Google Maps Photos Scraper

Google Maps Photos Scraper exports public Google Maps place photos from URLs, share links, Place IDs, and search queries to JSON, CSV, Excel, or an API.

What does Google Maps Photos Scraper do?

Google Maps Photos Scraper exports public Google-hosted photo URLs and visible place metadata from Google Maps place pages and search results. It captures both visible gallery images and the photo metadata delivered to the browser, while keeping the visible-page path as a fallback. Runs deduplicate photos, save progress, and report target-level warnings instead of discarding valid results when one place fails.

Who is it for? Common use cases

• Local SEO agencies auditing business profile photo coverage
• Hospitality, restaurant, and retail teams monitoring public place media
• Lead generation teams enriching place lists with visual signals
• Reputation/media auditors comparing competitor photos by location
• Analysts building datasets of public Maps photo links for review

What data can it export?

• Public Google-hosted photo URLs and thumbnail URLs
• Stable photo IDs for deduplication across places and retries
• Place name and resolved Google Maps URL
• Query or URL that produced each record
• Photo order/rank, visible dimensions, captions, and contributor labels when shown
• Google Maps identifiers when present in the public URL

Input example and recipes

Single landmark or business

{
  "queries": ["Statue of Liberty National Monument"],
  "maxPhotosPerPlace": 10,
  "includeSearchDiscovery": true,
  "maxConcurrency": 1,
  "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": false }
}

Category and location monitoring

{
  "queries": ["pizza near Times Square New York"],
  "maxPhotosPerPlace": 25,
  "includeSearchDiscovery": true,
  "maxConcurrency": 1
}

Existing Google Maps URLs

{
  "startUrls": [
    { "url": "https://www.google.com/maps/search/Eiffel+Tower" }
  ],
  "maxPhotosPerPlace": 10
}

Place ID with original-resolution URLs

{
  "placeIds": ["ChIJLU7jZClu5kcR4PcOOO6p3I0"],
  "imageSize": "original",
  "language": "en",
  "country": "FR",
  "maxPhotosPerPlace": 20
}

Example output

{
  "placeName": "Statue of Liberty",
  "placeUrl": "https://www.google.com/maps/place/...",
  "placeId": "0x89c25090129c363d:0x40c6a5770d25022b",
  "cid": null,
  "query": "Statue of Liberty National Monument",
  "rank": 1,
  "photoId": "79d631fd633b36afc9bf1218",
  "photoUrl": "https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/...=w2048-h2048-k-no",
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/...=w320-h320-k-no",
  "imageWidth": 408,
  "imageHeight": 544,
  "category": null,
  "caption": "Photo of Statue of Liberty",
  "contributorName": null,
  "extractionSource": "photometa",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-07-10T10:00:00.000Z"
}

Input settings

Field	Type	Description
startUrls	array	Google Maps place URLs, search URLs, or maps.app.goo.gl share links.
placeIds	array	Place IDs (ChIJ...), feature IDs (0x...:0x...), or numeric CIDs.
queries	array	Place names or category + location searches.
maxPhotosPerPlace	integer	Maximum photo records to save per input.
imageSize	string	thumbnail, medium, large (the backward-compatible default), or original.
includeSearchDiscovery	boolean	Include visible search-result thumbnails before a result resolves to a single place.
language	string	Google Maps language code, such as en, de, or pt.
country	string	Two-letter country code used to regionalize results.
allowEmptyResults	boolean	Allow a successful zero-row run. Disabled by default so blocks and source changes are not hidden.
maxRunSeconds	integer	Work deadline from 60 to 270 seconds; the Actor reserves 30 seconds for checkpointing.
maxConcurrency	integer	Browser pages in parallel; keep low for Google Maps reliability.
proxyConfiguration	object	Optional Apify Proxy settings. Start without proxy or with datacenter; use residential only if your run is blocked.

