Plus Code

Plus Codes are Google's open location codes: a grid over the earth where each cell has a code of letters and digits with a plus sign in it. A full code such as 85FQR256+VP names a cell about 14 metres on a side at the equator, and narrower towards the poles. Google Maps usually prints the short form, with the first four characters replaced by a nearby town, as in R256+VP Denver, Colorado.

They exist for places without a usable street address, and they work offline, since a code converts to coordinates and back by formula. Anyone can turn a full code into latitude and longitude with Google's open-source library; a short code needs the town, or a nearby point, to recover the missing characters.

Clair's Google Maps Place endpoint returns plus_code as Google prints it on the place page, with latitude and longitude beside it, and null when the page shows none.