google maps api v3 how to rank by closest distance

Question

Does anyone know how to use the rank by distance search option that is mentioned here? https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/places#place_search_requests

Listing this in the request options doesn't seem to work. Here's my portion of code relative to this:

var request = {
  location: coords,
  //radius: 30000,
  keyword: ['puma, retail'],
  types: ['store'],
  rankBy: google.maps.places.RankBy.DISTANCE
};

service = new google.maps.places.PlacesService(map);
service.search(request, callback);

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

Code will locate and list results if I include a radius, but the results aren't listed in ascending order by distance. Google's docs say a radius isn't necessary either if using the rankBy option. Am I missing something?

I'm in the same boat... hunting for a solution. – GuiDoody Jun 08 '12 at 18:18 — GuiDoody, Jun 08 '12 at 18:18

score 13 · Answer 1 · edited May 05 '15 at 22:51

You cannot use radius and RankBy.DISTANCE properties together. Therefore you have two options:

1) Search by radius then sort the results by distance in your own code.

Example:

var request = {
               location: coords,
               radius: 30000,
               keyword: ['puma, retail'],
               types: ['store']
               };
service = new google.maps.places.PlacesService(map);
service.search(request, callback);

function callback(results, status) {
         if (status == google.maps.places.PlacesServiceStatus.OK) {
          for (var i = 0; i < results.length; i++) {
           sortresults(results[i]);//sortresult uses haversine to calcuate distance and then arranges the result in the order of distance
           createMarker(results[i]);
           listResults(results[i]);
       }
   } 
}

Option 2: Search by RankBy.Distance then cap the result using the radius. Again you would need haversine formula to calculate distances.

var request = {
               location: coords,
               rankBy: google.maps.places.RankBy.DISTANCE,
               keyword: ['puma, retail'],
               types: ['store']
               };
service = new google.maps.places.PlacesService(map);
service.search(request, callback);

function callback(results, status) {
         if (status == google.maps.places.PlacesServiceStatus.OK) {

           for (var i = 0; i < results.length; i++) {
           d= distance(coords,results[i].latlng)
           if(d<rd)
            {createMarker(results[i]);
             listResults(results[i]);
            }
           }
   } 
}

//Returns Distance between two latlng objects using haversine formula
distance(p1, p2) {
 if (!p1 || !p2) 
  return 0;
 var R = 6371000; // Radius of the Earth in m
 var dLat = (p2.lat() - p1.lat()) * Math.PI / 180;
 var dLon = (p2.lng() - p1.lng()) * Math.PI / 180;
 var a = Math.sin(dLat / 2) * Math.sin(dLat / 2) +
 Math.cos(p1.lat() * Math.PI / 180) * Math.cos(p2.lat() * Math.PI / 180) *
 Math.sin(dLon / 2) * Math.sin(dLon / 2);
 var c = 2 * Math.atan2(Math.sqrt(a), Math.sqrt(1 - a));
 var d = R * c;
 return d;
 }

This was definitely the correct answer for me, I experienced the same problem as @JFlo — David, Mar 20 '14 at 05:40

score 9 · Accepted Answer · edited Sep 28 '12 at 04:58

Was having the same problem. As per this source: http://www.geocodezip.com/v3_GoogleEx_place-search.html I was able to formulate the query as such:

var request = {
location: gps,
types: ['food'], //You can substitute "keyword: 'food'," (without double-quotes) here as well.
rankBy: google.maps.places.RankBy.DISTANCE, //Note there is no quotes here, I made that mistake.
key: key 
};

Var key is API key which is not required but added for later use. GPS is:

var gps = new google.maps.LatLng(location.lat,location.lon);

Lastly, I did everything that you did except I added bounds to a map that I was not going to use. For that I did:

var bounds = new google.maps.LatLngBounds();

'types' should be 'type' if you want to replace the value with a variable. Otherwise, it will not work. — rmutalik, May 15 '19 at 20:57

score 4 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 09 '12 at 22:03

You cannot use radius + rankBy properties together.

If you need the closest locations, choose some types, and set the rankBy proprety.

places.nearbySearch({
                        location: LatLng,
                        types: placeTypes,
                        rankBy: google.maps.places.RankBy.DISTANCE
                    },
                    function (results) {
                        // process the results, r[0] is the closest place
                    }
                );

where you can set placeTypes like this

var placeTypes = [
'accounting',
'airport',
'amusement_park',
'aquarium',
'art_gallery',
'atm',
'bakery',
'bank',
'bar',
'beauty_salon',
'bicycle_store',
'book_store',
'bowling_alley',
'bus_station',
'cafe',
'campground',
'car_dealer',
'car_rental',
'car_repair',
'car_wash',
'casino',
'cemetery',
'church',
'city_hall',
'clothing_store',
'convenience_store',
'courthouse',
'dentist',
'department_store',
'doctor',
'electrician',
'electronics_store',
'embassy',
'establishment',
'finance',
'fire_station',
'florist',
'food',
'funeral_home',
'furniture_store',
'gas_station',
'general_contractor',
'grocery_or_supermarket',
'gym',
'hair_care',
'hardware_store',
'health',
'hindu_temple',
'home_goods_store',
'hospital',
'insurance_agency',
'jewelry_store',
'laundry',
'lawyer',
'library',
'liquor_store',
'local_government_office',
'locksmith',
'lodging',
'meal_delivery',
'meal_takeaway',
'mosque',
'movie_rental',
'movie_theater',
'moving_company',
'museum',
'night_club',
'painter',
'park',
'parking',
'pet_store',
'pharmacy',
'physiotherapist',
'place_of_worship',
'plumber',
'police',
'post_office',
'real_estate_agency',
'restaurant',
'roofing_contractor',
'rv_park',
'school',
'shoe_store',
'shopping_mall',
'spa',
'stadium',
'storage',
'store',
'subway_station',
'synagogue',
'taxi_stand',
'train_station',
'travel_agency',
'university',
'veterinary_care',
'zoo'

];

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 20 '14 at 08:02

Please note that on the current Api Doc the "search" method on the PlacesService class is not available.

https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/reference?hl=it#PlacesService

You have to choose betwen:

nearbySearch (retrieve 20 result per page, max 3 pages)
radarSearch (retrieve 200 result but with less details)
textSearch (similar to the nearbySearch)

If you choose to RankBy.DISTANCE you cant set the radius

var request = {
  location: vLatLng,
  //radius: vRaggio,
  rankBy: google.maps.places.RankBy.DISTANCE,
  keyword: ['puma, retail'],
  types: ['store']
}

placesService.nearbySearch(request, function (data, status, placeSearchPagination) {
  if (status == google.maps.places.PlacesServiceStatus.OK) {
  //...
  // do your stuffs with data results
  //...
  if (placeSearchPagination && placeSearchPagination.hasNextPage) {
    placeSearchPagination.nextPage();
  } 
});

If you want to restrict data based on a distance radius you can use this function to check if the resut is too far.

function checkRadiusDistance(place,centerLatLng,radius) {
  return google.maps.geometry.spherical.computeDistanceBetween(place.geometry.location, centerLatLng) < radius;
});

Please note that this is also the only way to obtain places inside a certain radius beacuse when you specify "rankBy:google.maps.places.RankBy.PROMINENCE" and a "radius=xx" the placesService give you also results outside the defined area.

google maps api v3 how to rank by closest distance

4 Answers4

Linked