How many times did you have to deal with the misdelivery or returned mail because the address was not correct? Not only is this frustrating, but you are losing money due to chargebacks or reshipping. Moreover, did you know delivery companies like UPS charge an additional fee for the correction of invalid addresses? Whether you are running an eCommerce store, managing shipments, or working in customer service, having accurate address information is important. This is where address validation tools like the one offered by Google can help. While useful, it has its limitations, which cannot be overlooked, and one must search for a better address validation provider.

In this blog, we will learn the basics, such as how Google validates addresses, where it is lacking, and what makes PostGrid a suitable alternative for your address validation needs.

TL;DR

• Google Address Validation API can lead to errors due to inconsistent address parsing and strict data retention policies.
• It has limitations such as slow processing speeds and providing unreliable residential delivery indicators.
• PostGrid offers a more comprehensive solution with global coverage, accurate premise-level data, and efficient bulk address verification without the constraints of Google's API.
• PostGrid is compliant with industry standards like HIPAA and GDPR, ensuring better data privacy and user trust.

Key Takeaways

• Google Address Validation is an API from the Google Maps Platform that parses, standardizes, and validates input addresses as per the USPS standard.
  
• Some limitations of the Google Address Validation API are inconsistent parsing, restrictive data usage, slow API, limited batch verification, and inaccurate RDI information.
  
• PostGrid serves as a capable alternative to Google’s offering. It offers global coverage and has comprehensive features clubbed in its address verification solution.
  
• PostGrid provides premise-level data, reliable RDI information, geocoding data, quick bulk verification, and data security and compliance.

It is a solution offered by Google to parse, standardize, and validate addresses. It is available under the Google Maps Platform’s wide range of APIs. It validates the provided address by checking it against the postal records of the United States Postal Service. The API also checks if the address contains all the necessary elements, like a unit number, ZIP+4 codes, and more. 

It also returns insightful metadata about the address entered by the customer, such as the plus code, geocode, and place ID. It is USPS CASS certified, which means the API cross-references addresses with the postal records of USPS to check whether or not they exist. Moreover, it also identifies whether the address is residential or commercial, which proves instrumental in helping the courier service providers ensure delivery during business hours. 

You can also combine the address validation API with the Places autocomplete API for a comprehensive Google address lookup. It will provide address predictions and help users search the address faster by completing the queries as they type.

 Also Read: Egypt Post Address Validation and How it Works

The solution detects inaccurate addresses by identifying and flagging missing or confirmed address components. Using data from Google Maps Platform’s Places and localized addresses, the solution standardizes the address entered by the customer. It fixes types, completes street names, and formats locality-specific details. The process of the Google Address Validation API can be broken down into the following steps:  

1. Address Parsing: The solution breaks down the address into individual components like street name, house number, city, state, postal code, and country. Separating and labeling the address components provides businesses with complete and accurate data for shipping, communication with customers, and analytics. 
2. Address Standardization: This involves formatting and structuring the address to make it consistent with the postal standards of the country. Google's address validation solution corrects misspellings and typos and abbreviates the components as the postal authority of the country. For instance, it standardizes the US addresses as per the USPS format. 
3. Address Validation: After breaking down the components and giving them a format, the solution performs address validation. It involves comparing the address with the addresses present in the local postal authority. If there is a successful match, the address is considered valid.
4. Address Enrichment: After validation, the Google solution provides additional address components like geocode. It supplements the address with all the information provided by the local postal authority.
5. Address Autocomplete: Alongside address validation, it also offers a Google address autocomplete plugin. As the customer types in the address, it will offer suggestions. This speeds up the data entry process and minimizes the possibility of errors. 

Let us understand how Google Address Validation works. We want to validate the following address:

The application with which you have integrated the API will send the address to get it validated. The API will check and let you know if it is a valid address or if any information is missing. If you have integrated the API with your checkout cart, depending on what the API returns, you can prompt the user to add missing components. Running the aforementioned address in the address validation API will return the following standardized version of the address.

It cannot validate a certain component, which leads to the following error:

The solution could not detect CA, which is the name of the state of California. In this case, you can prompt the customers to correct their address and write the full name of the state. To see how it works, click here.

