Open Places API

Blog

Notes from the workshop.

Guides and engineering notes on Overture data, place search, and shipping location features without adopting a maps platform. RSS.

  1. A paper coastline map where misplaced ocean place pins are filtered out through a data-cleanup sieve.

    Overture Places release digest: June 2026

    The 2026-06-17 Overture release filters places outside their country-code boundaries, keeps Places on schema v1.17.0, and continues the category transition.

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  2. A forked pipeline comparing a complex self-hosted search stack with a compact hosted nearby-search API.

    Nearby search API: build or buy?

    A pragmatic framework for deciding whether to self-host open POI data or use a hosted nearby search API.

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  3. An interactive search box path compared with a backend nearby-search API path over a paper map.

    Mapbox Search Box vs a nearby search API

    Mapbox Search Box is built for interactive address, place, and POI search. A nearby search API is simpler when you already have a coordinate and need nearby JSON.

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  4. Open map-data blocks flowing through an indexing pipeline into nearby place result cards.

    Overture Maps Places, explained for developers

    Overture Places is open POI data with sources, schema, releases, and cloud distribution. Here is what it gives you and what you still have to build.

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  5. Open map-data blocks flowing through an indexing pipeline into nearby place result cards.

    Is there an OpenStreetMap POI API?

    OpenStreetMap is open map data, not a production POI search API. Here is how Overpass, Nominatim, Overture, and hosted place search fit together.

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  6. A two-step location workflow turning an address card into a coordinate and then into nearby place pins.

    Places API vs geocoding API: which one do you need?

    Geocoding turns addresses into coordinates. Place search finds businesses, venues, and POIs near a point. Mixing them up creates bad UX and bad bills.

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  7. An illustrated circuit breaker stopping a stream of map-pin requests before they reach an invoice tray.

    How to cap Google Maps API spending

    Google Cloud budgets alert you, quotas limit API volume, and Pub/Sub automation can disable billing. Here is what each control does and does not do.

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  8. A field-mask switchboard where one highlighted data field moves a billing meter upward.

    Google Places field masks and pricing, explained

    Places API field masks control response shape and billing tier. One extra field can reprice the whole call.

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  9. A browser outline separated from a secure server cabinet by a firewall boundary and routed API key.

    Google Places API key setup: what to keep server-side

    A practical guide to Places API key setup, restrictions, and why server-side place search should not leak keys into the browser.

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  10. Map pins feeding into abstract usage tiers beside a calculator on a paper city grid.

    Is the Google Places API free in 2026?

    Google Places has free monthly usage, but not one simple free tier. Here is how the 2026 per-SKU thresholds work and where place search starts billing.

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  11. Map pins feeding into abstract usage tiers beside a calculator on a paper city grid.

    What Google Places API actually costs in 2026

    A worked breakdown of Google Places API pricing in 2026: the tiers, per-SKU free thresholds, the dead $200 credit, and what a place search really costs.

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  12. Open map-data blocks flowing through an indexing pipeline into nearby place result cards.

    FSQ OS Places is free. So why pay for place search?

    Foursquare open-sourced 100M+ places under Apache 2.0. The license cost went to zero, but the serving cost moved to you. Three real options, compared.

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  13. A list-first store locator with result cards beside map pins on a paper city grid.

    Build a store locator without Google Maps

    A store locator is two problems: knowing where the user is, and finding what's near them. Here's how to solve both with one GET request and no maps platform.

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  14. An abstract AI agent node calling a places API tool and receiving real map pins.

    Give your AI agent local search

    AI agents are bad at knowing what's nearby and great at calling tools. Three ways to hand your agent real-world place search: MCP, a tool definition, or plain HTTP.

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