Websites and platforms change all the time, and even a small update on their end can quietly break the data flowing through our APIs. A detection rule misfires, a response gets parsed incorrectly, or a new API is still finding its footing, and suddenly the results you're pulling aren't what they should be. Our job is to catch these breaks quickly, figure out exactly what changed, and fix them before they slow you down or cost you time debugging on your side.
This week we shipped two fixes and one major launch. We resolved a business status issue in the Google Maps API, cleaned up how the Google AI Overview API structures its text data, and brought three brand-new APIs live: Apple Product, Play Store, and Reviews. We also have some exciting news about our own MCP server at the end. Here's everything that happened, explained in plain language, along with why each change matters for the work you're doing.
1. Google Maps API Incorrectly Marking Businesses as Permanently Closed Fixed
What was happening: The Google Maps API was incorrectly returning several business listings as permanently closed, even though those businesses were still open and operating normally. This came down to an issue in how our system was detecting and interpreting business status signals, which caused it to misread the actual state of a listing in certain cases.
What we fixed: We identified the flaw in our business status detection logic and corrected it, then tested it against a broad set of listings to confirm the status now matches what's actually shown on Google Maps.
Why it matters: If you use this API to monitor business listings, build local search tools, or verify operating status at scale, you can now trust that the data reflects reality. This removes a source of bad data that could have led to businesses being wrongly flagged as closed in your own systems.
2. Google AI Overview API Text Blocks Optimized
What was happening: The Google AI Overview API was returning certain text blocks in an inconsistent and unstructured way. Instead of clean, predictable formatting, some responses came back with data that was harder to parse and work with programmatically.
What we fixed: We optimized the response parsing and processing behind these text blocks, rebuilding the logic so that output is structured consistently no matter how the source content is formatted.
Why it matters: The API now returns clean, structured, and reliable text data every time. This makes it easier to plug the response straight into your own pipeline without writing extra cleanup logic, and improves the overall developer experience.
3. Apple Product, Play Store & Reviews APIs Now Live
What's new: We've officially launched three new APIs: the Apple Product API, the Play Store API, and the Reviews API. Together, they let you pull structured product data from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, along with detailed customer reviews, all through simple API calls.
What we did: All three APIs have been added to the dashboard and fully documented, so you can start exploring endpoints, checking sample responses, and testing requests right away.
Why it matters: If you're tracking app rankings, monitoring competitor listings, or analyzing customer sentiment through reviews, these APIs give you a ready-to-use way to get that data without building your own scraper. They're live now and ready for integration into your existing workflows.
One More Thing: Our Own MCP Server Is Here
Alongside everything above, we're excited to share that we've launched our own MCP server. This means you can now connect Scrapingdog directly to your favorite AI tools and let them call our APIs on your behalf, without extra glue code in between. Whether you're building agents, automating research, or just want your AI assistant to pull live web data on demand, this makes it a lot simpler to get started.
All of the fixes above are already live, no action is needed from you. If you run into any issues or have feedback, feel free to reach out to our support team. We'll be back next week with more updates. Happy scraping!
