Migrate to the new Place Reviews

European Economic Area (EEA) developers

Place reviews lets you add user reviews and ratings to your web pages. This page explains the differences between place reviews as used in the Place class (new) and PlacesService (legacy), and provides some code snippets for comparison.

  • PlacesService (legacy) returns an array of PlaceReview instances as part of the PlaceResult object for any getDetails() request if the reviews field is specified in the request.
  • Place (new) returns an array of Review instances as part of a fetchFields() request if the reviews field is specified in the request.

The following table lists some of the main differences in the use of place reviews between the Place class and PlacesService:

PlacesService (Legacy) Place (New)
PlaceReview interface Review class
Methods require the use of a callback to handle the results object and google.maps.places.PlacesServiceStatus response. Uses Promises, and works asynchronously.
Methods require a PlacesServiceStatus check. No required status check, can use standard error handling. Learn more.
PlacesService must be instantiated using a map or a div element. Place can be instantiated wherever needed, without a reference to a map or page element.
PlaceReview returns attribution data for the review using the author_name, author_url, and profile_photo_url fields. Review returns attribution data for the review using an AuthorAttribution instance.

Code comparison

This section compares code for text search methods to illustrate the differences between Place reviews in the legacy PlacesService and the newer Place class.

Places service (legacy)

The following snippet calls getDetails() to request place details including reviews, and displays the first review result in an infowindow.

const request = {
  placeId: "ChIJpyiwa4Zw44kRBQSGWKv4wgA", // Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Boston, MA
  fields: ["name", "formatted_address", "geometry", "reviews"],
};
const service = new google.maps.places.PlacesService(map);

service.getDetails(request, (place, status) => {
  if (
    status === google.maps.places.PlacesServiceStatus.OK &&
    place &&
    place.geometry &&
    place.geometry.location
  ) {
    // If there are any reviews display the first one.
    if (place.reviews && place.reviews.length > 0) {
      // Get info for the first review.
      let reviewRating = place.reviews[0].rating;
      let reviewText = place.reviews[0].text;
      let authorName = place.reviews[0].author_name;
      let authorUri = place.reviews[0].author_url;

      // Format the review using HTML.
      contentString =`
            <div id="title"><b>${place.name}</b></div>
            <div id="address">${place.formatted_address}</div>
            <a href="${authorUri}" target="_blank">Author: ${authorName}</a>
            <div id="rating">Rating: ${reviewRating} stars</div>
            <div id="rating"><p>Review: ${reviewText}</p></div>`;
    } else {
      contentString = `No reviews were found for ${place.name}`;
    }

    const infowindow = new google.maps.InfoWindow({
      content: contentString,
      ariaLabel: place.displayName,
    });

    // Add a marker.
    const marker = new google.maps.Marker({
      map,
      position: place.geometry.location,
    });

    // Show the info window.
    infowindow.open({
      anchor: marker,
      map,
    });
  }
});

Place class (new)

The following snippet calls fetchFields() method to request place details including reviews, and displays the first review result in an infowindow.

// Use a place ID to create a new Place instance.
const place = new google.maps.places.Place({
  id: "ChIJpyiwa4Zw44kRBQSGWKv4wgA", // Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Boston, MA
});

// Call fetchFields, passing 'reviews' and other needed fields.
await place.fetchFields({
  fields: ["displayName", "formattedAddress", "location", "reviews"],
});

// If there are any reviews display the first one.
if (place.reviews && place.reviews.length > 0) {
  // Get info for the first review.
  let reviewRating = place.reviews[0].rating;
  let reviewText = place.reviews[0].text;
  let authorName = place.reviews[0].authorAttribution.displayName;
  let authorUri = place.reviews[0].authorAttribution.uri;

  // Format the review using HTML.
  contentString =`
          <div id="title"><b>${place.displayName}</b></div>
          <div id="address">${place.formattedAddress}</div>
          <a href="${authorUri}" target="_blank">Author: ${authorName}</a>
          <div id="rating">Rating: ${reviewRating} stars</div>
          <div id="rating"><p>Review: ${reviewText}</p></div>`;
} else {
  contentString = `No reviews were found for ${place.displayName}`;
}

// Create an infowindow to display the review.
infoWindow = new google.maps.InfoWindow({
  content: contentString,
  ariaLabel: place.displayName,
});

// Add a marker.
const marker = new google.maps.marker.AdvancedMarkerElement({
  map,
  position: place.location,
  title: place.displayName,
});

// Show the info window.
infoWindow.open({
  anchor: marker,
  map,
});