Question

I’m looking for a GeoCoding provider for two purposes:

1. Address parsing (convert a long String into address components)
2. Address validation (make sure the address really exists)

I need to support North America addresses first, but keep the door open for international addresses as well.

I won’t be displaying this information on a map or in a webapp, which puts me in a bit of a bind because services like Google Maps and Yahoo Maps require you to display any information you look up on their services.

Wikipedia contains a nice list of available geocoding providers here. My question is:

1. Is there a reliable/easy way to parse an address into component? I’d prefer embedding this logic into my application instead of having to depend on a 3rd-party provider.

2. Eventually I’ll need to add address validation (with a map but not in a webapp). At that point, what do you recommend I do?

Answer 1

Is there a reliable/easy way to parse an address into component? I’d
prefer embedding this logic into my application instead of having to
depend on a 3rd-party provider.

No. You can always try to do it, but it will eventually fail. There is no universal planetary standard for addresses and not every country uses English addresses which add to the complexity of the task. There are 311 millions peoples in the USA and nearly 7 billion people in the world, now think of the different addresses it can represent.

Eventually I’ll need to add address validation (with a map but not in
a webapp). At that point, what do you recommend I do?

I would use Google Maps API V3 but since it’s against the rules in your case, I would try one of the paid service available out there for address parsing/validation (there are even free ones but they are less reliable). I think it’s the best you can do.

In your case the only way to be 100% sure if the address exists and is valid would be to check it manually and then go there physically 😉