Can I remove just the popup bubbles of POI's in Google Maps API v3?

Question

So I'm working on a new web app that has a big focus on maps. Using Google Maps API v3 and really happy with it but noticed that the points of interest (POI's) have automatically bubbles with more details and a link to the Google Places page. I don't want these. Here is my code:

map = new google.maps.Map(document.getElementById("map"), {     center:new google.maps.LatLng(default_latitude,default_longitude),     zoom:11,     mapTypeId:google.maps.MapTypeId.ROADMAP,     mapTypeControl:false,     panControl:false }); 

I know you can remove the POI's entirely. Here is my code for that:

map = new google.maps.Map(document.getElementById("map"),{     center:new google.maps.LatLng(default_latitude,default_longitude),     zoom:11,     mapTypeId:google.maps.MapTypeId.ROADMAP,     mapTypeControl:false,     panControl:false,     styles:[{         featureType:"poi",         elementType:"labels",         stylers:[{             visibility:"off"         }]     }] }); 

This removes everything entirely and I still would like to see the labels as I think they bring value but just think the bubbles are too much of a distraction.

For reference here is the bubble I want to remove:

And here is the same map with POI's removed entirely:

Answer 1

Editor's note: this answer was applicable until version 3.23. Since version 3.24 released in 2016, you can use clickableIcons map option. See xomena's answer.

Version ~3.12 fix. Demo

Here is a new patch that works again. I have tested it with version 3.14.

Now we gonna patch set() instead of open().

function fixInfoWindow() {     // Here we redefine the set() method.     // If it is called for map option, we hide the InfoWindow, if "noSuppress"       // option is not true. As Google Maps does not know about this option,       // its InfoWindows will not be opened.      var set = google.maps.InfoWindow.prototype.set;      google.maps.InfoWindow.prototype.set = function (key, val) {         if (key === 'map' && ! this.get('noSuppress')) {             console.warn('This InfoWindow is suppressed.');             console.log('To enable it, set "noSuppress" option to true.');             return;         }          set.apply(this, arguments);     } } 

What you have to do is set option noSuppress to true for your own InfoWindow's in order to open them, for example:

var popup = new google.maps.InfoWindow({     content: 'Bang!',     noSuppress: true });  popup.setPosition(new google.maps.LatLng(-34.397, 150.644));  popup.open(map); 

or:

var popup = new google.maps.InfoWindow({     content: 'Bang!', });  popup.set('noSuppress', true); popup.setPosition(new google.maps.LatLng(-34.397, 150.644));  popup.open(map);