Geocoding services : which can be used with JAVA web applications as reliable

Question

As this is a very old thread to be asked a question. But as I am having same confusion on what geocoding services can be best proved.

I am working on Java based web application where I need to following features to be implemented

• geocode the address
• perform reverse geocoding
• Show Route on maps
• Calculate the Distance and Time between two lat/long
• If possible also give options of suggested routes so user can decide the fastest or shortest route

Intially I started with cloudemade API It works on all above features but in few cases in reverse geocoding as well as geocode addresses it does'nt give any result for lat/longs

Next I also tried with MapQuest but in this in few cases it is not able to geocode particular addresses

Now I was searching with Yahoo but as per my searching yahoo does not have its own map to show as well as no Routing functionality also Distance I need here to be calculated manually

Can anyone suggest me on which services can be more reliable and accurate with the above features included

Answer 1

Disclaimer: I work for MapQuest.

I can't speak to which geocoding services are more reliable and more accurate, simply because of the nature of geocoding; there are so many variables that can affect a result -- was the street name misspelled, was there extra "line 2" address information (i.e. "Apartment #5, 2nd Floor"), is the address correct and an official address (i.e., an officially recognized address by the United States Postal Service, Canada Post, etc.)? The same goes for reverse geocoding -- are you passing in coordinates that are close enough to a street for reverse geocoding to happen, or are the coordinates in the middle of a forest or within a body of water? I think it's going to be difficult to find a service that is absolutely perfect, but these are a few of the issues that can affect results. And, of course, there also sometimes can be data issues, where a street or an address is simply missing from the underlying base data.

Either way -- if you want to take a look again, MapQuest offers a Geocoding API (licensed/commercial data - daily transaction limit) and an Open Geocoding API (based on OpenStreetMap data - totally free to use, no limits), and the other APIs MapQuest offers can also meet the other requirements you listed.

Answer 2

If you want to compare Google API, MapQuest and Cloud Made, you can have a look at this small utility which will show you exact location and also displays json which helps in debugging application. The utility is accessible at below url:

http://ankit-zalani.appspot.com/GeoCode/index.jsp