Search along a route

To use Text Search (New) to search along a route, pass the precalculated route from the Routes API in the request as a polyline. The response contains places that match the search criteria and are also located near the specified route.

To search along a route:

Use the Routes API to calculate a route that returns a route's encoded polyline in the response.

Note: You can also encode your own polyline as described in Encoded Polyline Algorithm Format.
Use the searchAlongRouteParameters.polyline.encodedPolyline parameter to pass the route's encoded polyline to Text Search (New) to bias the search results to the route. The response then contains places that match the search criteria and are also located near the specified route.

By default, Text Search (New) performs the search along the entire route from the origin to the destination as defined by the polyline. In the following example, the polyline defines the route from:

Origin: 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA
Destination: 24 Willie Mays Plaza, San Francisco, CA

The trip's encoded polyline for this route is represented by the string:

wblcFptchVIFOd@G@EVw@Ms@dHKR}ApNA`AF~@Hf@TjAb@bBb@~@n@p@^Rd@~@Vz@HVz@nDLt@?d@Kr@c@~@mD`G?`@aEfGkCnDuChDm`@bb@[`@{GhHeEdEciBnnBkC`DkC~DaClEuKjT_Z|l@Qb@iR~_@}EzJ_AdB_Und@kAfCaOjZkg@vcAqBzD_]rr@iBlEaBxEgArD}AlG}AhHsA`IeAnH{@dIq@dJgL~iBq@rHu@vGgAtHwArHaBhHkBzG_DpJ}Nbc@iBhGkA|EgC|LcIjb@oAhG_AvDgAdDkApC_BzCiBpCsFvGii@vn@scAxlAmLjNgSzUeRjT{TzWqExEmG|FuNlMmMhLaRvPqOlNmbAl}@mFlF{PlOmJfIoElE}LtMiSbU_H`I}}@jcAwl@vp@oAbBqA~BeAhCm@tBg@fCWrBQ~BI|DaB~rBO~D[bEa@`Dm@pDaAdE{@vC_BbEkB~Def@|z@sEzHKJeS~]}K`S{\\~l@cXpe@sBpDm@bAuCxDkBrBiC~BwCtByBnAcBx@}Bt@{Bn@gh@|LaOpDeFhAoDj@aE^kVrA_E^iEr@yD~@uBr@gMjF_EnAcCh@eFr@_DRsAD}@Jsu@xCWDqIV}BCeCOyDm@cBa@_DmA}JeE_CwAsBcBiBoBuAqBmOoX{CuEkB_CoDqDkVoUoD{CeE_DkEkC_FeCqB}@sDuAoDgAeCe@cCW}CK}BDaDTeOlBcuBrYaNlBq@Dyd@rGyFt@yBb@eBf@oCnAoBlAkIpGkAp@wBbAaCt@oFdAwKjBoGxA{FbByIjC_HfB_@KmNdDuC|@uFzBcH|C{@\\[?sBv@}@VaBVoA@y@EmAQcA[w@]aBkAeAkA}BuDUKs@uAqBsCwBcCgAiAiN_MyKsJsG{GkBaBiBuA{BwAwDkBcOaHiC_AiCg@}BQcCAcBHqBVkB`@qEjAu@LgCVgAHwG@sG?mABsH^eNr@mBXy@NqBt@uAt@aBlAkAlA}BtCyApBiAdB_BxB{A`B}@j@oAf@s@PeCVcIf@gAAkAQy@YiAo@_A{@_DgEgJqM_DeEaM}PoBiCzAsBw@kAdAGVk@f@q@z@C

The following example uses the route's encoded polyline to bias the search results:

curl -X POST -d '{
  "textQuery" : "Spicy Vegetarian Food",
  "searchAlongRouteParameters": {
    "polyline": {
      "encodedPolyline": "ROUTE_POLYLINE"
    }
  }
}' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' -H 'X-Goog-Api-Key: API_KEY' \
-H 'X-Goog-FieldMask: places.displayName,places.formattedAddress,places.priceLevel' \
'https://places.googleapis.com/v1/places:searchText'

The response contains the places that match the search criteria, biased to the route:

{
  "places": [
    {
      "formattedAddress": "60 Morris St, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA",
      "priceLevel": "PRICE_LEVEL_MODERATE",
      "displayName": {
        "text": "Umami Express",
        "languageCode": "en"
      }
    },
    {
      "formattedAddress": "1130 4th St, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA",
      "priceLevel": "PRICE_LEVEL_MODERATE",
      "displayName": {
        "text": "House of Tadu Ethiopian Kitchen",
        "languageCode": "en"
      }
    },
    {
      "formattedAddress": "1602 El Camino Real Ste A, Belmont, CA 94002, USA",
      "priceLevel": "PRICE_LEVEL_MODERATE",
      "displayName": {
        "text": "Eats Meets West Bowls",
        "languageCode": "en"
      }
    },
    /.../
  ]
}

You don't have to bias the results to the entire route. For example, you might already be halfway along the route before you perform the search. In this case, you can specify an explicit routing origin to the search to override the origin defined in the encoded polyline. In the following example, you specify the latitude and longitude coordinates of San Mateo, CA, which is approximately halfway along the route polyline:

curl -X POST -d '{
  "textQuery" : "Spicy Vegetarian Food",
  "searchAlongRouteParameters": {
    "polyline": {
      "encodedPolyline": "ROUTE_POLYLINE"
    }
  },
  "routingParameters": {
    "origin": {
      "latitude": 37.56617,
      "longitude": -122.30870
    }
  }
}' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' -H 'X-Goog-Api-Key: API_KEY' \
-H 'X-Goog-FieldMask: places.displayName,places.formattedAddress,places.priceLevel' \
'https://places.googleapis.com/v1/places:searchText'

Overview

Calculate routing summary