I am working on a site where users are able to add additional links for listings. I am trying to set it up such that when a user adds a link to a place on Google (for example grabbing the share link from Google Maps: +Elephant+Brewing+Company/@40.7290336,-74.3828372,17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x89c3afa1b597fe49:0x890cb024fe77e7b6!8m2!3d40.7290336!4d-74.3806485) I can then use the Google Places API to pull in additional info.
However, the Google Places API needs you to specify the place ID and I am wondering if there is a way to get this from a provided Maps URL? I know you can manually get it from here: but is there to somehow grab the Place ID via the maps URL?
Thanks!
I am working on a site where users are able to add additional links for listings. I am trying to set it up such that when a user adds a link to a place on Google (for example grabbing the share link from Google Maps: https://www.google./maps/place/Twin+Elephant+Brewing+Company/@40.7290336,-74.3828372,17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x89c3afa1b597fe49:0x890cb024fe77e7b6!8m2!3d40.7290336!4d-74.3806485) I can then use the Google Places API to pull in additional info.
However, the Google Places API needs you to specify the place ID and I am wondering if there is a way to get this from a provided Maps URL? I know you can manually get it from here: https://developers.google./maps/documentation/javascript/examples/places-placeid-finder but is there to somehow grab the Place ID via the maps URL?
Thanks!
Share Improve this question edited May 15, 2018 at 14:29 MrUpsidown 22.5k15 gold badges83 silver badges140 bronze badges asked Feb 14, 2018 at 1:05 JoshJosh 811 gold badge1 silver badge3 bronze badges3 Answers
Reset to default 4Probably a bit late on this but I wanted to give it a try...
Background information:
This answer suggests that you can get a place details by passing the place cid (which is not the same thing as the placeId) to the Places API Web Service.
This makes use of an undocumented query parameter therefore, use it at your own risks. That might stop working at any time without warning!
This article suggests that you can extract the cid from a Maps URL.
I then found this code snippet that helps parsing the data attribute in a Google Maps URL.
Unfortunately, you cannot use the Places API Web Service with an AJAX call as you will run into CORS issues, so you need to use another method. And you cannot use the Places Library of the Google Maps Javascript API as it requires you to pass the placeId and won't accept a cid. That's why I had to use PHP to grab the results from the web service.
To run the below code, you will also need jQuery, or you will need to replace the $.ajax(...) function and you need to replace <your_api_key> with your own API key in the web service request (PHP code).
So here we go... here is the Javascript:
function mapsUrlToPlaceDetails(url) {
var re = /data=(.*)/;
var data = url.match(re);
var str = data[1];
var parts = str.split('!').filter(function (s) {
return s.length > 0;
}),
root = [], // Root elemet
curr = root, // Current array element being appended to
m_stack = [root,], // Stack of "m" elements
m_count = [parts.length,]; // Number of elements to put under each level
parts.forEach(function (el) {
