Using a filter fallback in proximity searches

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The documentation below is for historical reference only.

As of v3.3, it's now possible for the filter values to be set automatically.

{# Will ignore geocoding results
 # and filter by any subfield
 # that matches the target 
 #}
{% set params = {
    target: '90210',
    range: 50,
    filter: 'fallback'
} %}

When a user searches for a partial address, Google will perform an address lookup (aka geocoding) in order to determine the center point of the user's proximity search. However, this can be problematic if the user does not enter a specific address.

If the user has only entered a postal code or city name, Google will return coordinates for the geographic center of that region. This can lead to some confusion, as the "closest" results may belong in a neighboring state or province (due to the oddly-shaped nature of most regions).

To solve this problem, we have introduced the filter fallback technique. This allows imprecise searches to automatically filter the subfield values based on the user's search query.

Instead of setting the filter as an array, simply set it to be "fallback" instead...

filter: 'fallback'

If the Google geocoding results are too broad (ie: not a street address), the target value will be automatically applied as a filter against all subfields.