diff --git a/helper/geojsonify.js b/helper/geojsonify.js
index 18e11b3d..9ce77ad4 100644
--- a/helper/geojsonify.js
+++ b/helper/geojsonify.js
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ var GeoJSON = require('geojson'),
 var DETAILS_PROPS = [
   'housenumber',
   'street',
-  'category',
   'postalcode',
   'country_a',
   'country',
diff --git a/sanitiser/reverse.js b/sanitiser/reverse.js
index 49c93f2e..25e8d71b 100644
--- a/sanitiser/reverse.js
+++ b/sanitiser/reverse.js
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ var sanitizeAll = require('../sanitiser/sanitizeAll'),
       size: require('../sanitiser/_size'),
       private: require('../sanitiser/_flag_bool')('private', false),
       geo_reverse: require('../sanitiser/_geo_reverse'),
-      categories: require('../sanitiser/_categories'),
       boundary_country: require('../sanitiser/_boundary_country'),
     };
 
diff --git a/sanitiser/search.js b/sanitiser/search.js
index ded714b4..22737180 100644
--- a/sanitiser/search.js
+++ b/sanitiser/search.js
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ var sanitizeAll = require('../sanitiser/sanitizeAll'),
       sources: require('../sanitiser/_targets')('sources', require( '../query/sources' )),
       private: require('../sanitiser/_flag_bool')('private', false),
       geo_search: require('../sanitiser/_geo_search'),
-      categories: require('../sanitiser/_categories'),
       boundary_country: require('../sanitiser/_boundary_country'),
     };
 
diff --git a/test/unit/helper/geojsonify.js b/test/unit/helper/geojsonify.js
index 838dc526..9ed4ed0a 100644
--- a/test/unit/helper/geojsonify.js
+++ b/test/unit/helper/geojsonify.js
@@ -153,7 +153,6 @@ module.exports.tests.search = function(test, common) {
           'localadmin': 'test1',
           'locality': 'test2',
           'neighbourhood': 'test3',
-          'category': ['food', 'nightlife'],
           'housenumber': '13',
           'street': 'Liverpool Road',
           'postalcode': 'N1 0RW'
@@ -206,8 +205,7 @@ module.exports.tests.search = function(test, common) {
           'county': 'New York',
           'localadmin': 'Manhattan',
           'locality': 'New York',
-          'neighbourhood': 'Koreatown',
-          'category': ['tourism', 'transport']
+          'neighbourhood': 'Koreatown'
         }
       }
     ]
diff --git a/test/unit/sanitiser/reverse.js b/test/unit/sanitiser/reverse.js
index 5fb346b7..1465a949 100644
--- a/test/unit/sanitiser/reverse.js
+++ b/test/unit/sanitiser/reverse.js
@@ -11,13 +11,12 @@ var reverse  = require('../../../sanitiser/reverse'),
                       lon: 0,
                       size: 10,
                       private: false,
-                      categories: [],
                       boundary: { }
                     };
 
 // these are the default values you would expect when no input params are specified.
 // @todo: why is this different from $defaultClean?
-var emptyClean = { boundary: {}, categories: [], private: false, size: 10, types: {} };
+var emptyClean = { boundary: {}, private: false, size: 10, types: {} };
 
 module.exports.tests = {};
 
@@ -36,7 +35,7 @@ module.exports.tests.interface = function(test, common) {
 
 module.exports.tests.sanitisers = function(test, common) {
   test('check sanitiser list', function (t) {
-    var expected = ['layers', 'sources', 'size', 'private', 'geo_reverse', 'categories', 'boundary_country'];
+    var expected = ['layers', 'sources', 'size', 'private', 'geo_reverse', 'boundary_country'];
     t.deepEqual(Object.keys(reverse.sanitiser_list), expected);
     t.end();
   });
@@ -104,7 +103,7 @@ module.exports.tests.sanitize_lon = function(test, common) {
       var req = { query: { 'point.lat': 0, 'point.lon': lon } };
 
       // @todo: why is lat set?
-      var expected = { boundary: {}, categories: [], lat: 0, private: false, size: 10, types: {} };
+      var expected = { boundary: {}, lat: 0, private: false, size: 10, types: {} };
       sanitize(req, function(){
         t.equal(req.errors[0], 'missing param \'lon\'', 'longitude is a required field');
         t.deepEqual(req.clean, expected, 'clean only has default values set');
@@ -181,45 +180,6 @@ module.exports.tests.sanitize_private = function(test, common) {
   });
 };
 
-module.exports.tests.sanitize_categories = function(test, common) {
-  var req = { query: { 'point.lat': 0, 'point.lon': 0 } };
-  test('unspecified', function(t) {
-    req.query.categories = undefined;
-    sanitize(req, function(){
-      t.deepEqual(req.clean.categories, defaultClean.categories, 'default to empty categories array');
-      t.end();
-    });
-  });
-  test('single category', function(t) {
-    req.query.categories = 'food';
-    sanitize(req, function(){
-      t.deepEqual(req.clean.categories, ['food'], 'category set');
-      t.end();
-    });
-  });
-  test('multiple categories', function(t) {
-    req.query.categories = 'food,education,nightlife';
-    sanitize(req, function(){
-      t.deepEqual(req.clean.categories, ['food', 'education', 'nightlife'], 'categories set');
-      t.end();
-    });
-  });
-  test('whitespace and empty strings', function(t) {
-    req.query.categories = 'food, , nightlife ,';
-    sanitize(req, function(){
-      t.deepEqual(req.clean.categories, ['food', 'nightlife'], 'categories set');
-      t.end();
-    });
-  });
-  test('all empty strings', function(t) {
-    req.query.categories = ', ,  ,';
-    sanitize(req, function(){
-      t.deepEqual(req.clean.categories, defaultClean.categories, 'empty strings filtered out');
-      t.end();
-    });
-  });
-};
-
 module.exports.tests.middleware_success = function(test, common) {
   test('middleware success', function(t) {
     var req = { query: { 'point.lat': 0, 'point.lon': 0 }};
diff --git a/test/unit/sanitiser/search.js b/test/unit/sanitiser/search.js
index 6e234e50..5992f94e 100644
--- a/test/unit/sanitiser/search.js
+++ b/test/unit/sanitiser/search.js
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ var search  = require('../../../sanitiser/search'),
 
 // these are the default values you would expect when no input params are specified.
 // @todo: why is this different from $defaultClean?
-var emptyClean = { boundary: {}, categories: [], private: false, size: 10, types: {} };
+var emptyClean = { boundary: {}, private: false, size: 10, types: {} };
 
 module.exports.tests = {};
 
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ module.exports.tests.interface = function(test, common) {
 
 module.exports.tests.sanitisers = function(test, common) {
   test('check sanitiser list', function (t) {
-    var expected = ['text', 'size', 'layers', 'sources', 'private', 'geo_search', 'categories', 'boundary_country' ];
+    var expected = ['text', 'size', 'layers', 'sources', 'private', 'geo_search', 'boundary_country' ];
     t.deepEqual(Object.keys(search.sanitiser_list), expected);
     t.end();
   });