Is Scraping Google Maps Legal? What You Need to Know (2026)

It is one of the most common questions in B2B lead generation: if a business's information is sitting publicly on Google Maps, is it legal to collect it? The honest answer is that it depends on what exactly you mean by "legal", because there are two separate questions hiding inside that one.

This article breaks it down in plain English. It is general information, not legal advice, if you have a specific situation, talk to a qualified lawyer.

Two different questions

When people ask "is scraping legal," they usually mean one of two things:

First, is it against the law to collect publicly available data? Second, is it against a website's terms of service to do so? These are not the same thing, and the answer can be "no" to one and "yes" to the other.

Collecting public data is generally not illegal

In the United States, courts have repeatedly addressed the question of scraping publicly accessible web data. The well-known hiQ Labs v. LinkedIn case established that accessing data that is publicly available, that anyone can see without logging in, does not violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the main U.S. anti-hacking law. The Supreme Court's decision in Van Buren v. United States narrowed that law further.

The key phrase is "publicly accessible." Google Maps business listings are public: anyone with an internet connection can view a restaurant's name, address, and phone number without an account or a password. Collecting that kind of public business information is generally not a criminal act.

But terms of service are a separate matter

Here is the part many people miss. Google's own terms of service for Google Maps explicitly prohibit scraping its content. That is a contractual restriction between Google and the person using its service, it is not a law, but it is still a real agreement that Google can enforce by, for example, suspending accounts.

So scraping Google Maps can simultaneously be "not a crime" and "against Google's terms." Both statements are true at the same time. This is why responsible data providers are transparent about how their data is sourced rather than pretending the question does not exist.

Public data does not mean unrestricted use

There is a third point that matters even more for anyone buying leads. Even when data is legally collected, that does not mean you can do anything you want with it.

Whether you can email, call, or text a business is governed by an entirely separate set of laws:

• CAN-SPAM governs commercial email in the United States, you need accurate headers, a working unsubscribe link, and a physical address.
• The TCPA governs calls and texts, especially to mobile numbers, and can require prior consent.
• GDPR applies if you contact anyone in the EU or UK, and requires a lawful basis for processing their data.
• State laws add further rules, including data-broker regulations in some U.S. states.

In other words: the legality of collecting data and the legality of using it for outreach are two different things. A list can be perfectly sourced and still get you in trouble if you spam people with it.

How to stay on the right side of the line

If you buy or build lead lists, a few habits keep you safe. Verify your data before you use it. Scrub phone numbers against do-not-call registries before calling. Honor unsubscribe and do-not-contact requests immediately. And make sure your outreach follows the rules in your recipient's country or state, not just your own.

How LeadList handles this

At LeadList, we are upfront about our approach. We compile publicly available business listings, we are transparent about how the data is sourced, and our Data & Scraping Disclaimer explains it in detail. We also make clear that the buyer is responsible for lawful outreach, because that part genuinely is the buyer's responsibility, and no vendor can take it away from you.

We focus on public business contact data, we exclude certain regions for regulatory reasons, and we tell customers plainly what they are buying. If you want a lead list from a provider that treats compliance seriously, take a look at how it works.