var m = /^(\d+)(\w)(.*)$/.exec(el),
idx = m[1],
kind = m[2],
value = m[3];
// Decrement all the m_counts
for (var i = 0; i < m_count.length; i++) {
m_count[i]--;
}
if (kind === 'm') { // Add a new array to capture ing values
var new_arr = [];
m_count.push(value);
curr.push(new_arr);
m_stack.push(new_arr);
curr = new_arr;
} else {
if (kind == 'b') { // Assuming these are boolean
curr.push(value == '1');
} else if (kind == 'd' || kind == 'f') { // Float or double
curr.push(parseFloat(value));
} else if (kind == 'i' || kind == 'u' || kind == 'e') { // Integer, unsigned or enum as int
curr.push(parseInt(value));
} else { // Store anything else as a string
curr.push(value);
}
}
// Pop off all the arrays that have their values already
while (m_count[m_count.length - 1] === 0) {
m_stack.pop();
m_count.pop();
curr = m_stack[m_stack.length - 1];
}
});
var enc = root[0][0][0];
// Find the CID with a regex
re = /:0x(.*)/;
var cMatch = enc.match(re);
// We have the place CID as hexadecimal, we convert it to decimal in our PHP script
var cid = cMatch[1];
var serviceData = false;
// Query our PHP page with our CID
$.ajax({
type: 'GET',
url: 'get_place_details.php',
data: {
cid: cid
},
success: function (data) {
if (data) {
serviceData = data;
}
},
async: false,
contentType: "application/json",
dataType: 'json',
});
return serviceData;
}
var url = 'https://www.google./maps/place/Twin+Elephant+Brewing+Company/@40.7290336,-74.3828372,17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x89c3afa1b597fe49:0x890cb024fe77e7b6!8m2!3d40.7290336!4d-74.3806485';
console.log(mapsUrlToPlaceDetails(url));
And here is the get_place_details.php page:
<?php
header('Content-Type: application/json');
// Get the hexadecimal CID
$hexString = $_GET['cid'];
// Convert it to decimal
$decString = bchexdec($hexString);
// Query the web service
$url = 'https://maps.googleapis./maps/api/place/details/json?cid=' . $decString . '&key=<your_api_key>';
$json = file_get_contents($url);
// Print results
print $json;
// Convert hexadecimal CID to decimal
function bchexdec($hex) {
$len = strlen($hex);
for ($i = 1; $i <= $len; $i++)
$dec = bcadd($dec, bcmul(strval(hexdec($hex[$i - 1])), bcpow('16', strval($len - $i))));
return $dec;
}
And here is the output with the example URL from your question:
{
"html_attributions" : [],
"result" : {
"address_ponents" : [
{
"long_name" : "13",
"short_name" : "13",
"types" : [ "street_number" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "Watchung Avenue",
"short_name" : "Watchung Ave",
"types" : [ "route" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "Chatham",
"short_name" : "Chatham",
"types" : [ "locality", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "Morris County",
"short_name" : "Morris County",
"types" : [ "administrative_area_level_2", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "New Jersey",
"short_name" : "NJ",
"types" : [ "administrative_area_level_1", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "United States",
"short_name" : "US",
"types" : [ "country", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "07928",
"short_name" : "07928",
"types" : [ "postal_code" ]
}
],
