Nearby Search (New)

Select platform: Android iOS JavaScript Web Service

A Nearby Search (New) request takes one or more place types, and returns a list of matching places within the specified area. A field mask specifying one or more data types is required. Nearby Search (New) only supports POST requests.

The API Explorer lets you make live requests so that you can get familiar with the API and the API options:

Try it!

Try the interactive demo to see Nearby Search (New) results displayed on a map.

Nearby Search (New) requests

A Nearby Search (New) request is an HTTP POST request to a URL in the form:

https://places.googleapis.com/v1/places:searchNearby

Pass all parameters in the JSON request body or in headers as part of the POST request. For example:

curl -X POST -d '{
  "includedTypes": ["restaurant"],
  "maxResultCount": 10,
  "locationRestriction": {
    "circle": {
      "center": {
        "latitude": 37.7937,
        "longitude": -122.3965},
      "radius": 500.0
    }
  }
}' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' -H "X-Goog-Api-Key: API_KEY" \
-H "X-Goog-FieldMask: places.displayName" \
https://places.googleapis.com/v1/places:searchNearby

Nearby Search (New) responses

Nearby Search (New) returns a JSON object as a response. In the response:

  • The places array contains all matching places.
  • Each place in the array is represented by a Place object. The Place object contains detailed information about a single place.
  • The FieldMask passed in the request specifies the list of fields returned in the Place object.

The complete JSON object is in the form:

{
  "places": [
    {
      object (Place)
    }
  ]
}

Required parameters

  • FieldMask

    Specify the list of fields to return in the response by creating a response field mask. Pass the response field mask to the method by using the URL parameter $fields or fields, or by using the HTTP header X-Goog-FieldMask. There is no default list of returned fields in the response. If you omit the field mask, the method returns an error.

    Field masking is a good design practice to ensure that you don't request unnecessary data, which helps to avoid unnecessary processing time and billing charges.

    Specify a comma-separated list of place data types to return. For example, to retrieve the display name and the address of the place.

    X-Goog-FieldMask: places.displayName,places.formattedAddress

    Use * to retrieve all fields.

    X-Goog-FieldMask: *

    Specify one or more of the following fields:

    • The following fields trigger the Nearby Search (Basic) SKU:

      places.accessibilityOptions, places.addressComponents, places.adrFormatAddress, places.attributions, places.businessStatus, places.displayName, places.formattedAddress, places.googleMapsUri, places.iconBackgroundColor, places.iconMaskBaseUri, places.id, places.location, places.name*, places.photos, places.plusCode, places.primaryType, places.primaryTypeDisplayName, places.shortFormattedAddress, places.subDestinations, places.types, places.utcOffsetMinutes, places.viewport

      * The places.name field contains the place resource name in the form: places/PLACE_ID. Use places.displayName to access the text name of the place.

    • The following fields trigger the Nearby Search (Advanced) SKU:

      places.currentOpeningHours, places.currentSecondaryOpeningHours, places.internationalPhoneNumber, places.nationalPhoneNumber, places.priceLevel, places.rating, places.regularOpeningHours, places.regularSecondaryOpeningHours, places.userRatingCount, places.websiteUri

    • The following fields trigger the Nearby Search (Preferred) SKU:

      places.allowsDogs, places.curbsidePickup, places.delivery, places.dineIn, places.editorialSummary, places.evChargeOptions, places.fuelOptions, places.goodForChildren, places.goodForGroups, places.goodForWatchingSports, places.liveMusic, places.menuForChildren, places.parkingOptions, places.paymentOptions, places.outdoorSeating, places.reservable, places.restroom, places.reviews, places.routingSummaries,* places.servesBeer, places.servesBreakfast, places.servesBrunch, places.servesCocktails, places.servesCoffee, places.servesDessert, places.servesDinner, places.servesLunch, places.servesVegetarianFood, places.servesWine, places.takeout

      * Text Search and Nearby Search only

  • locationRestriction

    The region to search specified as a circle, defined by center point and radius in meters. The radius must be between 0.0 and 50000.0, inclusive. The default radius is 0.0. You must set it in your request to a value greater than 0.0.

    For example:

    "locationRestriction": {
      "circle": {
        "center": {
          "latitude": 37.7937,
          "longitude": -122.3965
        },
        "radius": 500.0
      }
    }

Optional parameters

  • includedTypes/excludedTypes, includedPrimaryTypes/excludedPrimaryTypes

    Lets you specify a list of types from types Table A used to filter the search results. Up to 50 types can be specified in each type restriction category.