 Also Read: Hongkong Post Address Validation

Build a Project

To use any Google Maps address validation product, you should create a project. It is also needed when you want to manage services, credentials, and API keys. Follow the steps mentioned below to create a project.

• Set up your Google Cloud account on the dashboard and click on Create a new project. You will be asked to add the following field to complete the creation of the project.
  
• Name of the project: The API will provide a default name, or you can add your own.
  
• The ID of the project: You can either use the default ID provided by the solution or create a customized ID. It is important to note that the project ID will remain the same throughout the lifecycle. Try to avoid any sensitive information. The project ID must meet the following requirements:
  • Should be six to 30 characters long
    
  • Must only have lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens
    
  • Should start with a letter
    
  • Should not end with a hyphen
    
  • Cannot be in use or previously used. This includes the deleted projects as well
    
  • Must not contain restricted strings such as Google and SSL.
    Google recommends not using strings, undefined, and null in a project ID 
• Add a location or organization: You can add a location or organization to the address validator project. Click on “Browse” and select an organization. If you don’t want to add an organization, select “No Organisation.”
  
• Select a billing account: To be able to select a billing account, you first need to set up an account. Unless you have a billing account, you can’t create the project. To connect a project with a billing account, you need to be a billing account administrator or project billing manager. After adding all this information, click on Create. 

 Also Read: How Does India Post Address Validation Work?

Enable Billing

To be able to use the Address Validation API, you need to enable billing. In case your usage is within the monthly quota, you will not be charged anything. However, if your application needs resources that exceed the quota, you will have to pay for the additional usage. Follow the steps mentioned below to enable billing.

• Go to the billing page in the cloud console.
  
• If the billing account is connected to a project, you will find the account listed.
  
• In case there is no project linked with a billing account, you will be prompted to create an account and connect it with a project.
  
• If you want to connect any other billing account with a project, select Cancel and then select Create a new account to build and connect a new account.

 Also Read: How Does Post Luxembourg Address Validation Work

Activate Google Address Validation API

• Start by creating a Google Cloud account.
  
• Go to the Google Cloud Platform dashboard, select a project, and click on Menu. In case you have not added any Google Cloud projects, create one using the steps mentioned above.
  
• Search for Google Maps in the menu and then hover over to the APIs. To proceed ahead using the Google API, you will have to answer a few questions related to billing, such as connecting a project with an account or creating a new billing account.
  
• After adding the billing information, go to the dashboard and click on Google Address Validation API. In the API overview page, select Enable.
  
• You can check the enabled API on the Google Maps Platform page in the Cloud Console. If you see cards for the Maps APIs and services, that means no API has been enabled. If you have multiple APIs, they will be listed under “Additional API” and will not be enabled.

Set up Google Address Validation API Key

• Go to the Google Cloud Platform and head over to the credentials page.
  
• Click on Create Credential-API Keys. Your new API key will appear under the dialogue box, and you can also find it in the list on the credentials page under the API key. 

 Also Read: Correos Address Validation: How Does It Work, Limitations and Its Alternatives

Restrict the API Key

Limiting who can access the key can prevent misuse and unauthorized access. It will ensure that only allowed parties can access and perform allowed actions through the API. To restrict the API key, follow the steps mentioned below.

• Go to the credential page.
  
• Select the API that you want to control access to. Once selected, you can see the properties of the key.
  
• Under the Key restrictions, select the following restrictions.
  • Application Restrictions
• Select the IP address under the Application Restrictions to accept requests from a list of web servers' IP addresses you supply. Use CIDR Notation to specify one or more IPv4 or IPv6 addresses. Ensure the IP address matches the source address that the Google Maps Platform servers observe.
  • API Restrictions
• Click on Restrict Key.
  
• Select the address validation API from the drop-down menu. In case the API is not listed there, it might not be enabled. Activate the API using the steps mentioned below.
  
• Select Save to finalize the changes you have made.

 Also Read: Canada Post Address Validation and Alternative

Delete a Project

• Go to the Project page in the Google Cloud Console.
  