"adr_address" : "\u003cspan class=\"street-address\"\u003e13 Watchung Ave\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan class=\"locality\"\u003eChatham\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan class=\"region\"\u003eNJ\u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"postal-code\"\u003e07928\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan class=\"country-name\"\u003eUSA\u003c/span\u003e",
"formatted_address" : "13 Watchung Ave, Chatham, NJ 07928, USA",
"formatted_phone_number" : "(973) 507-9862",
"geometry" : {
"location" : {
"lat" : 40.7290336,
"lng" : -74.38064849999999
},
"viewport" : {
"northeast" : {
"lat" : 40.7305861302915,
"lng" : -74.37907051970849
},
"southwest" : {
"lat" : 40.7278881697085,
"lng" : -74.3817684802915
}
}
},
"icon" : "https://maps.gstatic./mapfiles/place_api/icons/generic_business-71.png",
"id" : "033d042f48225906fe15f77f5b3a3e7b6aeeab89",
"international_phone_number" : "+1 973-507-9862",
"name" : "Twin Elephant Brewing Company",
"opening_hours" : {
"open_now" : false,
"periods" : [
{
"close" : {
"day" : 4,
"time" : "2100"
},
"open" : {
"day" : 4,
"time" : "1600"
}
},
{
"close" : {
"day" : 5,
"time" : "2200"
},
"open" : {
"day" : 5,
"time" : "1600"
}
},
{
"close" : {
"day" : 6,
"time" : "2200"
},
"open" : {
"day" : 6,
"time" : "1200"
}
}
],
"weekday_text" : [
"Monday: Closed",
"Tuesday: Closed",
"Wednesday: Closed",
"Thursday: 4:00 – 9:00 PM",
"Friday: 4:00 – 10:00 PM",
"Saturday: 12:00 – 10:00 PM",
"Sunday: Closed"
]
},
"photos" : [
{
"height" : 2448,
"html_attributions" : [
"\u003ca href=\"https://maps.google./maps/contrib/116322776679362173973/photos\"\u003eJohn Cisco\u003c/a\u003e"
],
"photo_reference" : "CmRaAAAA5OjbmTwkvKGIODbDIq7iqRmY936SHMmM8Lp-ao-tZz9TjysnV1iLo8TU7c3vaOqKEEFp9sjgdQXaryTXmkayEgbRf1R_kHTUMALncnIbJgUUNWUQfVZZZFYwAVSNT3xrEhBoDze6Deo-OY-R4QBsJSGUGhRBTr8UU62fuUe7uQ8GC_eGZVy-0Q",
"width" : 3264
},
{
"height" : 640,
"html_attributions" : [
"\u003ca href=\"https://maps.google./maps/contrib/108115407768700900550/photos\"\u003eTwin Elephant Brewing Company\u003c/a\u003e"
],
"photo_reference" : "CmRaAAAAkseOCiYmA_QuZtUtpLL32udgqGJHWUxmQPH646Ml16SjCwRv1gS-ynYkWM5n54m36S2uUstVZ0ld4nDlosYblDeQxvq8_KxRrVyKtavY8cQvY9l2cidOWgF7XBYKVzSMEhDO3A3SJPio3XhenCtDgkhUGhTDMYIMOvpFmkQXy4dMYQD19-_VkQ",
"width" : 480
},
{
"height" : 1080,
"html_attributions" : [
"\u003ca href=\"https://maps.google./maps/contrib/105468313205986835052/photos\"\u003eU. Minocha\u003c/a\u003e"
],
"photo_reference" : "CmRaAAAAFY3e-92GOB5gZ02gRnRisBWhqIr-_bCxDhNff5kYX7XRtcDY-3Q4d1eRN71fouXOJWQH02EUXXmsDaSk9nw91ajUMjdZXdUdgnWsLtWci_QwBmTs604TDtD9IBOUgdsGEhDGUo8VR6VxAz5dn58v2K5EGhTyypm6Z3dw8VRo7ARzeY0B33jpHA",
"width" : 1920
},
{
"height" : 2988,
"html_attributions" : [
"\u003ca href=\"https://maps.google./maps/contrib/106472583958367361068/photos\"\u003eSteven Grillo\u003c/a\u003e"
],
"photo_reference" : "CmRaAAAA_toJLI4dqBnPcYWU3xcg74OTOguLrFcYuobfrefJKzMI1YvzLC5su3qG5ePhwwCNPhbuf2yRrf1xAwNyb786f9W6SUcPqm1Ixys7kdtLRtq2PCGGR7uJPNy7diIxltAFEhDJ1iv7zV9Wy-L2LmMK6awaGhS8lS-vGVLbyuoBvnLUHMoo7G9P-g",
"width" : 5312
},
{
"height" : 3024,
"html_attributions" : [
"\u003ca href=\"https://maps.google./maps/contrib/102366024100729755902/photos\"\u003eGiri Sonty\u003c/a\u003e"
],
"photo_reference" : "CmRaAAAAxUDQSpdmVLqwEhkmglkZCgHrgF8pu5fQuEwQqJGdPX-LF4HFfVTW3P-sCORrFZToktnujwI5_qsC6s7lYbdaXt3-zyUZ5Y1cG-Qsf8iyPdfLFKbmqzQYePDyESBbotZKEhDkJqPi01x3SBsMfB9F7ozpGhSuBaRTN8WuFjKLFnhHmQBBhjCpFg",
