails to the collected addresses

The main advantage of Appify is its simplicity – everything is pre-built and ready to use. However, you’ll need to pay for the service.

Method 2: Using Sarpar.dev (Limited Free Plan)

Sarpar.dev offers a free plan that allows up to 2,500 Google Maps data scrapes before requiring payment. The workflow follows these steps:

• Send keyword and location data to Sarpar.dev API
• Split the returned results into individual items
• Filter out businesses without websites
• Scrape each business website to extract plain text
• Use OpenAI to extract structured data (company name, email, phone number)
• Filter out businesses without email addresses
• Store and process the remaining data

This approach works well but has limitations on the free tier.

Method 3: Using Google Maps API (Free for 10,000 Results/Month)

The most cost-effective method uses Google Maps API, which allows 10,000 free results per month. Here’s the process:

• Search Google Maps using the Places API with your keyword and location
• Retrieve basic information for each result
• Use the Places Details API to get complete information including websites
• Clean up website URLs to remove tracking parameters
• Scrape each business website while mimicking a browser (using proper headers)
• Extract plain text from the HTML
• Use OpenAI to extract structured data
• Filter results to businesses with email addresses
• Store data and send emails as needed

This method requires more technical setup but offers the most generous free tier.

Important Technical Considerations

When scraping websites, remember to:

• Mimic browser behavior by setting appropriate headers (User-Agent, Accept, Connection, etc.)
• Handle SSL issues and redirects properly
• Extract plain text from HTML either using markdown conversion or custom code
• Validate extracted data to ensure you have valid email addresses

For Google Maps API usage, you’ll need to:

• Obtain a Google Maps API key
• Use the Places Search API first to get place IDs
• Use the Places Details API with those IDs to get complete business information
• Specify which fields you need (name, website, formatted address, phone number)

Conclusion

While paid solutions offer convenience, the Google Maps API approach allows you to scrape up to 10,000 results per month for free. This is typically sufficient for most lead generation needs, especially since you’ll be filtering down to businesses that have websites and email addresses.

By automating this process, you can build a steady pipeline of potential leads for your outreach campaigns without the ongoing expense of paid scraping tools.