Added a Missing Address but it was Published Incorrectly

[Chris_G]

There was a street address at a multiple unit home that was not represented on the map, so I added it. My new address was accepted, but when I checked, it was the wrong address.

To explain: The address was something like: 789A Main Street. The A being part of the street address. On Google maps however, and the email notifying me of my successful edit says: 789 Main Street. The letter A was just dropped. So it moved an already present address and the new one I was adding is nowhere to be seen. I have created new addresses before, I know the procedure… I did what I was supposed to and this has happened twice today.

I have created street addresses with letters in them before. So I am not sure what happened. Does this happen occasionally? I feel like an idiot since all it did was move an address uselessly. Someone might think I am just messing with the map.

[MortenCopenhagen]

Hi @Chris_G

Please share a link to the place. I take that you are aware the houses on a street are not added like pins?

Cheers

Morten

[Flash]

Hello @Chris_G ,

Maps does not support individual units within a building. That will be why the unit designator was removed from your suggestion. The building address is enough to get people to the correct place, and then they can find the individual unit on their own.

[Chris_G]

@MortenCopenhagen

The address is at:

https://goo.gl/maps/e6rFD6bzu6xqs1qe6

You can see the address 7609 and 7609B from that angle. 7609A is the entrance under the stairs which you can see at an angle further along the street in Google street view. First I moved 7609 to its current (proper) location, then I tried to add the 7609A and 7609B addresses but it all came out to 7609. Which means I edited the same number at least twice as the letters vanished in the edit process.

Yes, I have been adding street addresses for several years and it’s very straightforward, and operates nothing like adding pins to a map.

There’s constant new development in this area as the city has decided to urbanize the district, so new houses, condominiums and apartment buildings are constantly being put up and the addresses are almost always missing entirely or incorrect.

@Flash
“Maps does not support individual units within a building. That will be why the unit designator was removed from your suggestion. The building address is enough to get people to the correct place, and then they can find the individual unit on their own.”

These are separate street addresses with separate entrances that one can clearly see on street view, not apartments within a building with a single entrance.

Around this area sometimes entirely separate buildings have letters on them. Why? Because the city did not plan for enough street numbers when they set up the numbering scheme.

I have successfully added many addresses with letters in them, in fact the day before this particular error within Google Maps, I added one successfully. So clearly this is a problem on Google’s end and I need advice as to how to work around it, so it happens as little as possible.

[MortenCopenhagen]

@Chris_G

I have studied the Streetview photos and I tend to agree with @Flash . Adding individual house numbers 7609a and 7609b is not going to be helpful for Maps users. In fact, it will clutter up the map. When arriving after using Google Maps navigation to 7609 there will be absolutely no problem finding the a and the b. A taxi driver and a delivery guy would not have any problems.

If the sub-number was is a separate building hidden behind or far from the main number, then it would be helpful in my opinion.

Maybe I’m missing something here. I would be please to read some arguments as to why it would be helpful for Maps users to have the sub-numbers also put on the map.

Cheers

Morten

[Flash]

These are separate street addresses with separate entrances that one can clearly see on street view, not apartments within a building with a single entrance.

I’m afraid that still does not meet Google’s criteria for them to be individually mapped.

Around this area sometimes entirely separate buildings have letters on them. Why? Because the city did not plan for enough street numbers when they set up the numbering scheme.

Seperate buildings would qualify, as then having the addresses mapped becomes an aid to navigation. Basically, if you have to go to a different building then it can be mapped.

I have successfully added many addresses with letters in them, in fact the day before this particular error within Google Maps, I added one successfully. So clearly this is a problem on Google’s end and I need advice as to how to work around it, so it happens as little as possible.

To be clear, addresses with letters are permitted. What you’re describing is letters being used to designate separate addresses. It is sub-units of an address within the same building that are not to be mapped separately.

Workarounds on the map are never appropriate. The rules of the map are set up to reflect how the database works and how Google wants it’s map organized.

[Chris_G]

• @Flash *

@MortenCopenhagen

“To be clear, addresses with letters are permitted. What you’re describing is letters being used to designate separate addresses. It is sub-units of an address within the same building that are not to be mapped separately.”

So which is it? Either letters in the street number are allowed and are separate addresses or they are subunits and not allowed.

I currently live in a triplex and my address is correctly listed on Google Maps with a letter in the number because it’s a separate street address. My neighbour in the same building also has a letter in their street number, and is also correctly listed on Google Maps because it’s a separate street address, but my third neighbour in this triplex… has no letters in theirs. So are we subunits of that third unit? No we’re not. These are the numbers that were assigned by the city.

