Q:

Geospatial Database Cloud Server

Are there any cloud hosting solutions for geospatial data? I am currently writing a directory style app where businesses can sign up and then users can find nearby ones. 
I am considering Google App Engine for this, but from what I can tell the GeoModel code is quite expensive (up to tens of thousands of dollars a year) to run since Google updated the pricing of App Engine. It doesn't seem like App Engine's database is really suited to this kind of query (though the SQL solution may be an answer).
I was hoping to find a service where I could send off a HTTP request to add data (a business' id, name and icon url) to a database, and then another one to find a list of businesses that are nearby to a given point. A service is preferable as this is work done for a client and we would like the solution to be managed with as little interaction from us or the client needed as possible.
EDIT:
I just found cartodb.com which uses PostgreSQL and is reasonably priced. Are the any other alternatives?

A:

The App Engine Search API (currently in Experimental) supports GeoPoints and geosearch, and is great for exactly the kind of query that you describe.  
See the Google Developers Academy (GDA) App Engine Search API classes for a bit more info and an example as well.

