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Is Yahoo the best option?

http://developer.yahoo.com/geo/placefinder/ It says 50,000 requests per day. Does this mean you can geocode 50k addresses a day?

compared to Google at only 2,500? http://code.google.com/apis/maps/faq.html#geocoder_limit

Have I got this correct? that's a massive difference.

So in essence what is the best service to use for the front end, to get the coordinates of the user input address and then query against the db? (of coordinates entered from the backend admin - this will be low volume so not an issue). I will not be displaying any maps, just using the co-ordinates.

davivid
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4 Answers4

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Yahoo's limit is per application.

Google's limit is per IP.

This means:

For Server-Side geocoding: Yahoo > Google

For Client-Side geocoding: Google > Yahoo

If you won't display the results on a map, then neither Google nor Yahoo will do. You'll violate their terms of service.

The Geonames Search web service might fit your bill though.

Axel Fontaine
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Ok I know this is an old question but you could also consider http://open.mapquestapi.com/nominatim.

Jim

Jim Buckley Barret
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I've used Yahoo before specifically because their allowed rate of requests was so much higher. It is very easy to use and free. There are some restrictions so you will need to read carefully, but for most things it is a great service.

I have NOT used the Google api, but reading their documentation of rate limits led me to the same conclusion when we were searching for a geocoding api. Hope that helps!

theChrisKent
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  • There are many more things to consider when picking a geocoder than just rate limits. Yahoo! only allows you to use these on Yahoo! Maps for instance (which might be fine with you as it was with us), but you can't store the results locally. Google's api is a little more flexible with their terms of service, but generally less accurate and has a more restrictive limit (which may not be a problem depending on your application). If you share more of what your goals are, we might be able to offer better advice. – theChrisKent Dec 03 '10 at 14:44
  • I'm not in need of using a map... I just need coordinate data, I guess this rules yahoo out then – davivid Dec 03 '10 at 15:48
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    Yip, sorry. Google links to other Geocoding services at http://groups.google.com/group/Google-Maps-API/web/resources-non-google-geocoders to help supplement your requests if their limit is too restrictive. – theChrisKent Dec 03 '10 at 15:50
  • cheers for the link. as axel pointed out above, I might be able to keep using google, but have the requests made client side instead. To be honest though I doubt the site will ever have to much traffic! – davivid Dec 03 '10 at 16:34
  • @davivid, Google also restricts use of their geocoding service to use with Google Maps API http://code.google.com/apis/maps/faq.html#geocoder_exists so you may have to try one of those other services. – theChrisKent Dec 03 '10 at 18:36
  • ah ok. So a small map showing the locations under my results will be needed. cheers. – davivid Dec 08 '10 at 10:49
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    The Yahoo PlaceFinder terms have changed since this discussion took place. It's [no longer free](http://developer.yahoo.com/boss/geo/#pricing) but there are [fewer limitations](http://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/boss/tou/?pir=ucJPcJ1ibUn.h.d.lVmlcbcEkoHjwJ_PvxG9SLK9VIbIQAw1XFrnDqY-#bossgeo) on how you can use the results. – lseidman Mar 05 '13 at 21:35
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I've been working a lot with geocoding, and I've been looking at Yahoo, mapquest, google, bing and navteq. The free versions are all pretty similar except for the geocode requests. I think you have it right. If you want more requests you need to pay for them. I would also suggest looking at reliability and accuracy. I like google maps the best, but it's been pretty inaccurate compared to bing which is right on. Navteq seems to be one of the better ones but their API isn't as user friendly it seems like. There are some restrictions for the free map service. Usually, the site needs to be publicly accessible and free, as in you cant charge for service. There are some other ones, but those seem like the ones that catch people up the most.

Bill
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  • mmm I hadn't thought of bing to look at. I guess accuracy isnt that much of a concern just the general area. cheers – davivid Dec 03 '10 at 16:36