Google geocoding: Place Id are different when geocoding business/company name and address

Question

My Problem: My scenario is that in my app I have a inputfield, where you can search for addresses which uses autocomplete. In this field you can type in any company name and it will find the lat/long and set the marker on the map below the input. Then the user can also drag and drop the marker somewhere using the map, and here comes the problem, as I cant get the company name this way, which is needed in my requirements. My failed attempts are below.

Finding company name by lat/lon: I need to get companyname based on a position (lat/long).

So what I tried is geocode the lat/lon to get the place id: https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json?latlng=55.93366899999999,12.258698299999992&key=xxx

It gives me place_id: "ChIJwSWuIGRAUkYRf7LPSwRStYU"

Then I use that to get place name: https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/place/details/json?placeid=ChIJwSWuIGRAUkYRf7LPSwRStYU&key=xxx

But no place name! The JSON does not contain anything about the business.

Finding company name by address: So i tried to geocode address instead of lat/long: https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json?address=Sigrunsvej%2040%20Hillerød

This gives me place id: ChIJa1mGSGFAUkYR2SpylJRKlLM https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/place/details/json?placeid=ChIJa1mGSGFAUkYR2SpylJRKlLM&key=xxx

After throwing that into places, the place is the same as before without company name..

Finding company name by "company name": But when I try to give the company name in the url, I get a 3rd place id: https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json?address=Bauhaus%20Hillerød

Place id: ChIJZWxjtmZAUkYRWY4K-RTjwsk https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/place/details/json?placeid=ChIJZWxjtmZAUkYRWY4K-RTjwsk&key=xxx

This place id works, and I get the company name "BAUHAUS".

Question: So how do I get the company name without knowing it already? It also seems crazy to me that one place can have different place ids.

The reverse geocoder is for retrieving postal addresses. If you need a business name, use the Places API. — geocodezip
I'm already looking up in places api when i get the place id — Michael Winther
Searching address on places does not change anything... maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/place/textsearch/… — Michael Winther
To get the place I'd for the business, you need to do a search for the business name (or a nearbySearch for the coordinates) — geocodezip
Hi again. My problem is that I dont have the business name. So I dont have that to search for.. — Michael Winther

geocodezip geocodezip · Accepted Answer · 2017-07-13T10:35:40

Use nearbySearch on the location.

var service = new google.maps.places.PlacesService(map);
var radius = 100;
service.nearbySearch({
  location: new google.maps.LatLng(55.93366899999999, 12.258698299999992),
  radius: radius,
  type: "store"
}, callback);

Returns one result:

BAUHAUS Hillerød
placeId:ChIJZWxjtmZAUkYRWY4K-RTjwsk

(Note: without the type:"store", I get a different result)

proof of concept fiddle

code snippet:

var infowindow;
var map;

function initialize() {
  map = new google.maps.Map(
    document.getElementById("map_canvas"), {
      center: new google.maps.LatLng(55.93366899999999, 12.258698299999992),
      zoom: 13,
      mapTypeId: google.maps.MapTypeId.ROADMAP
    });
  infowindow = new google.maps.InfoWindow();
  var service = new google.maps.places.PlacesService(map);
  var radius = 100;
  var circle = new google.maps.Circle({
    map: map,
    center: map.getCenter(),
    radius: radius
  });
  map.fitBounds(circle.getBounds());
  service.nearbySearch({
    location: map.getCenter(),
    radius: radius,
    type: "store"
  }, callback);
}

function callback(results, status) {
  if (status === google.maps.places.PlacesServiceStatus.OK) {
    console.log(results.length + " results");
    for (var i = 0; i < results.length; i++) {
      createMarker(results[i]);
    }
  } else console.log("status=" + status);
}

function createMarker(place) {
  var placeLoc = place.geometry.location;
  var marker = new google.maps.Marker({
    map: map,
    position: place.geometry.location
  });

  google.maps.event.addListener(marker, 'click', function() {
    infowindow.setContent(place.name + "<br>placeId:" + place.place_id);
    infowindow.open(map, this);
  });
  google.maps.event.trigger(marker, 'click');
}


google.maps.event.addDomListener(window, "load", initialize);

html,
body,
#map_canvas {
  height: 100%;
  width: 100%;
  margin: 0px;
  padding: 0px
}

<script src="https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/js?libraries=places"></script>
<div id="map_canvas"></div>

Google geocoding: Place Id are different when geocoding business/company name and address

1 Answers