Short answer: copying Google Maps listings into an independent database is not a generally permitted use. The Google Maps Platform terms archived on July 14, 2025 say: “Customer will not export, extract, or otherwise scrape Google Maps Content for use outside the Services.” Their examples include bulk-downloading places information and copying business names, addresses, or reviews. If your application needs place information, use the documented Places API inside a product that follows the applicable Maps terms, attribution rules, caching limits, and regional requirements. Do not assume that an API request, browser automation, or publicly visible listing makes bulk extraction lawful or contractually allowed.
First decide what you actually need
“Scrape Google Maps” can describe several different projects. They do not have the same technical or contractual answer.
| Goal | Appropriate starting point | Key constraint |
|---|---|---|
| Show place information in your own application | Places API and the relevant Maps Platform documentation | Follow display, attribution, caching, and service-specific policies. |
| Make a one-time decision about a place | Use Google Maps directly, or make an allowed API request for the application feature | Do not turn the lookup into an exported dataset. |
| Build a durable independent directory or lead database | Obtain data under a licence that permits this use, or collect it from business-owned/public sources whose terms allow it | The reviewed Maps terms prohibit exporting or scraping Maps content for use outside the services and restrict creating a listings or directory service. |
| Capture a visual copy of a webpage | A screenshot service such as ScreenshotNeo | A screenshot is not permission to copy or redistribute the underlying Maps content. |
This distinction prevents a common mistake: treating a technical extraction method as permission to reuse the result.
What Google’s terms say about scraping and export
The Google Maps Platform terms reviewed for this guide prohibit exporting, extracting, or otherwise scraping Google Maps Content for use outside the Services. The listed examples include pre-fetching, indexing, storing, resharing, rehosting, bulk downloading places information, and copying business names, addresses, or user reviews. The same terms also restrict caching except where expressly permitted, creating content based on Maps content, recreating Google products, and using the service to create a listings or directory service.
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Using a browser instead of an API does not change that boundary. Neither does collecting only information that is visible without logging in. A script that evades a rate limit, disguises automation, defeats a bot check, or rotates accounts creates additional security and terms risks; this guide does not provide those techniques.
Google’s end-user Maps Additional Terms, last modified January 27, 2026, separately restrict mass downloading, bulk feeds, and creation of certain mapping datasets for a substitute or substantially similar service. Check both the developer-facing Platform terms and the end-user terms relevant to your activity.
Use the Places API for an in-product feature
For an application that needs place information, Google’s documented route is the Places API. It is request-based and remains subject to the current Places API policies and Maps Platform terms. API access is not a blanket licence to retain, redistribute, or repurpose every returned field.
Before making a request
- Describe the user feature. Write down where the result will appear, who can see it, whether it is refreshed, and whether any value leaves your application.
- Read the current endpoint documentation. Confirm the current endpoint, authentication method, field masks, result limits, pagination behavior, quotas, and price for your billing account. Those values change and were not established by the dated material used for this article.
- Check the governing policies. Review the Maps Platform terms, Places API policies, attribution requirements, privacy obligations, and the terms applicable to your billing location.
- Design retention deliberately. Keep only what your feature needs and only for the period the current policy permits. Do not create a permanent mirror of Google’s listings.
Historical context, not a current schema
An International Monetary Fund working paper published in December 2021 described HTTP requests that returned JSON or XML, discussed volume limitations and possible fees, and listed 23 extractable fields at that time. “23 fields” is a historical figure from that paper, not a promise about today’s Places API fields, limits, pricing, or response format. Use the current Google documentation for implementation decisions.
Storage and caching: the place-ID exception
Google’s Places policy specifically exempts the place ID from Places API caching restrictions and says place IDs may be stored indefinitely. That exception is narrow. It does not authorize indefinite storage of a place’s name, address, rating, review text, photos, or other Places content.
A compliant data model therefore treats an ID and the rest of a place record differently. Store the ID only when you have a continuing product reason, retrieve other content according to the current policy, and remove fields when your retention basis ends. Keep an audit note describing the endpoint, fields, retrieval time, policy version, and deletion rule.
Display and attribution requirements
When an application displays Places content, follow Google’s attribution and display rules. Results displayed on a map must appear on a Google Map. Relevant attributions must be retrieved and displayed for applicable place details, photos, and reviews. For new implementations, Google directs developers to use “Google Maps” attribution and not remove, hide, or obscure provided attribution.
Do not crop an attribution out of a screenshot, place a covering element over it, or present Google-derived details as if your company independently verified them. Your public Terms of Use and Privacy Policy must incorporate the requirements specified for API applications, including Google’s terms and privacy policy where required.
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Google directs customers in the European Economic Area to distinct Maps Platform terms and service-specific information. Functionality and obligations can differ by billing location. Confirm which regional terms govern the account, the endpoint, display location, retention, and downstream use; do not apply a policy you found for another geography by default.
