title: Verify user input location string is a valid geographic location?
body: <p>I'm accepting a user input which is supposed to be a geographic location. I would like to validate that what the user has entered describes a location--e.g., postal code, airport code, street address, city name, etc.</p>
  
  <p>The obvious answer is to use the <a href="https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/geocoding/#GeocodingRequests" rel="nofollow">Google Geocode API</a> to do a request for the user's input and see if I get any results.) However the geocode ToS forbids this:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>...the Geocoding API may only be used in conjunction with a Google map; geocoding results without displaying them on a map is prohibited.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>Does anyone know of alternatives?</p>