Back in 2012, we launched the Place Add / Delete feature in the Google Places API to enable applications to instantly update the information in Google Maps’ database for their own users, as well as submit new places to add to Google Maps. We also introduced Radar Search to help users identify specific areas of interest within a geographic area.

Unfortunately, since we introduced these features, they have not been widely adopted, and we’ve recently launched easier ways for users to add missing places. At the same time, these features have proven incompatible with future improvements we plan to introduce into the Places API.

Therefore, we’ve decided to remove the Place Add / Delete and Radar Search features in the Google Places API Web Service and JavaScript Library. Place Add is also being deprecated in the Google Places API for Android and iOS. These features will remain available until June 30, 2018. After that date, requests to the Places API attempting to use these features will receive an error response.

Next steps

We recommend removing these features from all your applications, before they are turned down at the end of June 2018.

Nearby Search can work as an alternative for Radar Search, when used with rankby=distance and without keyword or name. Please check the Developer's Guide for more details, in the Web Service or Places library in the Google Maps JavaScript API.

The Client Libraries for Google Maps Web Services for Python, Node.js, Java and Go are also being updated to reflect the deprecated status of this functionality.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but we hope that the alternative options we provide will still help meet your needs. Please submit any questions or feedback to our issue tracker.