Google maps scraping - Ultimate way to scrape emails

How to scrape data from Google Maps: a step-by-step guide

It’s one thing to understand the importance of scraping data from Google Maps, but it’s quite another thing to know how to do it effectively using the right tools. 

In this section, we will cover everything about how you can scrape Google Maps using Spylead. 

For easy comprehension, we will break it into these three easy steps: 

Step 1: Set up a Google Maps Search

Step 2: Set up the Spylead Google Maps scraper (download the chrome extension)

Step 3: Use your freshly scraped data

Step 1: Set up a Google Maps Search

The first thing to do is look for B2B prospects on Google Maps. 

Visit Google Maps

There are two ways you could do this:

• Either directly open Google Maps, which has several operational limitations.
• Or use our shortcut by opening the Spylead Chrome extension and clicking on “Google Maps”.

Target prospects on Google Maps

This is where you decide whose data you are after and go for them. For instance, it could be construction firms in New York City or Yoga centers in Lagos. 

In this article, let’s say we are looking to reach out to B2B marketing agencies in San Francisco that might be interested in an alternative SaaS (software as a service) tool. With these clear prospects in mind, you can proceed to look for them on Google Maps. 

Set up your Google Map search by inputting the desired keyword and location in the search bar.

Keyword

The term “keyword” here is the profession of your prospects, which could range from plumbers to medical doctors, depending on what you want. Our keyword for this exercise is “B2B marketing agencies.” 

We still have to add a location to narrow down our search. 

Location

By default, Google Maps will show your current location. By typing it into the search bar, you can change it to your desired location (district, city, region, state, or country). Since we are looking for B2B marketing agencies in San Francisco, “San Francisco” is our location. 

NOTE: sometimes, you will see suggestions in your search dropdown. Clicking on them might refine your search better. 

Now, click on the binoculars and wait for the result.

Google Maps will offer at most 200 results per search. For more optimized results, you might have to pinpoint your search areas. For example, instead of “B2B marketing agencies in San Francisco,” it could be “B2B marketing agencies in North Beach,” and then “B2B marketing agencies in Tenderloin.” 

Now that you have the search set up, it is time to bring in the crawler to scrape Google Maps results.  

Step 2: Scrape Google Maps results with Spylead

If you have already downloaded and pinned the Spylead Chrome Extension to your toolbar, it is time to open it. 

If you haven’t, you should do that now and open it. 

Now, you can get on with your Google Maps bulk scraping campaign as follows: 

1. Name your campaign. You can type anything, for example, something relevant to your keyword and/or location. 
2. Select how many results you want to scrape from Google Maps. Spylead charges 1 credit per 10 results. You should preferably type in your chosen number in tens, that is to say, 10, 20, 30, and so on. If you input 11, for instance, it will cost you 2 credits anyway. Spylead will not charge you if the chosen number of listings to scrape exceeds the number of results in your Google Maps search.
3. Pick a start position. This means the Google Map result you want Spylead to start scraping data, 1 being the starting position and so on. 
4. Click on “Start Bulk”. Once you have completed the above three steps, you are ready to launch the scraper. You will see a new tab open with your scraping campaign details on the Spylead website. This means that Spylead is currently extracting your data by searching them through the web. It will be done in a few minutes.

Step 3: Use your scraped results 

By this step, the scraping is over and now you have a list with hundreds of companies from Google Maps along with useful data for your cold emailing campaign. 

But before you start sending those cold emails, Spylead can optimize your result even further. 

Verify the scraped emails

Spylead will help you reduce the bounce rate of your cold email campaign by verifying all email addresses. 

Here’s how you do it: 

Check the left checkbox(es), you can verify one email at a time or all at once, and then click on “Verify emails''.

Spylead will rank the emails as follows: 

🟢 100% deliverable

🟠 Catch all

⛔ Not valid

⚠️ Not verified

With your verified emails in your hand, it is time to move things to the next level. 

Move the data to your Spylead lead management dashboard

Your list will comprise both companies with emails and the ones without.  

Click on the checkbox on the header of the table and click on the "Export to lead list" button. Only companies with emails will be sent to the selected list.

Your list is ready.

Download your list as CSV

Again, click on the checkbox on the header of the table and click on the “Download as CSV” button. 

