What is a plus code?Google Maps location codes explained
A plus code is a short geocode that pins any place on the map, even one with no street address. Here is what it means and why it shows up in your scraped lead data.
Database··7 min read
Key takeaways
A plus code is a short alphanumeric geocode (for example 849VCWC8+R9) that Google derives from latitude and longitude
It identifies a small square on the map and works without a street address, so every point on Earth has one
When you scrape Google Maps, businesses with no formal address often carry a plus code as their location field, which still maps precisely
The short answer
Plus code, defined
A plus code is a digital address for a place, generated from its coordinates rather than from a road name. It is the public face of the Open Location Code standard, an open format created by Google and released for anyone to use.
A full code looks like 849VCWC8+R9. The characters before the plus sign describe a broad grid area, and the characters after it narrow the position down to a square a few meters wide. Because it comes from latitude and longitude, a plus code exists for a mountain trailhead, a market stall, or a shop on an unnamed street: anywhere a pin can drop.
For anyone building a lead list from the map, this matters. When a business has no clean postal address, Google shows a plus code instead. A scraper that reads what the map displays will record that code, and that is still a precise, usable location.
Capture the location, whatever form it takes
The Vonsel Chrome extension reads every business on your Google Maps search and pulls the location field, address or plus code, straight into your dashboard.
The system divides the world into a grid and encodes each cell using a set of 20 characters. Every extra pair of characters you add zooms in tighter, the same way a longer postal code narrows a neighborhood down to a block. Google explains the full mechanics on its official Plus Codes site.
There are two everyday shapes you will meet:
Form
Example
What it means
Global code
849VCWC8+R9
A complete code that works anywhere with no extra context
Short code
CWC8+R9 Mountain View
A trimmed code paired with a nearby town or city for local use
The short form is friendlier to read aloud or type, but the global form is the one you want in a database, because it stands on its own without depending on a place name that could be ambiguous.
Reference table
Plus code vs other location identifiers
Google Maps carries several ways to name a location, and they are not interchangeable. A plus code is about where a place sits. Identifiers like a Place ID or a CID are about which profile it is. Here is how they line up.
Identifier
Example
Points to
Needs a street address
Street address
1600 Amphitheatre Pkwy
A named road and number
Yes
Latitude / longitude
37.4220, -122.0841
An exact coordinate point
No
Plus code
849VCWC8+R9
A small square on the grid
No
Place ID
ChIJ2eUgeAK6j4ARbn5u_wAGqWA
A specific business profile
No
CID
6944886785787329093
A profile in Google's index
No
A plus code and a set of coordinates describe the same idea in different clothes. The plus code is simply shorter to share and easier to read than a long string of decimals. If you want the deeper picture on coordinates, see our explainer on latitude, longitude, and geocoding.
A plus code is not a lesser address. It is often the only precise location a business has, which makes it valuable rather than a gap. A lead you can drive to beats a tidy address that does not exist.
Why it matters for leads
Plus codes in scraped Google Maps data
When you run a Google Maps search and capture the results, the location field is not always a clean postal address. Food trucks, market vendors, rural workshops, and new businesses that have not verified an address will show a plus code instead. That is not an error in your data: it is what Google itself holds.
The problem starts if your tool drops that field because it does not look like a street. You lose the ability to map the lead, to see it in context, and to plan a visit. A capture that keeps the plus code keeps the lead usable. This is one reason raw location data matters as much as a name and a phone number, a theme we cover in Google Maps data fields explained.
The Vonsel Chrome extension is the means here, not the destination. It reads each business as it appears on the map and carries the location field, whatever its form, into your Vonsel dashboard. There, every captured lead becomes a pin on a mapped CRM. A plus code that would be a dead string in a spreadsheet turns into a point you can route to, cluster with nearby leads, and work through a territory at a time.
Turn a plus code into a visit
Send scraped businesses into a mapped CRM, add reviews to any captured lead, and let Email Intelligence draft an AI message per business. The extension gets you there.
A few things are worth knowing once plus codes start appearing in your lists. First, you can paste a global plus code straight into the Google Maps search bar and it will drop a pin, no address required. That makes it trivial to verify a scraped location by eye before you commit a sales trip.
Second, plus codes are stable in a way street data sometimes is not. The code is tied to the ground, so it does not change when a road is renamed or a numbering scheme is revised. For a lead database you plan to reuse, that stability is a quiet advantage. It ties into the broader question of what Google Maps scraping actually collects and how durable that data is.
Third, if you plan to email or contact these businesses, remember that a location code says nothing about permission. Keep your outreach on the right side of the rules by reading whether it is legal to scrape Google Maps before you build a campaign. The geographic detail is a tool for reaching real places, not a shortcut around consent.
An address tells you the name of a door. A plus code tells you exactly where it is.
A plus code is a short alphanumeric geocode, such as 849VCWC8+R9, that Google derives from latitude and longitude. It points to a small square on the map and works even when a place has no street address, so any location on Earth can be shared and found.
Is a plus code the same as an address?
No. A street address depends on a named road and building number that a place may not have. A plus code is generated from coordinates, so it exists for every point on the map, including market stalls, rural sites, and buildings without a formal address.
Why do scraped Google Maps businesses show a plus code?
When a business profile has no complete street address, Google displays a plus code instead. Scrapers that read the map capture that plus code as the location field, which still lets you map the lead precisely and plan a visit.
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