10 ms·

Show HN: REST API for Global Address Verification

80 points by bavidar 13y ago

rtkwe 13y ago
I wonder how well it really works because addresses are really hard, see: http://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-names/ http://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-b...
- bavidar 13y ago
  Only way to judge is to test it out. Our data comes from the local post office of every country. We have street level address verification. Happy to give you some free credits to try it yourself just email me.
  - harryzhang 13y ago
    We don't claim to be perfect and nobody is. Some countries have greater detail in their postal system than others do which affects accuracy. We have an internal grading system for each country we support detailing exactly how much information we have (larger/developed countries we typically have 98% coverage for street or building level). For those interested, feel free to email me harry@lob.com for additional details about a specific country.
- polemic 13y ago
  Address Verification is a slightly easier prospect than (for example) natural language geocoding or identity verification. Canonical street addresses are generally understood for a particular jurisdiction and many postal services keep 'common name' dictionaries as well - they've been doing this for a while, after all.
srinivasanv 13y ago
How do you verify the data for Middle Eastern countries which don't really have street address systems or zipcodes, and only use PO Boxes? Just check that the PO Box exists?
a2d9s22 13y ago
$0.15 is completely ridiculous - also, can you tell us how you're doing this globally? Zip is required and some countries don't have ZIPs.
wanderingstan 13y ago
I've done some jobs that needed address verification and it was a pain. If they've really solved it, it's a huge accomplishment. The rest of their tools look good too. Snail-mailing is sadly still essential to business and needs a workable API.
- ksutariya 13y ago
  I agree snail-mailing needs a revamp. Their service would be interesting if I could use their API to send mail to an international country from the US and their edge centers sent it from within that international country. That way the mail would get there much faster than the traditional route.
vyrotek 13y ago
Looks good. Free for the United States is pretty attractive. Although the only thing I have to compare it to is Melissa Data. http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/store/service/?id=59a168b8-6d66-4f85-b000-38abcad310a2 http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/store/service/?id=59a168b8...
alex_h 13y ago
I created a small sqlite database for US zip code lookup and verification, for embedding in mobile apps etc. https://github.com/alex-hofsteede/zipcode_db https://github.com/alex-hofsteede/zipcode_db
- tstactplsignore 13y ago
  Isn't it best to rely on a cloud service for this kind of thing? Addresses are being created and being changed every day, a local database would quickly become outdated.
  - erichurkman 13y ago
    His was only ZIP Codes. USPS only publishes ZIP Code updates once monthly, if I recall right. Technically they are copyrighted by the USPS and you are supposed to obtain a reseller license to publish official ZIP Code data. The rate of change is very low, maybe a dozen changes per month at most. It wouldn't be unreasonable, depending on the app, to keep it reasonably up to date.
    - daigoba66 13y ago
      You could also have the app phone home every few days asking for up-to-date data, or diffs, and storing it locally (it shouldn't be that big). Then release a new version every now and then with roll-ups.
  - alex_h 13y ago
    Yes, I've been using it with a web service as a backup, but having it embedded in an app makes for a super fast and responsive city/state lookup on devices with potentially flaky connections.
adrr 13y ago
Is the US data from USPS?
- bavidar 13y ago
  Yes
toretore 13y ago
It would be nice if we could try before we buy (globally). Also, $0.15 per lookup is really expensive. Address verification is a pain; if I could get someone else to do that for me that would be nice.
- bavidar 13y ago
  You can. Email me...leore@lob.com and ill give you some credits. Happy to talk about pricing too.
xoail 13y ago
I am curious to know how do you verify these addresses? what methods you use? I recently built one for a client using Google maps api and it was not as easy and accurate as I thought.
- bavidar 13y ago
  We use data provided by local post offices from the country you specify. It was really hard to build, aggregate the data, and than standardize the input and output. Would appreciate any feedback you have on it.
  - drgreiner 13y ago
    I have been researching this topic and it seems to me that many countries use varying depths of administrative division levels in their postal systems. Your api seems to stick to a single "state". Do you just assume that the first major division under country, and will you ever support more granular divisions?
    - bavidar 13y ago
      We have the ability and might open the api more but right now we wanted to make it simple. PM and we can talk about your specific use case.
erichurkman 13y ago