You can choose to import: 

• Only the companies with 100% email deliverability. 
• All the companies with email addresses.
• All the companies on the list (including ones without emails). 

With this, you can import your list in a CSV file into your favorite emailing tool and be set to begin your targeted cold email campaign. 

How to use the data you scrape from Google Maps

17 years since it was first launched, Google Maps has evolved from being a simple navigation tool to an app with immense marketing opportunities for individual and business promotion. Now, all kinds of businesses, from small ecommerce companies to large pharmaceuticals, push to have their names as high up the Google Maps ratings as possible.

The following are some ways you can leverage the data you scrape from Google Maps to grow your business and increase your revenue: 

Generate leads 

When you scrape Google Maps, it allows you to build your database of phone numbers, emails, reviews, and ratings, for a particular location. 

Send high-converting cold emails

With all the information highlighted above, you can craft hyper-personalized emails. The more personalized your emails are, the higher your chances of getting responses from your prospects. 

Monitor brand perception

One of the pieces of information you get when you scrape Google Maps is reviews. These reviews show positive, negative, and indifferent brand perceptions, quality of service, and specific keywords. 

Create a potential customer base

The web and contact information of your target prospects are scattered all over the internet. Trying to sort them out can take a lot of time. Google Maps is the one where most of your prospects are congregated. If you scrape Google Maps, you can get them. 

Keep up with competitors' offers

The competitors’ reviews you get when you scrape Google Maps, for instance, allow you to gain insight into the framework of their business. This way, you can monitor and analyze your competitors’ offers and help you work on how you can offer your clients superior products and services.

Conduct a product or service hunt

As a business, if you are not looking to sell a service or a product, you want to buy. With the information you get from scraping Google Maps, you can find businesses that offer the product or service you are looking for and select the best option from the pool of options. 

Some frequently asked questions (FAQs) about scraping Google Maps

Why do you need to scrape Google Maps?

If you are still wondering why we are making such a big deal out of Google Maps, see for yourself: 

• 86% of individuals around the world look up a business on Google Maps before visiting or making any contact whatsoever. 
• Americans constitute about 45% of all Google Maps users, 94% of which tend to make their restaurant decisions based on reviews on Google Maps.

What would you need to start? 

1. Create a Spylead account, which automatically grants you access to free 25 credits each month.
2. Log in to your account.  ‍
3. Download the Spylead Chrome extension and pin it to your toolbar. 

Is it legal to scrape Google Maps?

The short answer is yes, it is legal to scrape data from Google Maps. 

If you are still wondering how that is possible, here it is: 

Anybody can get information from publicly available websites - web scraping is just a faster and more efficient way to get the job done. It is therefore legal, as long as you respect the personal data and copyright laws. To learn more about the legality of web scraping, read our blog post on the subject.

Nearly 8 million live websites use Google Maps. Overall, Google Maps has 4.1 million ratings on the App Store and 20+ million user contributions each day. Now imagine the wealth of information that it holds. 

Is it good to use the official Google Maps API?

API, which stands for Application Programming Interface, describes a software intermediary that allows two applications to interact. With an API, one application can give users access to data from another application. 

Some popular websites, such as Twitter, Amazon, and Facebook, provide APIs for users to get part of their data. Google Map, with its Google Maps API, is in the league of these popular websites with APIs. Way back in 2010, however, Google Maps APIs implemented several limitations on scraping its data. Since it became necessary for business owners and developers around the globe to seek out alternative methods to scrape Google Maps. 

Even now though, the official Google Maps API might be a sufficient option in some cases. That said, third-party crawlers such as Spylead’s Google Email Scraper offer the following: 

• Unlimited results. This is not available when using Google Maps API as they enforce strict rate limits and IP quotas.
• Popular place times histogram. This option is not available in the official Google Maps API.
• All place reviews. This is also not available when using the official API due to the strictly enforced rate limits and IP quotas. 
• All place photos. Like with All Place Reviews, this option is not available when using Google Maps API because of the strictly enforced rate limits and IP quotas.

Conclusion

We cannot overemphasize the incredible opportunities that open up to your business when you use Spylead to scrape Google Maps and use the result to improve your marketing effort and increase revenue. Hopefully, by reading this post you not only see the importance but are also equipped with the necessary know-how to scrape data from Google Maps. Good luck!