"width" : 4032
},
{
"height" : 1920,
"html_attributions" : [
"\u003ca href=\"https://maps.google./maps/contrib/105155780654274802017/photos\"\u003eTim Besecker\u003c/a\u003e"
],
"photo_reference" : "CmRaAAAAnYSYhIWKK5g6iw5YuE3W6rcrcsMjLkkAh7WOwrK7byCBH5mXOVEukvboWIEBR_03igd52Nv2j65HkaOZtqEOt5wIg_-jUxyGUoiYWSgx5lE0Bfr7lfr_hLIL0F1Ih5QgEhC2T7UwbXzWyMntI1hjYwimGhQuwFneOqYQFlkXRVk2djZMH8MukQ",
"width" : 1536
},
{
"height" : 4048,
"html_attributions" : [
"\u003ca href=\"https://maps.google./maps/contrib/111388773475383063875/photos\"\u003eChris Bryant\u003c/a\u003e"
],
"photo_reference" : "CmRaAAAALgkt5N4lbOd9KKbodX6e85cr53AMmTCHtUcpY4A8GstXaYQ0A3ZxVy3HidMeRsq6ttB335aY3caGghlzlGn6ZKTh3UYqhBIWDEtbAP55Sfmn_ejguBmUwXGvYPXwXnJ0EhAMxT0nVxswsz3t4vKMXNYlGhS61J6w9kwPE78p48JziVu6BuXpOQ",
"width" : 3036
},
{
"height" : 3904,
"html_attributions" : [
"\u003ca href=\"https://maps.google./maps/contrib/113301757065540994941/photos\"\u003eBrian Davies\u003c/a\u003e"
],
"photo_reference" : "CmRaAAAAwBpwY85PAJA8kMCwHfFa5AjfKhWKt9tWr24dW4c3jg7OKgem6Fiy3ujkgJn3I2qjdnhaQ_doPoh7nOFC3pMyk0lhg3PBrEmlV4I-WV_b-ijbSCyNsc6XSgWCa33lJCrVEhCiuzN8SVwykAsKYnaqr5wyGhRBmlmH4UF3sli--wgW3NFt-JCnaQ",
"width" : 2928
},
{
"height" : 3006,
"html_attributions" : [
"\u003ca href=\"https://maps.google./maps/contrib/104479106479135628391/photos\"\u003eMark Burgos\u003c/a\u003e"
],
"photo_reference" : "CmRaAAAA_eEr3xWGNj_0Z9ZV7kCtLoShbGyV_Lm7fWPgqzoI-XkZDXEpKN6lyEka5DdbHPa_UKCZFJc2NHqcCHcO2wqohW5kOgev6KJBPowo-dwzweebBOHqjHYOIDTzCuNI-e3JEhDlQWANhY1vjamISDqmerQDGhSyKw-BY2sF2z2PJVP5Ebxn4XyUOw",
"width" : 4442
},
{
"height" : 2160,
"html_attributions" : [
"\u003ca href=\"https://maps.google./maps/contrib/101684835260872241844/photos\"\u003eJohn Worobetz\u003c/a\u003e"
],
"photo_reference" : "CmRZAAAAaxND_m7EEmb_H-AcjE11kV9TSpDNmqSp_yb9rvoeMfXli-YpkNl40ynUbFbIdBlvzQABml_g8QyVRVjO1xX_22tLDGC2BjRYjUVU2jSQ3lh8vpBQXpVS-QqgsRiKs5MjEhDPSv331G9tFTL4i9ZRxrTtGhQiu6Y77QuIF-yDjC5K7l03RHX0RQ",
"width" : 2880
}
],
"place_id" : "ChIJSf6XtaGvw4kRtud3_iSwDIk",
"rating" : 4.6,
"reference" : "CmRSAAAA81Dn88T7QUFqgafk6p_RmBF2QwxF4ciZ1RiAl2FX_FnH_6V8xhBut-wwn55PA5RqzR1lnASt8IU220bIcnhK-X5LaOZfiRA-Ev4xqFIwD_5Bih40Zp0_r90rujcd0aDtEhBmmicu6C2zft-mfZaKRM44GhS9vO5jT0yZ21uPyvkNkU47rrHSUQ",
"reviews" : [
{
"author_name" : "Chris Hall",
"author_url" : "https://www.google./maps/contrib/105472690796059859093/reviews",
"language" : "en",
"profile_photo_url" : "https://lh6.googleusercontent./-c2FE0ic_69g/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAAAJE/JkiTdWGipz8/s128-c0x00000000-cc-rp-mo-ba2/photo.jpg",
"rating" : 5,
"relative_time_description" : "a month ago",
"text" : "Great local brewery with a great selection of beers. The outdoor, indoor decor gives it a great vibe and is a happening place for families and friends of all (legal) ages. I wold definitely remend the flight tasters. Only one downfall, they're always out of growlers, so I never get to take my favorite taster home. Great spot overall!",
"time" : 1522938350
},
{
"author_name" : "U. Minocha",
"author_url" : "https://www.google./maps/contrib/105468313205986835052/reviews",
"language" : "en",
