Place IDs

Select platform: Android iOS JavaScript Web Service

Place IDs uniquely identify a place in the Google Places database and on Google Maps. Place IDs are accepted in requests to the following Maps APIs:

Retrieving an address for a Place ID in the Geocoding API web service and Geocoding Service, Maps JavaScript API.
Specifying origin, destination and intermediate waypoints in the Routes API and Directions API web service and Directions Service, Maps JavaScript API.
Specifying origins and destinations in the Routes API and Distance Matrix API web service and Distance Matrix Service, Maps JavaScript API.
Retrieving Place Details in Places API web service, Places SDK for Android, Places SDK for iOS, and Places Library.
Using Place ID parameters in Maps Embed API.
Retrieving search queries in Maps URLs.
Displaying speed limits in Roads API.
Finding and styling boundary polygons in data-driven styling for boundaries.

Find the ID of a particular place

Are you looking for the place ID of a specific place? Use the place ID finder below to search for a place and get its ID:

Alternatively, you can view the place ID finder with its code in the Maps JavaScript API documentation.

Overview

A place ID is a textual identifier that uniquely identifies a place. The length of the identifier may vary (there is no maximum length for Place IDs). Examples:

ChIJgUbEo8cfqokR5lP9_Wh_DaM
GhIJQWDl0CIeQUARxks3icF8U8A
EicxMyBNYXJrZXQgU3QsIFdpbG1pbmd0b24sIE5DIDI4NDAxLCBVU0EiGhIYChQKEgnRTo6ixx-qiRHo_bbmkCm7ZRAN
EicxMyBNYXJrZXQgU3QsIFdpbG1pbmd0b24sIE5DIDI4NDAxLCBVU0E
IhoSGAoUChIJ0U6OoscfqokR6P225pApu2UQDQ

Place IDs are available for most locations, including businesses, landmarks, parks, and intersections. It is possible for the same place or location to have multiple different place IDs. Place IDs may change over time.

You can use the same place ID across the Places API and a number of Google Maps Platform APIs. For example, you can use the same place ID to reference a place in the Places API, the Maps JavaScript API, the Geocoding API, the Maps Embed API and the Roads API.

Retrieve place details using the place ID

A common way of using place IDs is to search for a place (using the Places API or the Places library in the Maps JavaScript API, for example) then use the returned place ID to retrieve place details. You can store the place ID and use it to retrieve the same place details later. Read about saving place IDs below.

Example using the Places SDK for iOS

A place ID is a textual identifier that uniquely identifies a place. In the Places SDK for iOS, you can retrieve the ID of a place from a GMSPlace object. You can store the place ID and use it to retrieve the GMSPlace object again later.

To get a place by ID, call GMSPlacesClient fetchPlaceFromPlaceID:, passing the following parameters:

A string containing a Place ID.
One or more GMSPlaceFields, specifying the data types to return.
A session token if the call is made to conclude an autocomplete query. Otherwise, pass nil.
A GMSPlaceResultCallback to handle the result.

The API invokes the specified callback method, passing in a GMSPlace object. If the place is not found, the place object is nil.

Swift

// A hotel in Saigon with an attribution.
let placeID = "ChIJV4k8_9UodTERU5KXbkYpSYs"

// Specify the place data types to return.
let fields: GMSPlaceField = GMSPlaceField(rawValue: UInt(GMSPlaceField.name.rawValue) |
  UInt(GMSPlaceField.placeID.rawValue))!

placesClient?.fetchPlace(fromPlaceID: placeID, placeFields: fields, sessionToken: nil, callback: {
  (place: GMSPlace?, error: Error?) in
  if let error = error {
    print("An error occurred: \(error.localizedDescription)")
    return
  }
  if let place = place {
    self.lblName?.text = place.name
    print("The selected place is: \(place.name)")
  }
})

Objective-C

// A hotel in Saigon with an attribution.
NSString *placeID = @"ChIJV4k8_9UodTERU5KXbkYpSYs";

