Google Places

Google Places is the industry standard for location and place data. For agents doing local search, business lookup, location-based recommendations, or geographic intelligence, it provides unmatched coverage and data quality. The new Places API is cleaner than the legacy version, with field masking for cost control and structured responses. Nearly every real-world location is represented.

Authentication uses API keys. The model is simple but billing implications are significant: every field requested in every call costs money. For agents, the main auth/access concern is not credential complexity but cost governance. API key restrictions by referrer, IP, or API should be configured to prevent abuse.

Documentation is comprehensive and well-maintained. Google's docs cover the new Places API thoroughly, with migration guides from the legacy API, field mask references, and billing explanations. For agents, the billing documentation is as important as the API reference.

The API surface covers text search, nearby search, place details, place photos, and autocomplete. Field masking controls which data fields are returned and billed, which is important for cost management. Responses include structured data: name, address, coordinates, business hours, ratings, reviews, and more. For agents, the richness of place data is excellent, but field mask discipline is critical to avoid excessive billing.

Error handling is clear with structured error responses. The main operational concerns are billing surprises from uncontrolled field masks, rate limits on high-volume queries, and result relevance for ambiguous location queries. Agents need to be disciplined about requesting only the fields they need and handling cases where places have incomplete data.