A practical, compliant implementation workflow
- Define the minimum fields. For example, your feature may need a place ID and a displayed name, while a review archive or lead-export file is outside scope.
- Create the Google Cloud project and billing setup required by the current Places documentation. Enable only the needed API and protect credentials with server-side restrictions and secret storage.
- Build a server-side request. Use the exact current endpoint syntax and field mask from Google’s documentation. Do not copy an old blog post’s parameters or the IMF paper’s 2021 field list.
- Render the result in the permitted context. If a map is required, use a Google Map and include the required attribution near the content it describes.
- Implement retention controls. Separate place IDs from transient place content, log deletion jobs, and prevent exports that would create a directory or bulk feed.
- Test policy edge cases. Check missing fields, a place with multiple locations, deleted or merged places, attribution rendering, quota errors, and a user request to export all results.
- Recheck before launch. Confirm current prices, quotas, field masks, result limits, terms, and regional rules on the date you deploy.
Why a browser scraper is a poor substitute
- Terms risk: the reviewed terms expressly name scraping, bulk downloading, copying business names and addresses, and directory-style reuse.
- Fragility: page layouts, consent dialogs, map rendering, login states, and anti-bot controls can change without notice.
- Data quality: a visual page may omit fields, load content asynchronously, or show a result tailored to location or account state.
- Operational risk: retries and parallel browsers can trigger access controls and increase cost without producing a permitted dataset.
If your business requirement is an independent directory, obtain a source whose licence expressly permits directory use, or ask businesses to provide and maintain their own listings. Do not infer that Google’s public interface grants that licence.
Or skip the browser setup
If you only need a clean visual capture of a webpage for QA, documentation, or an internal record, ScreenshotNeo provides a screenshot API rather than a Maps-data export mechanism. It accepts a URL and can return PNG, JPEG, WebP, or PDF. Cookie and consent banners are accepted before capture, and more than 60 known consent platforms, newsletter popups, and chat widgets can be removed; each cleanup step can be disabled. Bot checks or CAPTCHAs, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads, and cache hits are not billed, and response headers identify the page verdict and billing result.
Read the ScreenshotNeo API documentation for the current options. A basic request is:
curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://stripe.com -o shot.webpPython:
import requests
r = requests.get("https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot", params={"access_key": "YOUR_API_KEY", "url": "https://stripe.com"}, timeout=90)
open("shot.webp", "wb").write(r.content)Node.js:
const q = new URLSearchParams({ access_key: 'YOUR_API_KEY', url: 'https://stripe.com' });
const res = await fetch(`https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot?${q}`);ScreenshotNeo also supports full-page captures with lazy images loaded, CSS-selector element capture, dark mode, device presets and custom viewports, retina scale, PDF paper and page controls, custom CSS and JavaScript, pre-capture clicks, hidden selectors, waits, request and resource blocking, headers, cookies, user agents, authorization, timezone and geolocation, transparent backgrounds, resizing, selectable cache TTLs, signed image links, asynchronous jobs with signed webhooks, bulk capture of up to 100 URLs per call, a usage API, an OpenAPI specification, and an MCP server with take_screenshot, get_page_info, and capture_pdf tools for AI clients.
The Free plan includes 1,000 screenshots per month without a card. Paid plans start at $5 for 3,000 shots; every feature is available on every plan. A screenshot still does not grant permission to extract, retain, or redistribute Google Maps content. Sign up free for ScreenshotNeo.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Troubleshooting and decision checks
“Can I scrape only public business names and addresses?”
The reviewed Platform terms specifically use copying business names and addresses as examples of prohibited extraction for use outside the Services. Choose a separately licensed source instead.
“Can I store place IDs forever, then rebuild records later?”
Place IDs have a stated indefinite-storage exception. That does not permit indefinite storage of the associated content or using IDs to recreate a bulk directory.
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“Why is my API response missing a field?”
Check the current field-mask and endpoint documentation, whether the place actually has that value, and whether your project is using the intended API version. Do not rely on the historical 2021 field list.
“Why can’t I show the result on my own map?”
The Places policy says results displayed on a map must appear on a Google Map. Verify the map component and attribution implementation before launch.
“Which price or quota should I budget?”
Current limits and prices were not established here. Check the live documentation and pricing for your endpoint, account, usage pattern, and billing geography.
“What should an EEA team do?”
Confirm the EEA-specific Maps Platform terms and service information that apply to the billing account. Do not assume the non-EEA policy page is sufficient.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is using Selenium or Playwright allowed because it is just a browser?
The reviewed terms address the purpose and reuse of Maps content, not merely the tool used. Browser automation does not create permission to export listings or build a separate database.
Can I use Google Maps data in a private internal spreadsheet?
Not automatically. Determine whether the export, retention, and purpose are permitted under the terms that govern your account; public visibility does not by itself authorize copying.
Is ScreenshotNeo a Google Maps data API?
No. It captures webpages as images or PDFs. It does not provide a licence to extract, store, or redistribute the underlying Maps content.
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