// Specify the place data types to return.
GMSPlaceField fields = (GMSPlaceFieldName | GMSPlaceFieldPlaceID);

[_placesClient fetchPlaceFromPlaceID:placeID placeFields:fields sessionToken:nil callback:^(GMSPlace * _Nullable place, NSError * _Nullable error) {
  if (error != nil) {
    NSLog(@"An error occurred %@", [error localizedDescription]);
    return;
  }
  if (place != nil) {
    NSLog(@"The selected place is: %@", [place name]);
  }
}];

Save place IDs for later use

Place IDs are exempt from the caching restrictions stated in Section 3.2.3(b) of the Google Maps Platform Terms of Service. You can therefore store place ID values for later use.

Refreshing stored place IDs

We recommend refreshing place IDs if they are more than 12 months old. You can refresh Place IDs at no charge, by making a Place Details request, specifying only the GMSPlaceFieldPlaceID field in the fields parameter. This call triggers the Places Details - ID Refresh SKU.

This request might also return NOT_FOUND status code. One strategy is to store the original request that returned each place ID. If a place ID becomes invalid, you can re-issue that request to get fresh results. These results may or may not include the original place. However, this request is chargeable.

Note: For the first few days after a Place ID becomes invalid, this strategy may still yield NOT_FOUND when the original request used is a Place or Query Autocomplete request.

Error codes when using place IDs

The INVALID_REQUEST status code indicates that the specified place ID is not valid. INVALID_REQUEST may be returned when the place ID has been truncated or otherwise modified, and is no longer correct.

The NOT_FOUND status code indicates that the specified place ID is obsolete. A place ID may become obsolete if a business closes or moves to a new location. Place IDs may change due to updates on the Google Maps database. In such cases, a place may receive a new place ID, and the old ID returns a NOT_FOUND response.

In particular, some types of place IDs may sometimes cause a NOT_FOUND response, or the API may return a different place ID in the response. These place ID types include:

Street addresses that do not exist in Google Maps as precise addresses, but are inferred from a range of addresses.
Segments of a long route, where the request also specifies a city or locality.
Intersections.
Places with an address component of type subpremise.

These IDs often take the form of a long string (there is no maximum length for Place IDs). For example:

EpID4LC14LC_4LCo4LCv4LGN4LCo4LCX4LCw4LGNIC0g4LC44LGI4LCm4LGN4LCs4LC-4LCm4LGNIOCwsOCxi-CwoeCxjeCwoeCxgSAmIOCwteCwv-CwqOCwr-CxjSDgsKjgsJfgsLDgsY0g4LCu4LGG4LCv4LC_4LCo4LGNIOCwsOCxi-CwoeCxjeCwoeCxgSwg4LC14LC_4LCo4LCv4LGNIOCwqOCwl-CwsOCxjSDgsJXgsL7gsLLgsKjgsYAsIOCwsuCwleCxjeCwt-CxjeCwruCwv-CwqOCwl-CwsOCxjSDgsJXgsL7gsLLgsKjgsYAsIOCwuOCwsOCxguCwsOCxjSDgsKjgsJfgsLDgsY0g4LC14LGG4LC44LGN4LCf4LGNLCDgsLjgsK_gsYDgsKbgsL7gsKzgsL7gsKbgsY0sIOCwueCxiOCwpuCwsOCwvuCwrOCwvuCwpuCxjSwg4LCk4LGG4LCy4LCC4LCX4LC-4LCjIDUwMDA1OSwg4LCt4LC-4LCw4LCk4LCm4LGH4LC24LCCImYiZAoUChIJ31l5uGWYyzsR9zY2qk9lDiASFAoSCd9ZebhlmMs7Efc2NqpPZQ4gGhQKEglDz61OZpjLOxHgDJCFY-o1qBoUChIJi37TW2-YyzsRr_uv50r7tdEiCg1MwFcKFS_dyy4