← Back to stack

Builder infrastructure

Google Places API

The Places API is a Google Maps Platform web service that returns formatted location data, photos, and reviews for places (buildings, geographic locations, POIs) via HTTP requests. Google's own documentation states the original Places API is now a legacy API that can no longer be activated by new customers - current development happens on "Places API (New)."

From official docs

What Google Places API is

From official docs

A Google Maps Platform web service for retrieving structured place data - addresses, phone numbers, ratings, reviews, opening hours, and photos - for buildings, geographic locations, and points of interest, driven by Google's real-world location model. Per Google's own documentation, the classic Places API is now legacy and can no longer be activated for new use; Google directs developers to "Places API (New)" for current functionality, with the legacy documentation and migration guides kept under a separate "Legacy" tab.

What it can do

Vendor's own claim
  • Location-based search for text queries, nearby places, and ambiguous/categorical queries
  • Autocomplete for text and categorical search
  • Place Details: opening hours, summaries, user reviews, and photos
  • Place IDs that uniquely identify a location across Google Maps Platform APIs (also obtainable via Geocoding, Routes, and Address Validation APIs)
  • High-quality photos attachable to supported locations

Who it is for

From official docs

Developers building location-aware features - rental/real-estate listings scoped to cities, delivery/pickup status detail, parks-and-POI directories with photos and reviews, or trip-planning tools needing contact info, reviews, and price levels along a route. Per Google's docs, new projects should build against Places API (New) rather than the legacy Places API.

When to choose something else

Our read

New customers cannot activate the original (legacy) Places API at all - Google's docs state it plainly. Anyone starting fresh should be evaluating Places API (New) instead, and this page should not be read as covering that current product's capabilities or pricing, which we did not retrieve.

Implementation considerations

Our read

Setup assessment: 1h

Google Maps Platform setup requires a Google Cloud project, billing enablement, and an API key before any request succeeds - a moderate but well-trodden developer setup path, not a 5-minute signup.

Prerequisites

  • Google Cloud project with billing enabled
  • Places API (New) enabled - since the legacy Places API can no longer be activated for new projects
  • API key

Developer and agent access

From official docs
Machine-readable API
No OpenAPI link in the reviewed source set
  • /places (Place Details)
  • places:searchText (text-based place search)

Verify before you adopt it

  • Pricing for Places API (New) or the legacy Places API
  • Full endpoint/authentication reference beyond the two endpoint names mentioned in the overview excerpt
  • A machine-readable OpenAPI specification was not included in the reviewed source set.
  • Published pricing was not available in the reviewed source set; confirm current commercial terms with the vendor.