    A place can only have a single primary type from types Table A associated with it. For example, the primary type might be "mexican_restaurant" or "steak_house". Use includedPrimaryTypes and excludedPrimaryTypes to filter the results on a place's primary type.

    A place can also have multiple type values from types Table A associated with it. For example a restaurant might have the following types: "seafood_restaurant", "restaurant", "food", "point_of_interest", "establishment". Use includedTypes and excludedTypes to filter the results on the list of types associated with a place.

    When you specify a general primary type, such as "restaurant" or "hotel", the response can contain places with a more specific primary type than the one specified. For example, you specify to include a primary type of "restaurant". The response can then contain places with a primary type of "restaurant", but the response can also contain places with a more specific primary type, such as "chinese_restaurant" or "seafood_restaurant".

    If a search is specified with multiple type restrictions, only places that satisfy all of the restrictions are returned. For example, if you specify {"includedTypes": ["restaurant"], "excludedPrimaryTypes": ["steak_house"]}, the returned places provide "restaurant" related services but do not operate primarily as a "steak_house".

    includedTypes

    A comma-separated list of the place types from Table A to search for. If this parameter is omitted, places of all types are returned.

    excludedTypes

    A comma-separated list of place types from Table A to exclude from a search.

    If you specify both the includedTypes ( such as "school") and the excludedTypes (such as "primary_school") in the request, then the response includes places that are categorized as "school" but not as "primary_school". The response includes places that match at least one of the includedTypes and none of the excludedTypes.

    If there are any conflicting types, such as a type appearing in both includedTypes and excludedTypes, an INVALID_REQUEST error is returned.

    includedPrimaryTypes

    A comma-separated list of primary place types from Table A to include in a search.

    excludedPrimaryTypes

    A comma-separated list of primary place types from Table A to exclude from a search.

    If there are any conflicting primary types, such as a type appearing in both includedPrimaryTypes and excludedPrimaryTypes, an INVALID_ARGUMENT error is returned.

  • languageCode

    The language in which to return results.

    • See the list of supported languages. Google often updates the supported languages, so this list may not be exhaustive.
    • If languageCode is not supplied, the API defaults to en. If you specify an invalid language code, the API returns an INVALID_ARGUMENT error.
    • The API does its best to provide a street address that is readable for both the user and locals. To achieve that goal, it returns street addresses in the local language, transliterated to a script readable by the user if necessary, observing the preferred language. All other addresses are returned in the preferred language. Address components are all returned in the same language, which is chosen from the first component.
    • If a name is not available in the preferred language, the API uses the closest match.
    • The preferred language has a small influence on the set of results that the API chooses to return, and the order in which they are returned. The geocoder interprets abbreviations differently depending on language, such as the abbreviations for street types, or synonyms that may be valid in one language but not in another.
  • maxResultCount

    Specifies the maximum number of place results to return. Must be between 1 and 20 (default) inclusive.

  • rankPreference

    The type of ranking to use. If this parameter is omitted, results are ranked by popularity. May be one of the following:

    • POPULARITY (default) Sorts results based on their popularity.
    • DISTANCE Sorts results in ascending order by their distance from the specified location.
  • regionCode

    The region code used to format the response, specified as a two-character CLDR code value. There is no default value.

    If the country name of the formattedAddress field in the response matches the regionCode, the country code is omitted from formattedAddress. This parameter has no effect on adrFormatAddress, which always includes the country name, or on shortFormattedAddress, which never includes it.

    Most CLDR codes are identical to ISO 3166-1 codes, with some notable exceptions. For example, the United Kingdom's ccTLD is "uk" (.co.uk) while its ISO 3166-1 code is "gb" (technically for the entity of "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland"). The parameter can affect results based on applicable law.

Nearby Search (New) examples

Find places of one type

The following example shows a Nearby Search (New) request for the display names of all restaurants within a 500-meter radius, defined by circle:

curl -X POST -d '{
  "includedTypes": ["restaurant"],
  "maxResultCount": 10,
  "locationRestriction": {
    "circle": {
      "center": {
        "latitude": 37.7937,
        "longitude": -122.3965},
      "radius": 500.0
    }
  }
}' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' -H "X-Goog-Api-Key: API_KEY" \
-H "X-Goog-FieldMask: places.displayName" \
https://places.googleapis.com/v1/places:searchNearby

Note that the X-Goog-FieldMask header specifies that the response contains the following data fields: places.displayName. The response is then in the form:

{
  "places": [
    {
      "displayName": {
        "text": "La Mar Cocina Peruana",
        "languageCode": "en"
      }
    },
    {
      "displayName": {
        "text": "Kokkari Estiatorio",
        "languageCode": "en"
      }
    },
    {
      "displayName": {
        "text": "Harborview Restaurant & Bar",
        "languageCode": "en"
      }
    },
...
}

Add more data types to the field mask to return additional information. For example, add places.formattedAddress,places.types,places.websiteUri to include the restaurant address, type, and Web address in the response:

curl -X POST -d '{
  "includedTypes": ["restaurant"],
  "maxResultCount": 10,
  "locationRestriction": {
    "circle": {
      "center": {
        "latitude": 37.7937,
        "longitude": -122.3965},
      "radius": 500.0
    }
  }
}' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' -H "X-Goog-Api-Key: API_KEY" \
-H "X-Goog-FieldMask: places.displayName,places.formattedAddress,places.types,places.websiteUri" \
https://places.googleapis.com/v1/places:searchNearby

The response is now in the form:

{
  "places": [
    {
      "types": [
        "seafood_restaurant",
        "restaurant",
        "food",
        "point_of_interest",
        "establishment"
      ],
      "formattedAddress": "PIER 1 1/2 The Embarcadero N, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA",
      "websiteUri": "http://lamarsf.com/",
      "displayName": {
        "text": "La Mar Cocina Peruana",
        "languageCode": "en"
      }
    },
    {
      "types": [
        "greek_restaurant",
        "meal_takeaway",
        "restaurant",
        "food",
        "point_of_interest",
        "establishment"
      ],
      "formattedAddress": "200 Jackson St, San Francisco, CA 94111, USA",
      "websiteUri": "https://kokkari.com/",
      "displayName": {
        "text": "Kokkari Estiatorio",
        "languageCode": "en"
      }
    },
...
}

Find places of multiple types

The following example shows a Nearby Search (New) request for the display names of all convenience stores and liquor stores within a 1000-meter radius of the specified circle:

curl -X POST -d '{
  "includedTypes": ["liquor_store", "convenience_store"],
  "maxResultCount": 10,
  "locationRestriction": {
    "circle": {
      "center": {
        "latitude": 37.7937,
        "longitude": -122.3965
      },
      "radius": 1000.0
    }
  }
}' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' -H "X-Goog-Api-Key: API_KEY" \
-H "X-Goog-FieldMask: places.displayName,places.primaryType,places.types" \
https://places.googleapis.com/v1/places:searchNearby
This example adds places.primaryType and places.types to the field mask so that the response includes type information about each place, making it easier to select the appropriate place from the results.

The following example shows a Nearby Search (New) request for all places of type "school", excluding all places of type "primary_school", ranking the results by distance:

curl -X POST -d '{
  "includedTypes": ["school"],
  "excludedTypes": ["primary_school"],
  "maxResultCount": 10,
  "locationRestriction": {
    "circle": {
      "center": {
        "latitude": 37.7937,
        "longitude": -122.3965
      },
      "radius": 1000.0
    }
  },
  "rankPreference": "DISTANCE"
}' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' -H "X-Goog-Api-Key: API_KEY" \
-H "X-Goog-FieldMask: places.displayName" \
https://places.googleapis.com/v1/places:searchNearby

Search for all places near an area, ranking by distance

The following example shows a Nearby Search (New) request for places near a point in downtown San Francisco. In this example, you include the rankPreference parameter to rank the results by distance:

curl -X POST -d '{
  "maxResultCount": 10,
  "rankPreference": "DISTANCE",
  "locationRestriction": {
    "circle": {
      "center": {
        "latitude": 37.7937,
        "longitude": -122.3965
      },
      "radius": 1000.0
    }
  }
}' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' -H "X-Goog-Api-Key: API_KEY" \
-H "X-Goog-FieldMask: places.displayName" \
https://places.googleapis.com/v1/places:searchNearby

Try it!

The API Explorer lets you make sample requests so that you can get familiar with the API and the API options.

  1. Select the API icon, Expand the API Explorer., on the right side of the page.
  2. Optionally expand Show standard parameters and set the fields parameter to the field mask.
  3. Optionally edit the Request body.
  4. Select Execute button. In the pop-up, choose the account that you want to use to make the request.
  5. In the API Explorer panel, select the expand icon, Expand the API Explorer., to expand the API Explorer window.