"profile_photo_url" : "https://lh5.googleusercontent./-DvbLy6Lfe1Y/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAAcok/XtWUnfo600c/s128-c0x00000000-cc-rp-mo-ba5/photo.jpg",
"rating" : 4,
"relative_time_description" : "2 months ago",
"text" : "Place is hard to find and parking is limited but worth it. They have 3 oz 5-beer flights, 8 and 16 oz pours. Good beers - different styles; not a mono-style place. Place was packed at 3:30 pm on Sat afternoon (imagine that) but the lines move quick and staff is friendly. Great rustic decor.",
"time" : 1518901110
},
{
"author_name" : "Chris D'Anna",
"author_url" : "https://www.google./maps/contrib/109252609008737722129/reviews",
"language" : "en",
"profile_photo_url" : "https://lh6.googleusercontent./-XoBlrw7wJN4/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAAFhk/ksUvusFcOk8/s128-c0x00000000-cc-rp-mo-ba3/photo.jpg",
"rating" : 5,
"relative_time_description" : "3 weeks ago",
"text" : "Great fast service and very knowledgeable. And the beer was delicious. My favorite part is they offer many for takeout growler. I will definitely be back very soon.",
"time" : 1524017924
},
{
"author_name" : "Eric Larsen Larsen",
"author_url" : "https://www.google./maps/contrib/104887350051046383743/reviews",
"language" : "en",
"profile_photo_url" : "https://lh3.googleusercontent./-EH-6GOaD73U/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAAAAA/AIcfdXA8ntBCFqZ6ozlr3xDuN5In7Gemmg/s128-c0x00000000-cc-rp-mo/photo.jpg",
"rating" : 5,
"relative_time_description" : "a week ago",
"text" : "I have been stopping in for 9 months now. Awesome employees. Great Beer and descent selection. My favorite to date Weepel and Lil Shimmy",
"time" : 1525543191
},
{
"author_name" : "Pete Antoniewicz",
"author_url" : "https://www.google./maps/contrib/108718838193824181246/reviews",
"language" : "en",
"profile_photo_url" : "https://lh4.googleusercontent./-59_xOCRQPDI/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAAAAA/l-PiY85YX5g/s128-c0x00000000-cc-rp-mo-ba5/photo.jpg",
"rating" : 3,
"relative_time_description" : "2 months ago",
"text" : "Nice place, beers ok. A little crowded though there was a big birthday party taking up a lot of room. Garbage cans right by the entrance. Hopefully working out the kinks. A great addition to the area.",
"time" : 1520108642
}
],
"scope" : "GOOGLE",
"types" : [ "food", "point_of_interest", "establishment" ],
"url" : "https://maps.google./?cid=9875461755851237302",
"utc_offset" : -240,
"vicinity" : "13 Watchung Avenue, Chatham",
"website" : "http://www.twinelephant./"
},
"status" : "OK"
}
Hope this helps but again: use at your own risks!
You can not get a place_id from a URL, the placeid finder that you mention is actually an app that uses the autoplete services of the GM Javascript API to get them.
A workaround would be getting coordinates from the URL (this you can do) and then use either Autoplete service or geocoder to get the place_id (from the coordinates gotten from URL)
I'd like to share my solution although it's been 3 years.
The best for me is to work with google maps url that already specified the place. It needs 2 steps.
- Extract place name from the url string between '/maps/place/' and '@'.
- Search the extracted place name using google place textsearch. Put it in 'query' as explained HERE and you will get details for the place including place_id