• Select the project that you don’t want to use any longer and click Delete.

 Also Read: DHL Address Validation: How Does it Work and a Better Alternative

ECommerce Stores

Integrating the API with the checkout form can help eCommerce store owners reduce friction and speed up the billing and shipping address entry process while reducing errors. Clubbing it with an autocomplete API will help the businesses give the customers peace of mind that the delivery will be made at the right location. 

Backend Operations of Retailers

Retailers work with hundreds and thousands of suppliers, and in many cases, they are scattered across the globe. Manually verifying the address can be a tedious task. They can integrate the Google address validation API with the vendor management software. The validation will help retail businesses ensure a seamless exchange and remove any hiccups during invoicing.

 Also Read: Austrian Post Address Validation for Businesses

Logistics Company

To ensure that the delivery is made at the right address, logistics companies can use the address validation API. Its residential delivery indicator can tell whether the address is residential or commercial. This will help the courier service provider plan the delivery accordingly during business hours or on weekends.

 Also Read: Know all Parts of an Address to Include in Your Mail

Financial Institutions

Financial services like banks and insurance companies can use an address validation API to check the address at the time of the account creation for a customer. A match will help them prevent any fraudulent activities and sign-ups.

 Also Read: What is Poste Italiane Address Validation and How to Use It?

Inconsistent Address Parsing

Address parsing is an important part of the address validation. It breaks down the address into individual elements and then formats them according to the postal standards of the respective country. Inconsistent or poorly parsed addresses can lead to errors in delivery or missed shipments. The Google Address Validation API groups the street types and suffixes into a street name, leading to inconsistent parsing. 

Take, for instance, you want to validate an address that is 234 N Main St., San Diego, California. Google’s API will group N Main St. as a route and provide no further detail. There is no clarity on “N” and “St.” This ambiguity can lead to costly shipping errors. A comprehensive address validation API like PostGrid will break down every component and check with the USPS database to determine whether N means North and St means Saint or Street. 

Restrictive Address Storage Terms

With the Google Address Validation API, you cannot store, prefetch, cache, or index address data beyond 30 days. There is only one exception: when you need data for downstream transactions. In that case, you can keep the data to prevent users from entering their address again and again after every purchase. But in all other cases, after 30 day,s you will have to remove the address, the unit number, the geocode, and other metadata. This policy is one of the many reasons why businesses do not choose the Google API for address validation.  

There are many reasons why your business would need your customer’s address. They rely on customer data to understand their behavior and accordingly design marketing strategies. Enforcing such a strict policy leads to the following issues:

• Repeat customers will have to re-enter their addresses, and you will have to validate them again.
  
• You can’t track, analyze, maintain, or understand the customer’s data and use it for targeted marketing campaigns.
  
• You won’t be able to accumulate essential business information such as user location and the service where they live.
  
• Every month, your employees will invest their time and energy in running the same address through the address validation API. 

This will make it necessary for businesses to revalidate the address periodically and increase the operational and development costs. Businesses will have to schedule automated API queries every month. This will increase the monthly usage and gradually the cost. 

Slow API

You can only check 100 queries per second or 6,000 queries per minute. Imagine if you have to bulk verify one million addresses. The Google Address Validation API will take two hours and 47 minutes to validate them. It can delay the entire business workflow, such as order processing, shipping preparations, or triggering automated communications. 

Random Residential Delivery Indicator

RDI is a classification that helps the postal service provider determine whether the address is residential or commercial. By understanding the nature of the address, these service providers can make informed decisions like which delivery method to choose and when to deliver the package. RDI allows organizations to tailor their delivery strategies, ensuring that the package gets routed efficiently and delivered correctly and that the customers are charged appropriately. Google says that it offers RDI as a part of its address validation API service; however, the data can be inaccurate and inconsistent.  

Limited Batch Verification

Address verification is primarily used by businesses, and they have tons of addresses to verify regularly. However, with the Google Address Validation API, you can only process bulk addresses through a custom code.  

