Is it legal to scrape Google Maps? Yes sir!

Samuel Rochwergâ—Ź
May 9, 2025

(updated)

â—Ź
5 min read

Yes, scraping Google Maps is legal in 2025.

In this article, we will show you that you can scrape Google Maps data without taking any risks.

Even if Google says scraping their data is not allowed, there is no law against scraping.

What kind of data can I scrape legally from Google Maps?

Here’s the type of data you can legally collect from Google Maps:

âś… Business names
âś… Company emails
âś… Company websites âś… Addresses
âś… Phone numbers
âś… Business categories ("Plumber", "Dentist"...)
âś… Ratings and number of reviews
âś… Social networks âś… Opening hours âś… The Google Maps Url of a company

This is just a beginning.

There is so much more data that you can legally scrape from Google Maps.

Data scraping is legal under U.S. law.

In 2022, a U.S. court confirmed that scraping public data does not violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).

This means that collecting business information from a site like Google Maps is allowed.

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hiQ Labs, a data analytics company, scraped public profiles from LinkedIn.

LinkedIn tried to block this by warning them and using technical barriers.

hiQ sued LinkedIn, saying they had the right to access publicly available data.

The US court ruled in favor of hiQ, stating that scraping public data does not violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).

A major win for the scraping industry.

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Google’s terms of service: scraping not allowed

Here is what Google says about scraping in their terms of service:

"No Scraping. Customer will not extract, export, scrape, or cache Google Maps Content for use outside the Services."

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Just because Google says scraping is not allowed in their Terms of Service doesn't mean it's illegal.

Let's give you an example.

A movie theater may have a "no outside food" policy. If you bring snacks from home, you're not allowed according to their rules, but you're not breaking any law.

At most, the theater can ask you to leave or throw away the food. But the police won’t arrest you because it’s not illegal.

Companies promote Google Maps scraping with Google Ads

Google allows companies to do Google Ads promotion about scraping tools or services:

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If Google allows companies to promote Google Maps scraping, it is a strong sign that scraping Google Maps data isn't illegal.

The risks of scraping Google Maps

Trust me, you don't take risks by scraping Google Maps data.

Especially if you use our Google Maps Data Scraper.

We scrape Google Maps every day for our clients and and we respect all applicables law.

Google can terminate your account

One of the risks of Google Maps scraping is the termination of your Google account (Gmail, Google Ads...).

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The good news is, you don’t need to be logged into your Google account to scrape data from Google Maps.

This means your Google account isn’t involved, so there’s no risk.

IP ban?

In some cases, Google has temporarily blocked IP addresses.

What Is an IP Ban on Google? An IP ban on Google means that Google has blocked a specific IP address from accessing their servers or services.

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But don’t worry: these bans just last a few days and are simply meant to slow down scraping activity.

Google relies on having as many users as possible.

They don't block users permanently.

With Leadstrooper, you’ll never get blocked by Google.

No IP bans, no account suspensions. We’ve built our Google Maps Scraper to avoid all the usual scraping issues.

We handle everything for you, including the legal risk.

Everybody scrapes Google

Scraping Google is a common practice used by thousands of companies worldwide.

Even major companies collect public data from Google Maps.

Why? Because the information collected on Google Maps is valuable, public, and essential.

Why Google wants to limit scraping?

Google doesn’t block scraping just for technical reasons.

There’s a clear business interest behind it.

Protection of User Privacy

Google often claims that scraping is restricted to protect user privacy.

This argument is not always valid, because the data shown on Google Maps is already publicly available.

If anyone can access it through a browser, collecting it with a tool doesn’t make it private.

Protect servers loading

Google restricts scraping to protect their servers from excessive load.

Scrapers send thousands of automated requests per second: it can slow down Google's servers.

Maximise their revenue

Google gives paid access to its data through tools like the Google Maps API.

By discouraging scraping, Google pushes developers and companies to use their own solutions.

This allows them to monetize access to business listings, reviews, and location data, rather than letting people collect it for free.

Limiting scraping helps Google protect and maximize their revenues.

Our Google Maps Scraper is 100% legal and fully GDPR compliant.
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GDPR does not apply to public data like business names, Google My Business Categories, addresses, phone numbers, or ratings.

We only collect publicly available business data and follow strict guidelines.

Frequently Asked Questions about Google Maps scraping legality

Scraping Google Maps is not illegal. As long as you collect only public data, you will stay GDPR compliant.

Can Google sue me for scraping Google Maps?

Google will not sue you for scraping Google Maps Data. But they can block your IP or disable your account.

What kind of data can I legally collect?

You can collect all the data publicly available on Google Maps: business names, addresses, phone numbers, ratings, emails...

Do I need to log into Google to scrape data?

No. With Leadstrooper, we access the public data available in Google Maps without any login.

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