diff --git a/sanitiser/_id.js b/sanitiser/_id.js
index 0cea0317..2f497dbe 100644
--- a/sanitiser/_id.js
+++ b/sanitiser/_id.js
@@ -16,24 +16,24 @@ function sanitize( raw, clean ){
   // error & warning messages
   var messages = { errors: [], warnings: [] };
 
-  // 'raw.id' can be an array if id is specified multiple times
+  // 'raw.ids' can be an array if ids is specified multiple times
   // see https://github.com/pelias/api/issues/272
-  var rawIdString;
-  if (check.array( raw.id )) {
-    rawIdString = raw.id[0];
-    messages.warnings.push( '`id` parameter specified multiple times. Using first value.' );
-  } else if (check.unemptyString( raw.id )) {
-    rawIdString = raw.id;
+  var rawIdsString;
+  if (check.array( raw.ids )) {
+    rawIdsString = raw.ids[0];
+    messages.warnings.push( '`ids` parameter specified multiple times. Using first value.' );
+  } else if (check.unemptyString( raw.ids )) {
+    rawIdsString = raw.ids;
   } else {
-    rawIdString = '';
+    rawIdsString = '';
   }
 
   // split string into array of values
-  var rawIds = rawIdString.split(',');
+  var rawIds = rawIdsString.split(',');
 
   // no ids provided
   if( !rawIds.length ){
-    messages.errors.push( errorMessage('id') );
+    messages.errors.push( errorMessage('ids') );
   }
 
   // deduplicate
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ function sanitize( raw, clean ){
   // ensure all elements are valid non-empty strings
   rawIds = rawIds.filter( function( uc ){
     if( !check.unemptyString( uc ) ){
-      messages.errors.push( errorMessage('id') );
+      messages.errors.push( errorMessage('ids') );
       return false;
     }
     return true;
diff --git a/test/ciao/place/basic_place.coffee b/test/ciao/place/basic_place.coffee
index b734bff5..39cfda18 100644
--- a/test/ciao/place/basic_place.coffee
+++ b/test/ciao/place/basic_place.coffee
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 
 #> basic place
-path: '/v1/place?id=geoname:1'
+path: '/v1/place?ids=geoname:1'
 
 #? 200 ok
 response.statusCode.should.be.equal 200
@@ -30,4 +30,4 @@ should.not.exist json.geocoding.warnings
 
 #? inputs
 json.geocoding.query['ids'].should.eql [{ id: '1', type: 'geoname' }]
-should.not.exist json.geocoding.query['size']
\ No newline at end of file
+should.not.exist json.geocoding.query['size']
diff --git a/test/ciao/place/missing_id.coffee b/test/ciao/place/missing_id.coffee
index 4e851c3f..3493577f 100644
--- a/test/ciao/place/missing_id.coffee
+++ b/test/ciao/place/missing_id.coffee
@@ -24,11 +24,11 @@ json.features.should.be.instanceof Array
 
 #? expected errors
 should.exist json.geocoding.errors
-json.geocoding.errors.should.eql [ 'invalid param \'id\': text length, must be >0' ]
+json.geocoding.errors.should.eql [ 'invalid param \'ids\': text length, must be >0' ]
 
 #? expected warnings
 should.not.exist json.geocoding.warnings
 
 #? inputs
 json.geocoding.query['ids'].should.eql []
-should.not.exist json.geocoding.query['size']
\ No newline at end of file
+should.not.exist json.geocoding.query['size']
diff --git a/test/unit/sanitiser/place.js b/test/unit/sanitiser/place.js
index 38b1e3df..26d85bac 100644
--- a/test/unit/sanitiser/place.js
+++ b/test/unit/sanitiser/place.js
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ var place  = require('../../../sanitiser/place'),
     delimiter = ':',
     defaultLengthError = function(input) { return 'invalid param \''+ input + '\': text length, must be >0'; },
     defaultFormatError = 'invalid: must be of the format type:id for ex: \'geoname:4163334\'',
-    defaultError = 'invalid param \'id\': text length, must be >0',
+    defaultError = 'invalid param \'ids\': text length, must be >0',
     defaultMissingTypeError = function(input) {
       var type = input.split(delimiter)[0];
       return type + ' is invalid. It must be one of these values - [' + types.join(', ') + ']'; },
@@ -36,9 +36,9 @@ module.exports.tests.interface = function(test, common) {
 };
 
 module.exports.tests.sanitize_id = function(test, common) {
-  test('id: invalid input', function(t) {
+  test('ids: invalid input', function(t) {
     inputs.invalid.forEach( function( input ){
-      var req = { query: { id: input } };
+      var req = { query: { ids: input } };
       sanitize(req, function( ){
         switch (req.errors[0]) {
           case defaultError:
@@ -57,11 +57,11 @@ module.exports.tests.sanitize_id = function(test, common) {
     t.end();
   });
 
