Google Maps API v3 is returning the wrong location (coordinates)

Question

I'm using Google Map GeoCoder v3 (JSON) to get the coordinates for

Praia do forte
Mata de São João, Bahia 
Brazil

The Google Geocoder API can't find it, but http://maps.google.com can find it.

Google Maps Site
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Praia+do+forte,+Mata+de+S%C3%A3o+Jo%C3%A3o,+Bahia,+Brazil&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&authuser=0

This is the Google Maps API v3 request URL I'm hitting to geocode

http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json?sensor=false&address=Praia%2Bdo%2Bforte%252C%2BMata%2Bde%2BS%25C3%25A3o%2BJo%25C3%25A3o%252C%2BBahia%2B%252C%2BBrazil

This is the response.

{
   "results" : [
      {
         "address_components" : [
            {
               "long_name" : "Praia",
               "short_name" : "Praia",
               "types" : [ "locality", "political" ]
            },
            {
               "long_name" : "Praia",
               "short_name" : "Praia",
               "types" : [ "administrative_area_level_1", "political" ]
            },
            {
               "long_name" : "Cape Verde",
               "short_name" : "CV",
               "types" : [ "country", "political" ]
            }
         ],
         "formatted_address" : "Praia, Cape Verde",
         "geometry" : {
            "bounds" : {
               "northeast" : {
                  "lat" : 14.97272960,
                  "lng" : -23.47061630
               },
               "southwest" : {
                  "lat" : 14.90016530,
                  "lng" : -23.54284290
               }
            },
            "location" : {
               "lat" : 14.9304640,
               "lng" : -23.5126690
            },
            "location_type" : "APPROXIMATE",
            "viewport" : {
               "northeast" : {
                  "lat" : 14.95202550,
                  "lng" : -23.48065420
               },
               "southwest" : {
                  "lat" : 14.90890030,
                  "lng" : -23.54468380
               }
            }
         },
         "types" : [ "locality", "political" ]
      }
   ],
   "status" : "OK"
}

It's obviously tripping up on the word "Praia" which is a city in Cape Verde.

Answer 1

The API geocoder is different from the Maps geocoder (see the FAQ in the API documentation).

However, providing just enough information to identify the place works: http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json?sensor=false&address=Praia+do+forte,Brazil