Google Places API types functionality..

Answer 1

you can also use the country restriction

example:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/js?libraries=places&sensor=false"></script>

<script type="text/javascript">
    function initialize() 
    {
      var input = document.getElementById('searchTextField');
      var options = {
          types: ['(cities)'],
          componentRestrictions: {country: "ca"}
      };

      autocomplete = new google.maps.places.Autocomplete(input, options);
    }

    google.maps.event.addDomListener(window, 'load', initialize);
</script>

<input id="searchTextField" type="text" size="50" placeholder="Anything you want!">

now you can easily add a dropdown with a selection of cities and re-filter the cities, when onchange of the dropdown occurs :)

Answer 2

I think the option you are looking for according to the docs is "geocode" ( http://code.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/javascript/reference.html#AutocompleteOptions ):

var options = {                    
    types: ["geocode"]
};

Answer 3

If the user types Tor in the input field and the output you want is Toronto, ON, Canada then you should use types=(regions), with the brackets.

I don't know if the option was present when the question was asked, but it is available now.

Sample Request:

https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/place/autocomplete/json?input=Tor&key=<YOUR_API_KEY_HERE>&types=(regions)

Answer 4

You can use like this types: ['geocode' || 'establishment' || 'address']

Answer 5

Try, check out the jsfiddle:

 var options = {                    
      types: ['geocode']
 };

types, which can be either establishment or geocode, representing businesses or addresses, respectively. If types is not specified, both types are returned.