Azure Maps Structured Address Lookup: Partial Postal Code Search

Question

Using the Azure maps address lookup endpoint at https://atlas.microsoft.com/search/address/structured/json , it appears we get odd responses when doing a partial postal code search, particularly in the US. It seems to revert to searching for streetName when doing such a search. Does Azure maps offer that sort of search in any of its endpoints?

Answer 1

Hi Tim,

You would be best served to build a small database from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ZIP_Code_prefixes rather than do an address search. You can then geocode based on the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sectional_center_facility for it to make more sense.

You are trying to use an address API and that does not align with such a small result set so having your own small data set would make more sense. At 3 digit it would be less that 1000 entries.

Sincerely,
IoTGirl

Answer 2

Hi Tim,

Without the full structure of the call, I can't give a concise answer. We have found that postal codes that start with a number 1 or 2 can be aligned with a house number so it would be critical to use the specific designation to tell the geocoder that this is a postal code and for what country to disambiguate. For example the unstructured call:

https://atlas.microsoft.com/search/address/json?api-version=1.0&query=10012 -> This is a postal code in the eastern US but also a typical house number, worldwide.

As you are saying "Particularly in the US", are you designating the country in your call? Many places in the world have 5 digit building and postal codes so without clarification, the geocoder will do it's best but the more detail you provide, the more confident it can be.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-maps/geocoding-coverage

For example you should be using https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/rest/api/maps/search/get-search-address-structured and a call like:

https://atlas.microsoft.com/search/address/structured/json?api-version=1.0&countryCode=US&postalCode=10012

This tells the geocoder that you are providing a postal code in the US and then that information can be used to inform the result.

Sincerely,
IoTGirl