I was working with Google Maps Geocoder API for a while, and today I found a abnormal behavior of the server.
This is my url for the request: https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json?address=starbucks
But I unexpectedly received only 1 result from the response, which was "Starbucks, 11 Clair Rd W, Guelph, ON N1L 0A6, Canada", even I was in the USA.
I already tried with different API_KEY but still got the same result everytime. Did any body suffer the same issue?
From the google geocoder help files
Geocoding is the process of converting addresses (like "1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA") into geographic coordinates (like latitude 37.423021 and longitude -122.083739), which you can use to place markers on a map, or position the map.
In this case, you're using the process a bit differently than how it was designed. You need to provide it with an address or something resembling an address before it returns the lat/long coordinates of a given location.
At the same time, you can reverse geocode and feed it a lat/long and have the api provide you with the businesses at a given location.
From your query, it looks like you're trying to get the location of every starbucks (lat/long) which is more something that you should get off the starbucks website store locator before feeding this into your Geocoder API calls to get lats/longs.
Places API Web Service, the Geocoding Service is not designed to search for something. – Daniel W.