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I've been using SimpleGeo for doing some of my place data queries for a location-based app I'm building. They currently use Factual's data set. From what I can tell, there is no way to do partial text queries on place data, probably because of limitations on Factual's end.

The kind of query I mean is that "Starb" would return results for Starbucks in an auto-complete.

Testing out Google Places API yields the same results. Querying "Bullf" for Bullfrog Brewery near Williamsport, PA turns up nothing. Querying "Bullfrog" yields the correct result.

Do any geolocation/place APIs support this kind of partial keyword query?

Josh Smith
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Google Places does have an Autocomplete API that will return results based on partial keyword queries.

You can view the documentation here:

http://code.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/places/autocomplete.html

Also there's a demo and a blog post about the Places API with Autocomplete here:

http://googlegeodevelopers.blogspot.com/2011/05/places-everybody-show-is-about-to-begin.html

ccuesta
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  • Thanks, I did find this in my travels. Factual also supports "begins with"-type queries for autocomplete purposes. The problem with Google Places Autocomplete API is that they tend to have "places" like "Texas" show up, which is kind of ridiculous when you are ideally looking for venues. – Josh Smith Dec 16 '11 at 01:44
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    @JoshSmith If you don't want geographic results in the Google Places Autocomplete results, you can add a `types=establishment` parameter to your request. – Mike Jeffrey Dec 30 '11 at 00:48