Output fields

Field	Description
placeName	Visible Google Maps place name when available.
placeUrl	Resolved Maps URL used for extraction.
placeId, cid	Google Maps identifiers when present in the URL.
query	Query that produced the record, if any.
rank	Photo order within the input page.
photoId	Deterministic photo identifier used for cross-target and retry deduplication.
photoUrl	Google-hosted photo URL at the requested resolution.
thumbnailUrl	Google-hosted 320 px preview URL.
imageWidth, imageHeight	Visible image dimensions when available.
category	Visible album/category label when available.
caption	Visible alt text or aria label when available.
contributorName	Public contributor/owner label when visible.
extractionSource	dom for a visible image or photometa for browser-delivered photo metadata.
scrapedAt	ISO timestamp for the scrape.

Pricing

This actor uses pay-per-event pricing:

• Run start: $0.005 per run
• Photo records: charged only for successfully saved photo rows

Tier labels and per-photo prices:

Tier	Price per photo
Free	$0.0015809
Starter / Bronze	$0.0013747
Scale / Silver	$0.0010723
Business / Gold	$0.00082483
Custom / Platinum	$0.00054989
Custom / Diamond	$0.00038492

For quick estimates, 1,000 photo records cost about $1.37 plus the small start fee at the Starter / Bronze rate. Failed targets, duplicates, and error/status messages are not saved as paid photo rows.

Tips for best results

• Use specific place names with city/location, such as Hotel Chelsea New York.
• For category monitoring, use queries such as coffee shops near Shibuya Tokyo and keep includeSearchDiscovery enabled.
• Keep maxPhotosPerPlace low for first tests, then scale after confirming output quality.
• Use placeIds when you need deterministic place resolution across scheduled runs.
• Leave allowEmptyResults disabled unless an empty gallery is a valid business result.
• If Google blocks requests in your region, enable Apify Proxy in the input.

Limits and legality

This Actor extracts public photo URLs and visible public metadata. It does not log in, bypass paywalls, download private content, or collect hidden account data. Run it only for workloads you are authorized to process, and follow applicable platform terms, privacy requirements, and local law. Google Maps can change its public interface or limit traffic; all-empty runs therefore fail by default instead of silently appearing successful.

API usage

Node.js

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('fetch_cat/google-maps-photos-scraper').call({
  queries: ['Statue of Liberty National Monument'],
  maxPhotosPerPlace: 10
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

Python

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient('YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN')
run = client.actor('fetch_cat/google-maps-photos-scraper').call(run_input={
    'queries': ['Statue of Liberty National Monument'],
    'maxPhotosPerPlace': 10,
})
items = client.dataset(run['defaultDatasetId']).list_items().items
print(items)

cURL

curl -X POST 'https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/fetch_cat~google-maps-photos-scraper/runs?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"queries":["Statue of Liberty National Monument"],"maxPhotosPerPlace":10}'

MCP and agent usage

Use this actor from agents through Apify MCP:

https://mcp.apify.com?tools=fetch_cat/google-maps-photos-scraper

Claude CLI example:

$claude mcp add apify https://mcp.apify.com?tools=fetch_cat/google-maps-photos-scraper

JSON configuration example:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=fetch_cat/google-maps-photos-scraper"
    }
  }
}

Example prompts:

• "Collect public Google Maps photos for these five hotel URLs."
• "Find visible photo thumbnails for pizza places near Times Square."
• "Export Maps photo URLs for this landmark query as JSON."

Related actors

• Google Maps Reviews Scraper
• Google Maps Lead Finder
• Google Autocomplete Scraper
• Google Search Results Scraper

FAQ

Does it download image files?
No. It exports public image URLs and thumbnails; you can download files separately if your use case allows it.

Can it scrape private photos?
No. Only public Google Maps media visible without login is in scope.

Why are some fields empty?
Google Maps does not expose every label, contributor, or category in every visible page state. Empty optional fields mean the value was not public/visible during the run.

Why did a zero-photo run fail? An all-empty result can mean an unavailable place, a consent or traffic block, or a Google Maps interface change. The Actor fails so monitoring workflows notice. Set allowEmptyResults only when zero photos is expected.

Can a stopped run continue safely? Yes. Multi-target runs store RUN_CHECKPOINT with pending targets and seen photo IDs. A resurrected run resumes without charging the start event again or saving the same photo twice.

Support

If you need help, open an issue on the Apify actor page and include:

• Input JSON you used
• Expected output
• Actual output or dataset sample
• Reproducible public URL (for example, a public Google Maps URL) or query
• Run ID and error message, if any