On 7 July 2010 11:24, adriana_lazar <[email protected]> wrote: > > http://maps.google.com/maps/api/geocode/json?address=PO38+2QW+%2CGB > > So as you can see I am searching for PO38 2QW in Great Britain. And > the geocoder returns only PO38 2 which is far away from what i have > searched.
Actually what's returned is PO38 1, which is even further away. This issue refers: http://code.google.com/p/gmaps-api-issues/issues/detail?id=1179 > I found some posts that said that this is a problem with Royal Mail > licensing, but I also found newer posts that said that this problem is > now fixed. > > Then my question is why does Google geocoder return postal codes like > this? And what would be a solution to find the correct address and > coords for a given UK postal code. It's not fixed. It looks like Royal Mail/Ordnance Survey data *can* be released under new UK rules, but Google haven't taken advantage of that yet. However: geonames.org appear to be using it: http://ws.geonames.org/postalCodeLookupJSON?formatted=true&postalcode=PO38+2QW&country=UK&style=full and plugging the coordinates back into Google's geocoder gets a reverse-geocoded address which includes the correct postcode. A callback= parameter can be added too. Note: at various points in the past Google have mistakenly released full Royal Mail data, as they do use that for Google Maps geocoding, but were not allowed to use it in the API. So you may have found posts referring to those episodes or use through Local Search (which contravenes the Local Search Terms of Service). As geonames provides a JSONP service, that would appear the way to go. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Google Maps API" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/google-maps-api?hl=en.
