Provided is an object information acquiring apparatus including: a probe for receiving the acoustic waves a holding member for holding the object scanning unit for moving the probe in a first direction and a second direction region designating unit for receiving information on a designated region which is a region for acquiring the characteristic information and information processing unit for at least determining a scanning track in a scanning region to be scanned, wherein, of the scanning track in the scanning region when the first direction is used as a main scanning direction as a direction in which the probe moves while receiving the acoustic waves, and the scanning track when the second direction is used as the main scanning direction, the information processing unit uses the scanning track, in which scanning can be implemented in a shorter period of time.