-  test('id: valid input', function(t) {
+  test('ids: valid input', function(t) {
     inputs.valid.forEach( function( input ){
       var input_parts = input.split(delimiter);
       var expected = { ids: [ { id: input_parts[1], type: input_parts[0] } ], private: false };
-      var req = { query: { id: input } };
+      var req = { query: { ids: input } };
       sanitize(req, function(){
         t.deepEqual( req.errors, [], 'no error (' + input + ')' );
         t.deepEqual( req.clean, expected, 'clean set correctly (' + input + ')');
@@ -73,9 +73,9 @@ module.exports.tests.sanitize_id = function(test, common) {
 
 module.exports.tests.sanitize_ids = function(test, common) {
   test('ids: invalid input with multiple values', function(t) {
-    var req = { query: { id: inputs.invalid.join(',') } };
+    var req = { query: { ids: inputs.invalid.join(',') } };
     var expected = [
-      'invalid param \'id\': text length, must be >0',
+      'invalid param \'ids\': text length, must be >0',
       'invalid param \':\': text length, must be >0',
       'invalid param \'::\': text length, must be >0',
       'invalid param \'geoname:\': text length, must be >0',
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ module.exports.tests.sanitize_ids = function(test, common) {
       expected.ids.push({ id: input_parts[1], type: input_parts[0] });
     });
     expected.private = false;
-    var req = { query: { id: inputs.valid.join(',') } };
+    var req = { query: { ids: inputs.valid.join(',') } };
     sanitize(req, function(){
       t.deepEqual( req.errors, [], 'no errors' );
       t.deepEqual( req.clean, expected, 'clean set correctly' );
@@ -111,9 +111,9 @@ module.exports.tests.sanitize_ids = function(test, common) {
 module.exports.tests.array_of_ids = function(test, common) {
   // see https://github.com/pelias/api/issues/272
   test('array of ids sent by queryparser', function(t) {
-    var req = { query: { id: ['geoname:2', 'oswmay:4'] } };
+    var req = { query: { ids: ['geoname:2', 'oswmay:4'] } };
     sanitize(req, function() {
-      t.deepEqual( req.warnings, ['`id` parameter specified multiple times. Using first value.'], 'warning sent' );
+      t.deepEqual( req.warnings, ['`ids` parameter specified multiple times. Using first value.'], 'warning sent' );
       t.deepEqual( req.clean.ids, [{ id: '2', type: 'geoname' }], 'only first value used in clean' );
       t.end();
     });
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ module.exports.tests.sanitize_private = function(test, common) {
   var invalid_values = [null, -1, 123, NaN, 'abc'];
   invalid_values.forEach(function(value) {
     test('invalid private param ' + value, function(t) {
-      var req = { query: { id:'geoname:123', 'private': value } };
+      var req = { query: { ids:'geoname:123', 'private': value } };
       sanitize(req, function(){
         t.deepEqual( req.errors, [], 'no errors' );
         t.deepEqual( req.warnings, [], 'no warnings' );
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ module.exports.tests.sanitize_private = function(test, common) {
   var valid_values = ['true', true, 1];
   valid_values.forEach(function(value) {
     test('valid private param ' + value, function(t) {
-      var req = { query: { id:'geoname:123', 'private': value } };
+      var req = { query: { ids:'geoname:123', 'private': value } };
       sanitize(req, function(){
         t.deepEqual( req.errors, [], 'no errors' );
         t.deepEqual( req.warnings, [], 'no warnings' );
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ module.exports.tests.sanitize_private = function(test, common) {
   var valid_false_values = ['false', false, 0];
   valid_false_values.forEach(function(value) {
     test('test setting false explicitly ' + value, function(t) {
-      var req = { query: { id:'geoname:123', 'private': value } };
+      var req = { query: { ids:'geoname:123', 'private': value } };
       sanitize(req, function(){
         t.deepEqual( req.errors, [], 'no errors' );
         t.deepEqual( req.warnings, [], 'no warnings' );
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ module.exports.tests.sanitize_private = function(test, common) {
   });
 
   test('test default behavior', function(t) {
-    var req = { query: { id:'geoname:123' } };
+    var req = { query: { ids:'geoname:123' } };
     sanitize(req, function(){
       t.deepEqual( req.errors, [], 'no errors' );
       t.deepEqual( req.warnings, [], 'no warnings' );
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ module.exports.tests.sanitize_private = function(test, common) {
 
 module.exports.tests.multiple_ids = function(test, common) {
   var expected = { ids: [ { id: '1', type: 'geoname' }, { id: '2', type: 'osmnode' } ], private: false };
-  var req = { query: { id: 'geoname:1,osmnode:2' } };
+  var req = { query: { ids: 'geoname:1,osmnode:2' } };
   test('duplicate ids', function(t) {
     sanitize( req, function(){
       t.deepEqual( req.errors, [], 'no errors' );
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ module.exports.tests.multiple_ids = function(test, common) {
 
 module.exports.tests.de_dupe = function(test, common) {
   var expected = { ids: [ { id: '1', type: 'geoname' }, { id: '2', type: 'osmnode' } ], private: false };
-  var req = { query: { id: 'geoname:1,osmnode:2,geoname:1' } };
+  var req = { query: { ids: 'geoname:1,osmnode:2,geoname:1' } };
   test('duplicate ids', function(t) {
     sanitize( req, function(){
       t.deepEqual( req.errors, [], 'no errors' );
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ module.exports.tests.invalid_params = function(test, common) {
 
 module.exports.tests.middleware_success = function(test, common) {
   test('middleware success', function(t) {
-    var req = { query: { id: 'geoname:123' }};
+    var req = { query: { ids: 'geoname:123' }};
     var next = function(){
       t.deepEqual( req.errors, [], 'no errors' );
       t.deepEqual( req.warnings, [], 'no warnings' );