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Why do calls to the Google Maps Geocoder API return different results than what I see in my browser?

This one returns many items :
http://maps.google.fr/maps?q=McDonald,+paris

This one returns a ZERO_RESULT :
http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/xml?McDonald,+paris&sensor=false

Kaitlin Duck Sherwood
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Oliver
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1 Answers1

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FAQ: https://developers.google.com/maps/faq#geocoder_differences

The API geocoder finds postal addresses. The Maps geocoder uses lots of data, including business data, to find results.

There is the Places API which can find locations based on type/class, but it may not work for business names. Documentation

Andrew Leach
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  • Reading the doc, I don't see where you saw that it may not work for business names ? Can you point the sentence please ? – Oliver May 14 '12 at 15:38
  • @Oliver: It's experimental and still being developed, so it may well be buggy. From other reports, *Types* seem to work ok. The documentation says "*keyword* — A term to be matched against all content that Google has indexed for this Place, including but not limited to name, type, and address, as well as customer reviews and other third-party content," so that may well be ok too. I just didn't want to say that it definitely would be! Give it a go and report back: the information will be useful for others. – Andrew Leach May 14 '12 at 15:44
  • Is there a way to access the Maps geocoder mentioned in this answer? – AST Jan 20 '16 at 17:40
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    Reviewing the documentation I linked to in my answer, it appears the [Places JavaScript API](https://developers.google.com/places/javascript) now uses the same database as Google Maps and Google+ Local. – Andrew Leach Jan 20 '16 at 17:47