The new address to which I am moving to in a month is also correctly listed on Google Maps as 138B. It is a five-plex and the other units (all properly listed on Google Maps) are: 140 and 140A as well as 138, 138A… because they are separate addresses, not subunits.

The Canadian Post Office defines how addresses operate. When a letter is used to designate a subunit it is written as: 123-A, 123-B. (Similarly it is written 123-11, when the subunit uses a number and not a letter, in this case subunit 11 at 123 Main Street.) When a letter is part of a street address it is written as 123A, 123B.

Subunits also do not get tax papers from the city because they’re subunits. They also generally do not have separate entrances although there are some exceptions.

Additionally both the post office and the city require the street address be posted on the building so that it is visible from the street. Subunits, even if they are separate buildings do not have to have anything posted externally because they are not a street address. So 99/100 if you can see the number on the building, that is the city-issued address for that residence and it is not a subunit. Building owners can’t just tack on a letter and claim it is a new address (if they do, a city inspector will show up and see if they added an unpermitted dwelling.)

Separate buildings can have a letter in their address (and are listed on Google Maps as such). So clearly they can be a street address and not merely a subunit. I can provide an example: 112 is one building, 112A is next door 112B, the next, and finally 112C. As I have stated previously, the city did not allocate enough numbers, and 114 is on the next block… so… there was no other option unless they re-numbered the street, and that is a bureaucratic mess to deal with so there is no desire to do so.

Since I mentioned it, here is the Google Street View of the aforementioned 4 buildings with the 4th being behind the cedar tree:

So the fact that Google already says that numbers with letters in them are indeed legitimate addresses even within the same building and has listed such addresses extensively here in this area. Also given that address numbers for separate buildings can have letters in them… Also given that there is a clear delineation between how street numbers with letters in them and lettered subunits are represented in an official context. Also given that it is the city that issues and authorizes these addresses, you can’t make a sweeping decision that 123A shall not be listed on Google Maps if it is in the same building as 123. It’s basically an arbitrary decision. Simply because it’s not common in most places as doesn’t mean it should be ignored as a trivial issue.

Please note that if this arbitrary definition was actually applied to Google Maps, it would cause a great deal of inconvenience to people as many delivery companies as well as taxi services here will not deliver or come to you, if the address is not listed in Google Maps. So if 138B doesn’t exist on the map, I would not be able to get things like food or groceries delivered to me. These companies’ software checks Google Maps and if it doesn’t get a specific return, then it doesn’t exist as far as they are concerned. They will not just go to 138 and hope they can find a 138B simply on my say-so. They have refused in the instances it happened to me a few years ago.

Google Maps should stick to what the city and the local post office considers a street address and not play this “well if it’s a letter it must be a subunit” guessing game nonsense whenever it feels like it.

If you won’t help me fix the issue, so be it. But I will be sure to let my friends know they will be out of luck for getting deliveries.

[MortenCopenhagen]

@Chris_G

Clearly, you are not happy with the feedback you got. And it makes sense.

If you accept that Google Maps has in place a guideline for not adding subunits on Google Maps, you can post a suggestion in the Idea Exchange to have the guideline changed. I think you have good arguments, but I also have to mention that the success rate in the Idea Exchange is very low in my experience.

If you still doubt what we shared, you could try asking for help in the Maps support forum. But I’m afraid you will get the same answer. Please feel free to try.

I also think it would be helpful if one of the Google Moderators on this board would comment on your issue. @DeniGu , would you or a colleague help us out?

Best of luck
Morten

[Flash]

So which is it? Either letters in the street number are allowed and are separate addresses or they are subunits and not allowed.

I have not said that.

Letters can be part of an address. It is when they are used to indicate separate units within one building that they are not permitted on Google Maps.

The Canadian Post Office defines how addresses operate

No, they do not. Your local city/county/district government defines how they operate. They are the addressing authority.

But when it comes to Google Maps, Google defines how it operates.

Subunits also do not get tax papers from the city because they’re subunits.

That is not how it is determined.

Properties can be set up so there is one folio with multiple subunits (think of a rental apartment building).

Properties can also be set up so each subunit is a folio (think of a condo building).

We are not speaking of a subdivision of a folio, but rather a subdivision of a street address. The two can be separate.

These companies’ software checks Google Maps and if it doesn’t get a specific return, then it doesn’t exist as far as they are concerned.

That is not how the geo-referencing API works.

When you input an address into a app or website that uses the Google Maps APIs, you are not to include a unit number in the address. It then separately asks you for a unit number.

If this wasn’t the way it worked then a building with 300 apartments would have to have every apartment mapped, which would just create clutter on the map. The reality is that just the main address is to be entered, and then in the checkout process you are asked for the subunit. I’ve included a screenshot I just took in Uber Eats for reference.