Address US Hwy versus U.S.

[lancemoore22]

Hi! I have a client who gave me their mailing address and it doesn't match Google maps structure. I have even looked at businesses around them and there is no consensus on "US Hwy" vs "U.S."

Here's my example: 123 Main Street US Hwy vs 123 Main Street U.S.

How do you guys handle these type of issues? I've tried many ways to handle them, but never sure that I'm getting the best results.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[Scott Rawlins]

Minor differences like that are fine. However, I would go with what G Maps has when searching the address.

 

[Stefan Somborac]

I'm dealing with a similar problem. My client has an address in BC, Canada on the Sunshine Coast Highway, which also goes by the name BC-101.

Here's where it gets wacky:
- If I plug "<street number> BC-101" into maps it puts the pin in the correct building and gets the postal code right but on the map labels the location as "Sunshine Coast Highway", despite the fact that I searched "BC-101".
- Then, if I plug "<street number> Sunshine Coast Highway" into maps it puts the pin across the street in a different building and gets the postal code wrong!

So, which to use?

I'm with @Scott Rawlins: use whatever address renders correctly on Google Maps.

In fact, that's one of my first steps: plug the address your client gives you into maps and make sure it takes you to the right location. And don't assume Google is getting it right. Send a screenshot to your client and have them confirm that the pin is in the right location. (As described above, the address provided by the client didn't render properly. I haven't been to their business so I wouldn't have known if I hadn't asked.)

Forget about how the post office wants the address formatted. Online you need to use a format that works for Google which, in turn, works for your customers.

PS: In this particular case, Bing gets it right.

 

[JoshuaMackens]

I will typically go with Google. Keep in mind though that Google will pretty much let you put in whatever you want from my experience these days. So don't rely on what businesses on that street use as their address. Type the address into Google Maps and see what comes out.

Also, sometimes I'll look at mapping systems like Bing Maps, HERE, Apple Maps, and Mapquest and see how they're rendering the address. If they're all using a different address than Google and it's the same address for all of them, I might use the address everyone else is using and force Google to use that address as well. But it's super rare for that to happen.