Google Reviews API guide

The Google Places API returns a maximum of five reviews per place, chosen by Google, with no way to page through the rest. The Business Profile API returns all reviews but only for locations you own and have verified.

Neither is a general-purpose way to display reviews, which is the thing most people are trying to build when they arrive here.

Public data for any place, five reviews maximum, selection controlled by Google and not adjustable. Also returns rating and total review count, which are often the more useful fields. Billed per request, so caching is mandatory rather than optional.

Full review access, replies included, but scoped to locations in an account you control and gated behind an access request. Useful for building internal tooling across many locations. Not useful for displaying reviews of a place you do not own.

Starting with Places, discovering the five-review limit halfway through, and assuming there is a parameter they missed. There is not. This is the single most common surprise in this area and it usually arrives after the UI has already been built.

The second is underestimating what surrounds the API call — caching, quota handling, rate limits, attribution requirements, and the fact that review text and author photos have display rules attached.

Build if you need reviews inside a product, across locations you own, or combined with other data. Do not build to put reviews on a website — the five-review ceiling, the billing and the maintenance make it a poor trade against an embed that takes five minutes.