We mentioned above how Google does not allow you to store the customer’s data for more than 30 days. However, there is an exception. Say you have to verify over 20,000 addresses, and you use Google’s API. You will need all the address holders to confirm that the address is correct, and only you can keep the data beyond 30 days. Any address validation will require you to notify the end user, who will then confirm that the address is correct. Any user's unconfirmed address must be deleted after 30 days as per the terms and conditions of Google. 

Google Autocomplete API Doesn't Standardize or Validate

Address Validation and Autocomplete are offered as two separate products when they should be baked into one for the ease of customers. Moreover, the autocomplete API response will not return a validated address. Google itself says that it is just a type-ahead solution that only speeds up data entry but does not validate the entered address. 

Source: Google

Take, for instance, you have integrated the autocomplete API in your checkout form. When customers enter their addresses, the API will suggest possible addresses without verifying their correctness or completeness. Since validation is a separate step, the system might not catch it until the customer has submitted the form, which will be too late. This will lead to customers never receiving the product.  

You need a solution that can offer real-time, verified, accurate, and complete autocomplete suggestions to reduce any friction customers face when they enter an address like PostGrid. It has clubbed address validation, verification, standardization, and autocomplete in its address verification API to provide verified, accurate, well-formatted, and complete addresses for enhanced delivery accuracy.  

Strict Attribution Requirement

Unless the application displays Google data on Google Maps, you must add a Google logo to the validated address information. This means when you use Google’s API, you must ensure an unaltered logo is displayed on the same screen. For instance, you have integrated Google’s address validation API with your checkout form. Whenever a customer fills out the form to make a purchase, the Google logo will be displayed on the screen.  

Over 37% of the surveyed people said they do not trust Google to protect their information. Imagine throwing the logo on the customers whenever they want to shop for something from your business. This will be annoying, and the mistrust might make them question your ability to handle their personal information. This can lead to a loss of customer trust in your business and cart abandonment.

False Positives

When an API incorrectly identifies an address as correct, even when it is invalid or inaccurate, it is called a false positive. They can lead to deliveries being sent to the wrong address, causing delays, wasted resources, and customer dissatisfaction. The Google Address Validation API will process any type of address, and in an attempt to provide a match for every address, it will return the address as valid. Let us understand this with an example. We entered “123 What are you doing, New York?” and instead of notifying that it was an incorrect address, the solution returned a well-formatted version for the same.

Limited Country Coverage

As of now, the Google Address Validation API offers its services to 39 countries. This limited coverage prevents businesses from using this tool if they have to validate addresses of countries other than those covered by this API. 

Not Compliant With General Data Protection Regulation

Since it is a US company, it does not adhere to the rules and regulations laid down by GDPR. This can be a matter of concern for businesses with offices in other countries, especially in the European Union. In such cases, organizations using the Google Address Validation API to validate the address cannot guarantee that the personal information of the customers entered in their record will be safe from any privacy issue or data breach.  

The non-compliance also means that the individual does not hold any right to access or erase their data and will not be provided any transparency on how their data will be used. This not only leads to significant penalties but can also damage a business’s reputation and erode the trust of customers. Moreover, it can also lead to operational disruptions, as customers and clients won’t be willing to work with a company that does not prioritize the safety of customers' data. 

 Also Read: AVS Mismatch Causes, Consequences, and Tips for Prevention

No Premise Level Data

This refers to the detailed information of an address, including details such as apartment number, floor levels, and suite identifiers. This information not only helps the delivery agent with the geographical details of the address but also provides highly specific data to direct mail, deliveries, and services to the exact location. The Google Address Validation API only validates data up to a certain level and does not check if the premise-level address information is correct. 

For instance, we checked Central Park’s address. While it validates information up to the sub-locality level, it is not sure about the street number and the route. Lack of premise-level data may result in misdelivery, delays, or confusion, especially in regions with the same street name or building.

Global Address Data Validation

Unlike the Google Address Validation API, with PostGrid, you can validate addresses for over 245 countries and territories. Whether your client or customer lives in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, or any other country, we have got you covered.  

