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Street address errors in Google Maps

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Re: Street address errors in Google Maps

#141

Post by stingraycharles »

dataflow wrote: post #130
stingraycharles wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where I currently live, my street has no name, my house has no number. If a package is delivered by mail, my phone number needs to be put on the package, and the local delivery operator calls me to either pick it up, or I send my location through telegram and they deliver it to my house. It’s almost entirely impossible to order through Amazon et al using this type of system, it’s just not supported at all. The same g…

> It’s almost entirely impossible to order through Amazon et al The "almost" is interesting - how do you do it in reality?

I provide an address that looks technically correct, ensure it’s delivered with DHL, and then override DHL to pick up at one of their locations.

Also, there are special delivery companies like CamboQuick that take the whole process out of your hands and use (slow) ships freight to ship stuff from Amazon et al to Cambodia. You’ll have to wait 4-6 weeks, but they handle the custom clearance and everything and deliver it to your house for a $2 fee.

Re: Street address errors in Google Maps

#142

Post by stingraycharles »

bfdm wrote: post #136
duped wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you specify your location? GPS coordinates?

I imagine with something like: Person name, Local-area name, Region Name, Country name, Phone number This gets it to the nearest handler to the local area, who then needs to know where the person lives or call them.

This is correct.

, , Siem Reap, Cambodia works.

It’s just not accepted. So I’ll just fill in random numbers at zip code and street names and the delivery companies over here generally know how to deal with it.

Re: Street address errors in Google Maps

#143

Post by stingraycharles »

sam_lowry_ wrote: post #124
duped wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you specify your location? GPS coordinates?

Telegram location sharing, he said.

They check my phone number on telegram. If it exists, they usually reach out on telegram, and ask whether I want to pick it up or prefer delivery.

If I want delivery, I share my location over telegram and a bit later someone comes on his motorbike to deliver the package.

Re: Street address errors in Google Maps

#144

Post by BobaFloutist »

stingraycharles wrote: post #100
reaperman wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your comments reminds me of “ Falsehoods programmers believe about addresses” https://gist.github.com/almereyda/85fa289bfc668777fe3619298b...

Where I currently live, my street has no name, my house has no number. If a package is delivered by mail, my phone number needs to be put on the package, and the local delivery operator calls me to either pick it up, or I send my location through telegram and they deliver it to my house. It’s almost entirely impossible to order through Amazon et al using this type of system, it’s just not supported at all. The same g…

What's preventing some local authority from just naming your street?

And what's preventing you and your neighbors from having a meeting, agreeing on a numbering convention, and putting street numbers on your house? I guess it would be a bit silly/meaningless if you don't have your street name.

Re: Street address errors in Google Maps

#145

Post by Dylan16807 »

aembleton wrote: post #128
Dylan16807 wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Four of them in basically the same spot?

If they're all copied, then they've got a pretty good case that they'd been copied, and it couldn't have been an accident.

If you can copy one fake data point by accident, you can copy four.

On the other hand, having such an exact match is clearly not a coincidence even if there's only one.

So either way I don't see the value in having four.

Re: Street address errors in Google Maps

#146

Post by BobaFloutist »

koakuma-chan wrote: post #112
bobthepanda wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s also the question of unit numbers and whatnot. In some addressing lookup systems in the US my address is 525 Some Road Unit G; but I have encountered systems that treat it as 525G Some Road.

The unit is usually formatted as either `{building number}-{unit number} {street name}` or `{building number} {street name}, Unit {unit number}`. But both resolve to the same thing.

What I like is that address box 2 (sometimes unlabelled, lives under the address box) exists specifically for unit numbers. So, I'll put in my street address in two lines:

  Street Address  :792 Charleston Avenue
  Street Address 2:555
At which point, almost invariably, it'll say "Do you want to accept the Post Office's recommended address?"

  Street Address  :792 Charleston Avenue 555
  Street Address 2:
Why provide the second address box if even in the one case where it's relevant and appropriate to use it, you're going to just stick the unit number in the first line anyway? It's so silly!

Re: Street address errors in Google Maps

#147

Post by tavioto »

Good post Bruce. I’ve run into a lot of the same issues you described, especially working with last-mile and delivery companies where the addresses are a total mess. Things like “123 Main St, red gate, call 555-1234 when you arrive, Apt 4B” are very common, and even Google struggles when there’s too much extra info mixed into the address.

Because of that, I ended up building a tool called AddressHub that focuses mostly on cleaning up the input before sending it to geocoders. It tries to remove instructions, phone numbers, weird formatting, and fixes common spelling mistakes or street name variations. Then it sends the cleaned address through multiple geocoders, checks how close the results are to where they should be, and picks the best one.

It also caches results when possible (depending on the API terms) and tries open data first to save costs. Only if open data does not have a good result, it falls back to the paid geocoders.

This has helped a lot with reducing wrong deliveries caused by addresses that look fine at first glance but are actually way off. If anyone’s interested, the project is at www.address-hub.com. Always happy to get feedback if people have ideas for making it better.

Re: Street address errors in Google Maps

#149

Post by crooked-v »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #71
crooked-v wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So who's responsible for then figuring out what nested regions, and nested regions of nested regions, and nested regions of nested regions of nested regions, that then does and doesn't apply to?

You don't need that.

If you want the map to reflect reality, yes, you do.

Re: Street address errors in Google Maps

#150

Post by BlueTemplar »

reaperman wrote: post #22
aethr wrote: post #17

In the logistics industry the commonly held wisdom is that there really isn't any accepted system for "how street addresses work". Different countries have completely different systems, and even within a country there are often many different conventions. The thing that really matters in delivery is whether the address on the consignment has enough information for an operator to complete the next leg. By the time an…

Your comments reminds me of “ Falsehoods programmers believe about addresses” https://gist.github.com/almereyda/85fa289bfc668777fe3619298b...

> From where the Chinese restaurant used to be, two blocks down, half a block toward the lake, next door to the house where the yellow car is parked, Managua, Nicaragua

James C. Scott would be proud.

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