Places API error: "You're calling a legacy API, which is not enabled for your project" — fixes in 2026

Since 1 March 2025 the legacy Places API (with the legacy Directions and Distance Matrix APIs) can't be enabled in new Google Cloud projects. Existing projects keep it, but a new project's key gets REQUEST_DENIED or LegacyApiNotActivatedMapError when code calls the old endpoints, for example the googlemaps Python package's places() and places_nearby(). The official fix is to move to Places API (New): different endpoints (places:searchText, places:searchNearby) with a field mask on every request. If what you actually need is a list of businesses, such as leads or market research, Google Maps Leads on Apify returns them from Google Maps with phone, website, email, rating and reviews, without a Cloud project, at $0.03 per lead.

Open Google Maps Leads Scraper on Apify $0.03 per lead ($0.024 on Gold); $0.08 per business found with the no-website or unclaimed filters

Step by step

1. Confirm it's the legacy error. The response says REQUEST_DENIED with a message about calling a legacy API, or the browser console shows LegacyApiNotActivatedMapError. It happens on projects created after 1 March 2025.
2. Enable Places API (New). In Google Cloud Console, open APIs & Services → Library and enable "Places API (New)" for the project behind your key.
3. Switch the requests. Text search becomes POST https://places.googleapis.com/v1/places:searchText with a textQuery; nearby search becomes places:searchNearby with a locationRestriction circle. Send your key as X-Goog-Api-Key.
4. Add a field mask. Every Places API (New) request needs X-Goog-FieldMask listing the fields you want (for example places.displayName,places.formattedAddress). Billing depends on the fields you ask for.
5. Update Python code. The googlemaps package only covers the legacy endpoints; use Google's google-maps-places client (from google.maps import places_v1) or plain HTTP.
6. Or skip the API for business lists. If you're building lead lists or market research, run Google Maps Leads with a category and city instead. It returns name, address, phone, website, email, rating and reviews without a Cloud project.

Do it from code

Places API (New)

# The official fix: Places API (New). Enable it in Google Cloud, then:
curl -X POST "https://places.googleapis.com/v1/places:searchText" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-Goog-Api-Key: $GOOGLE_MAPS_KEY" \
  -H "X-Goog-FieldMask: places.displayName,places.formattedAddress,places.rating,places.websiteUri,places.nationalPhoneNumber" \
  -d '{"textQuery": "dentists in Austin, TX"}'

# Python: the googlemaps package only calls the legacy endpoints; use google-maps-places instead
# pip install google-maps-places   ->   from google.maps import places_v1

Business lists without a Cloud project

# The no-Cloud-project route for business lists: Google Maps Leads on Apify
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/automationnation~google-maps-leads/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"cities": ["Austin, TX"], "country": "us", "category": "dentist", "maxResults": 20}'

# Each row: name, category, address, phone, email (found on the website), website, rating, review count, today's hours and a Google Maps link

From an AI assistant (MCP)

Add this MCP server URL to Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor and ask in plain English:

https://mcp.apify.com?tools=automationnation/google-maps-leads

Alternatives

For live place lookups inside an app (autocomplete, place details, maps), Places API (New) is the right tool, so migrate to it. Other data providers (Foursquare, OpenStreetMap/Overpass) have different coverage. Google Maps scrapers on Apify, including the large compass/crawler-google-places, suit bulk business lists.

FAQ

Written by AutomationNation, the developer of Google Maps Leads Scraper. Prices checked October 2026.