Accurate and Verified Addresses

We hold the CASS certification. We are certified by the USPS for our ability to accurately format, validate, and correct addresses as per its standards. We have access to the official USPS postal records, and while validating, we cross-reference every address with the postal data available. Once confirmed, we return a verified, well-formatted, and accurate address. Our address validation API will help you enhance delivery accuracy and ensure timely communication with the right customer or client.  

Standardization Along With Parsing and Address Autocomplete

With us, you don’t have to worry about investing in three tools for standardization, validation, and addressing autocomplete suggestions. We offer all these features and much more in our address verification API. It validates addresses at the entry point by breaking down the components and formatting them per the postal standards. It also provides real-time address autocomplete suggestions. 

We offer consistent parsing, where every address element is broken down, and after cross-checking with the USPS, they are identified as directional, street name, or street suffixes. Moreover, unlike the Google Address Validation API, where you have to worry if the autocomplete suggestion is correct, our tool will only offer verified autocomplete suggestions as soon as the customer starts typing the address.  

Compliant With Leading Industry Standards

We comply with all the leading industry standards and protocols, be it GDPR, HIPAA, SOC-2 Type 2, PIPEDA, and more. We prioritize the safety and security of our customers' personal information and enforce strict policies to ensure there is no privacy problem or data breach. Not only will we help you avoid costly fines and legal liabilities, but it will also help build and strengthen customer trust.

Highly Specific Address Data

We validate addresses until the street name and number and at the level of specific units within the location or the building. Our address validation API will provide information on the floor number and suite identifier. If you are a business that has to deal with multiple-unit buildings, our API will help reduce delivery errors and avoid delayed shipment.  

Real estate, logistics, or eCommerce businesses can use this premise-level data for efficient logistics management and inventory control. Our API enhances customer satisfaction by ensuring that the mail and packages are delivered to the exact location.  

RDI Information

PostGrid’s address validation solution comes with a capable residential delivery indicator feature. It will help you determine whether the address is residential or commercial. You can use this information to set your shipping charges, delivery methods, and timeframe accordingly. This will also help establish transparency between the customer and the carrier regarding the delivery timing and the additional charges that may apply.

Quick Bulk Address Verification

Unlike Google Address Validation, you don’t need a custom code to bulk validate and verify addresses. With PostGrid, you just have to upload your Excel, text, or CSV file and map columns and address components. Our bulk address validation solution will validate and verify over 1 million addresses in a matter of minutes, and you can download the CSV file of validated addresses. You can leverage PostGrid’s bulk address validation in the following ways:.

• Use our web service
  
• Get API keys to incorporate address validation service within the website
  
• Use the software that can be installed in our system.
  

If you have a large volume of addresses for validation and you have to conduct a large-scale marketing campaign, you can trust PostGrid. Our user-friendly interface will quickly verify your list of addresses so that you can launch your campaign at the right time and make the desired impression. 

Geocoding API

PostGrid’s comprehensive address verification solution goes beyond parsing, standardization, validation, and autocomplete. We provide latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates to ensure you know the exact location to deliver the package.  

Aside from forward and reverse geocoding, we offer rooftop geocoding. By identifying the exact entry point for a building or property, we aim to improve delivery accuracy, ensure efficient last-mile logistics, and enhance location-based services such as targeted marketing or emergency planning services. 

Access to NCOA and USPS Databases

We offer a USPS CASS-certified address validation API, which means we cross-reference every address with its data to ensure accuracy. Aside from this, we also have access to the National Change of Address database because we know over 40 million people change addresses every year. Hence, we cross-reference every address to ensure that you have the latest address information of your clients and customers.  

By correcting outdated addresses, we reduce the likelihood of failed deliveries, returned mail, or misrouted packages. This will also enhance the efficiency of your direct mail campaigns and improve customer satisfaction.

 Also Read: How Does PostNL Address Validation Work

The Google Address Validation API is a useful addition to the Google Maps Platform API to check the validity of the addresses. However, due to its numerous limitations, businesses prefer other address validation APIs like PostGrid. With features like global coverage, reliable RDI, quick and efficient bulk address verification, and access to authoritative databases like USPS and NCOA, PostGrid is a winner. If you want to see our address validation API in action, request a demo now.