Frequently Asked Questions

This document contains answers to frequently asked questions about the Google Places API Web Service. If you are unable to find the answer to your question here, you may find some of the following pages helpful.

• Google Maps Developer FAQ
• Google Maps Terms of Service
• Places API Developer Policies

The Google Places API also has a vibrant developer community. If you have questions about your code, we recommend that you post your question to the community. More information about asking questions can be found in the Support page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Searching for places

Why are some places not returned when I filter by type?

It's possible that the place you are looking for has not yet been categorized. All places are categorized as the generic type "establishment" until Google has enough data about a place to categorize it as one of the supported place types.

As a workaround you can pass the place type to the keyword parameter. The keyword parameter is matched to: name, type, address, and customer reviews.

If you would like to add the category type to a place listing yourself, submit a place edit. Once the edit has been approved and published it will appear using the correct type filtering.

Why are some nearby places not returned?

By default, the Google Places API Web Service sorts results by prominence within the supplied radius. A Nearby Search request can return up to 60 results, split across three pages. If a place ranks 22nd in prominence, it will appear on the second page of results which you can access through paging. If a place ranks greater than 60th in prominence it will not be included in the search result, even if it is closer to the center of your search.

You can sort your results by distance instead of prominence by setting the rankby parameter in your query to distance and omitting the radius parameter. Relevance will be ignored and places will be returned in order of distance from location.

If you are filtering your request by type, some results may be filtered out of the response. For more information, see the FAQ entry: Why are some places not returned when I filter by type?.

Why are some places never returned, even though they have Google+ pages?

Google+ has three types of local pages, not all of which have been vetted by Google. To ensure high quality search results, the Google Places API returns local listings and verified local pages, but does not return unverified listings.

Why do I receive at most two results when filtering by some types?

The Google Places API Web Service is designed to return a list of nearby establishments (anything from the first table in the supported place types) and up to two location (anything from the second table of supported place types) results to to help identify the area you are performing a Nearby Search request for.

Filtering your Nearby Search request by a location type, like locality or political, will filter out the establishment results.

Place data

How can I add or edit places?

If you are the owner of a business, you can add, verify and manage your business listings on Google Maps using Google Places for Business.

If you do not own the place, you can still suggest changes through Google Map Maker. There are three different ways to access Map Maker. Each of these methods is discussed in more detail in the Map Maker help.

• Many Google Maps will have a Report a problem link on the bottom right corner of the map. Clicking this link lets you tell us about changes in the world around you that aren't reflected in Google Maps.
• If you find a place on Google Maps that includes incorrect place details, you can often Fix a problem directly. 'Fix a Problem' allows you to edit details related to businesses and similar locations.
• In areas where Map Maker is available, you can make changes by visiting the Map Maker site.

How can I create custom places?

If you would like to add places that are immediately available to your application, you can perform a Place Add request which will give your applications instant access to the newly added place via your Google Developers Console key.

Troubleshooting

Why do I keep receiving "status": "REQUEST_DENIED"?

The "status": "REQUEST_DENIED" is returned by the Google Places API Web Service when:

• You have not activated the Google Places API Web Service in the Google Developers Console.
• The key parameter is missing from your request.
• The key parameter does not match the your API key in the Google Developers Console.
• Your API key has not been correctly set up in the Google Developers Console:
  • If you are using a browser key, check that your allowed referer(s) are correct.
  • If you are using a server key, check that your allowed IP(s) are correct.
  • Android and iOS keys are not supported, please use a Browser or Server key.
• The request was not sent as an HTTPS request, HTTPS is required for all Google Places API Web Service requests.
• The incorrect HTTP method was used to send the request:
  • All requests must be sent as a GET request except for Place Add.
  • All Place Add requests must be sent as a POST request.