[Google Maps Photos API] [New API] Bulk Image Fetching for Google Maps Photos API

[ProV1X]

The current Google Maps API approach to fetching business images presents challenges for user experience and efficiency:

1. Low-Resolution Thumbnails: The API returns thumbnails that are too low in resolution for practical use in applications.
2. Individual Requests for Full-Size Images: Developers must send individual requests to the Google Maps Photos API endpoint for each business in the local_results, causing significant delays when fetching images for multiple businesses.
3. Suboptimal User Experience: The current approach can lead to delayed loading of complete business data, impacting end-user experience, even with Ludicrous Speed enabled.
4. Increased Rate Limiting Risk: Making numerous individual requests for images increases the likelihood of hitting rate limits, especially for applications that fetch data for many businesses simultaneously.

Proposed Solution:

A new bulk image fetching endpoint for the Google Maps APIs could address these issues through two possible implementations:

Implementation 1: Bulk Image Fetching by Data IDs

• Accepts a list of data IDs as input.
• Returns a corresponding array of photo data (thumbnail, image, photo_meta_serpapi_link, etc.) for each data ID, in the same order as the input.

Implementation 2: Bulk Image Fetching by Search ID

• Accepts a search ID obtained from a previous Google Maps API search request.
• Returns photo data for all results in the search identified by the search ID.

Benefits (Both Implementations):

• Reduced API Calls: A single API call would replace multiple individual Google Maps Photos API requests, improving efficiency.
• Faster Data Loading: The ability to fetch images in bulk would speed up the loading of complete business information.
• Simplified Development: Streamlining the image fetching process would simplify development efforts for applications leveraging the Google Maps APIs for real-time applications.
• Reduced Rate Limiting Risk: Consolidating image requests into a single bulk call significantly reduces the chances of triggering rate limits.

Example Usage (Implementation 1):

curl --get https://serpapi.com/search \
 -d engine="bulk_google_maps_photos" \
 -d data_ids="data_id_1%2Cdata_id_2..." \
 -d api_key="YOUR_API_KEY"

Example Usage (Implementation 2):

curl --get https://serpapi.com/search \
 -d engine="bulk_google_maps_photos" \
 -d search_id="YOUR_SEARCH_ID" \
 -d api_key="YOUR_API_KEY"

I know this API would be a game-changer for me and a valuable addition to the awesome suite of APIs you already have available. Thank you for your consideration.

[schaferyan]

This customer also reached out to support:

Front | Intercom

I let them know this is probably out of scope for us and directed them to https://github.com/serpapi/public-roadmap/issues/66