By Devcipator | No-Code and Low-Code Development Agency
If you are building an app that needs real business ratings, review counts, or location data, the Google Places API is one of the most powerful tools available to you. And with Bubble.io, you can connect it without writing a single line of code.
In this tutorial, we walk you through the complete setup process from scratch. By the end, you will be able to search for any business and display its live Google rating and total review count directly inside your Bubble.io application.
What Is the Google Places API?
The Google Places API is a service provided by Google Cloud that allows developers to access detailed information about businesses and locations. This includes business names, addresses, phone numbers, opening hours, photos, and most importantly for this tutorial, Google ratings and review counts.
By connecting this API to your Bubble.io app, you can display real, live Google review data to your users without any manual data entry or third-party review plugins.
Who Is This Tutorial For?
This tutorial is ideal for Bubble.io developers who are building:
Directory apps that list local businesses Review platforms that aggregate business ratings Real estate or local services apps that need verified business data Any Bubble application that benefits from displaying real Google ratings
No prior API experience is required. We start from the very beginning and walk through every step clearly.
Tools Used in This Tutorial
Google Cloud Console Google Places API Bubble.io API Connector
Step 1: Creating a Google Cloud Project
Go to console.cloud.google.com and sign in with your Google account.
Click on the project selector at the top of the screen and select “New Project.” Give your project a descriptive name so you can identify it easily later, such as “Bubble Places API.”
Once your project is created, make sure it is selected as your active project before moving on.
Step 2: Enabling the Google Places API
With your project selected, navigate to “APIs and Services” and then click “Library.”
Search for “Places API” and click on it in the results. Click the “Enable” button to activate it for your project.
Once enabled, the Places API will be available for use with any API keys you create under this project.
Step 3: Generating and Securing Your API Key
Go to “APIs and Services” and then “Credentials.” Click “Create Credentials” and select “API Key.”
Google will generate a new API key for you. Copy it and store it somewhere safe.
To secure your key, click “Edit API Key” and apply API restrictions. Restrict the key to the Places API only. This ensures that even if your key is exposed, it cannot be used for anything outside of what your app needs.
Step 4: Setting Up the API Connector in Bubble.io
Open your Bubble.io app and go to the Plugins tab. Search for “API Connector” and install it if you have not already done so.
Once installed, open the API Connector and click “Add another API.” Name it something clear like “Google Places.”
You will be setting up two API calls inside this connector:
One to fetch the Place ID of a business using its name One to fetch the rating and review count using the Place ID
For the full configuration details including the exact endpoint URLs, parameters, and header setup, refer to the API settings document here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nyv_9sz6t5jkwy9s8NSpjcxMZM5DFw-nu3GrFkqi_j8/edit?tab=t.0
Step 5: Fetching a Place ID from a Business Name
Before you can retrieve a Google rating, you need the unique Place ID that Google assigns to every business.
The first API call you set up in the API Connector will accept a business name as input and return the corresponding Place ID. Once you have initialized this call in Bubble, you can use it inside any workflow to look up a business by name.
Step 6: Retrieving Google Ratings and Review Counts
Once you have the Place ID, the second API call fetches the detailed information for that business, including its Google rating and total number of reviews.
This call takes the Place ID as input and returns a structured response containing the rating value and review count. You can map these values to text elements or custom states inside your Bubble app for dynamic display.
Step 7: Displaying the Data Dynamically in Your Bubble App
With both API calls set up and tested, you can now build the user-facing part of your app.
Create a workflow that triggers when a user searches for a business. The workflow runs the first API call to get the Place ID, then passes that ID into the second call to retrieve the rating and review data. Finally, it displays the results on the page using dynamic data connected to your text or rating elements.
The result is a fully functional Google ratings integration that updates in real time based on whatever business the user searches for.
Watch the Full Video Tutorial
Every step covered in this guide is demonstrated in full detail in our YouTube tutorial:
Google Places API + Bubble.io Tutorial | Fetch Google Ratings in Your App
Watch it here: https://youtu.be/cNrHA5zSqx8