ZERO_RESULTS error geocode - api

Question

$url = "https://maps.google.com/maps/api/geocode/json?address=".urlencode($address)."&sensor=false";
$ch = curl_init();
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $url);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_PROXYPORT, 3128);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST, 0);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, 0);
$response = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);
$response_a = json_decode($response);
echo "<pre>"; print_r($response_a);
i am using this code to receive data but all i get is ZERO_RESULTS. but the thing is, the url works when i use it in the browser, it just doesnt work with curl. any ideas?
here is a url that works in browser but does not work with curl:
https://maps.google.com/maps/api/geocode/json?address=Wiener+Stra%C3%83%C5%B8e+86+3830+Waidhofen+an+der+Thaya&sensor=false

Answer 1

It looks like something is wrong with encoding of 'Straße'.
In your sample code you have 'Stra%C3%83%C5%B8e'. Let's use this utility http://meyerweb.com/eric/tools/dencoder/ end decode this value.
You will get 'Straße'. Now let's encode 'Straße' with this utility and we will get 'Stra%C3%9Fe'.
So at this point it looks like you should have this query issued by your PHP code
https://maps.google.com/maps/api/geocode/json?address=Wiener+Stra%C3%9Fe+86+3830+Waidhofen+an+der+Thaya&key=YOUR_API_KEY
I removed sensor parameter as it's not required anymore.