Address Validation API for Google Maps Platform

Obtaining addresses with fewer typos or misspellings and verifying their validity is essential. Studies have concluded that 9% of online purchases contain issues with the customer provided shipping address1 which is a leading contributor to as many as 5-10% of all last-mile deliveries failing2.

Issues can vary from incorrectly spelled city and street names to incorrect house numbers to missing address components such as apartment numbers. The majority of these can be prevented by implementing an address validator.

Impacts of unvalidated addresses include increased costs and operational overhead required to resolve incorrect addresses, diminished customer confidence and satisfaction, increased risk of fraudulent transactions, and it can even negatively impact your brand’s reputation.

Ensuring the accuracy of customer addresses is more important than ever. With this in mind, Google recently released their Address Validation API for the Google Maps Platform.

The Google Maps Address Validation API

The Google Maps Address Validation API validates an address and its components, standardizes the address for mailing, and geocodes the location. The Address Validation API is USPS CASS certified, confirming the accuracy of the service and its high quality address processing. Powered by Google Maps Platform Places data and its extensive local address datasets, Address Validation can help drive operational efficiencies and better customer experiences, including:

Reducing failed deliveries
Lowering customer churn and improving customer lifetime value
Improving routing efficiency and driver experience for deliveries
Verifying account sign-up by using proof of address

Here’s how it works:

The API takes an unstructured address and divides it into its component parts.
Next, address components are verified and corrected for user input errors and missing components, such as sub-premises, are flagged.
Then, it validates whether the address inputted exists and is a deliverable location based on a variety of data sources including postal service data.
Finally, it returns supplemental information about the location such as the latitude and longitude and whether the address is commercial or residential.

The Address Validation API can also be paired with Place Autocomplete which offers address suggestions as the user types in a location making address entry easier while also further reducing the chance of typos and other errors.

By catching bad addresses and obtaining better awareness of address characteristics, you can improve delivery predictability and reduce delivery failures providing an improved customer experience. To kick the tires, explore the demo and then contact us to discuss pricing and integration.