SmartyStreets [1] is another provider, not free though. It seems they can do a lot more than verify, like their autocomplete (client side) -- pretty slick. [2] [1] http://smartystreets.com/products/liveaddress-api/pricing#questions http://smartystreets.com/products/liveaddress-api/pricing#qu... [2] http://smartystreets.com/products/liveaddress-api/demo http://smartystreets.com/products/liveaddress-api/demo Have not had a chance yet to use this in a project.
- harryzhang 13y ago
  Looks like SmartyStreets is limited to just the US and charges $1000 for unlimited lookups. Lob also autocompletes addresses if not entered fully as well and is FREE for unlimited lookups. I'll also add their data set from the USPS is the same that everyone uses (including Lob) for the US. The real challenge with address verification is international which Lob is able to provide.
  - erichurkman 13y ago
    I'll have to sign up for Lob's API to try it out. That price point is quite different. I didn't mean completing missing info, I meant a real time client-side autocomplete widget as you type the address akin to what you'll find on Google Maps. I don't see that on Lob's demos -- I don't think they expose enough data for it through the API. I understand they are all using the same data -- are they using the same tool/algorithm for it?
jjohn 13y ago
I made a site that did something like it a while ago: http://www.scrubmyaddress.com http://www.scrubmyaddress.com
RossP 13y ago
What's the source of your Australian data? The AusPost data is rather expensive, and most providers have somewhat awkward APIs and/or enterprise sales models that get tricky to navigate. Having somebody to abstract that out to would be fantastic.
- harryzhang 13y ago
  It's AusPost
frankdenbow 13y ago
I use EasyPost for this and verifications are free. Is there a major reason to switch?
- harryzhang 13y ago
  Verifications are free for Lob for US addresses as well, but we have support for INTERNATIONAL verification...Easypost only has US.
  - kevingibbon 13y ago
    My bet is they will offer it for free very soon. Beta testing for UPS / Fedex international http://blog.easypost.com/post/50350200681/ups-international-api http://blog.easypost.com/post/50350200681/ups-international-...
    - harryzhang 13y ago
      Neither Fedex or UPS offer street level international address verification like we do. UPS only covers USA and Puerto Rico for street level and Fedex only covers USA. http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/bussol/browse/addressvalidationstreetlevel.html http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/bussol/browse/addressvalida... http://www.fedex.com/us/developer/product/basics.html http://www.fedex.com/us/developer/product/basics.html
daigoba66 13y ago
If you're just dealing with US Postal Addresses, personally I would just go straight to the source: https://www.usps.com/business/web-tools-apis/address-information.htm https://www.usps.com/business/web-tools-apis/address-informa... (also free).
- harryzhang 13y ago
  The USPS is where we get our data from...we have a layer of abstraction in case you don't want to deal with SOAP and XML and want something simple via REST.
- ericclemmons 13y ago
  It wasn't free when I inquired about it a few months ago, as we didn't have a product we were shipping, but needed the address for contactability and verification.
gfodor 13y ago
This would be awesome if it delivers on its promises. How can we know your global address verification works? Can you publish some more information to boost confidence? Also, I would love to integrate this with my app, but $0.15 is pretty steep when you consider the use-case, where margins can be pretty tight and prices are low. A tiered pricing structure would be much more attractive where once volume ramps up you're paying closer to $0.05 per lookup.
- bavidar 13y ago
  Would happy to give you some test credits to validate our data source. Also we do offer tiered pricing, please feel free to contact me directly for more details.
- kevingibbon 13y ago
  I agree. I can't imagine where $0.15 makes sense for anyone. Margins in this business are very tight. I'd love to see a monthly plan.
yellowbkpk 13y ago
Are you simply proxying the USPS API or are you making queries against data you purchased from them? If so, which data did you purchase?
- harryzhang 13y ago
  For the US, yes we are using USPS data as it is the most accurate and up to date.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
  - yellowbkpk 13y ago
    Right, but are you proxying the API or do you have a database locally you're querying?
    - harryzhang 13y ago
      Querying their API and we have a backup source as well when USPS goes down (ie last week)
gschammah 13y ago
is it possible to get a demo account to test how it works outside the US?
- harryzhang 13y ago
  We can give you some credits. Please make an account and email me harry(at)lob.com
francoisfeugeas 13y ago
State is a required field ? And we have no details on which data files you use ? I'm very interested in such a service, but this does not look serious at all...
pinaceae 13y ago
erm, how exactly does this work globally? state and zip are required fields. Ireland, for example, does not have zip codes... full list of such countries: http://hellowahab.wordpress.com/2011/05/24/list-of-countries-without-postal-codes/ http://hellowahab.wordpress.com/2011/05/24/list-of-countries... and here is an example from Drupal where it failed the state requirements: https://drupal.org/node/636464 https://drupal.org/node/636464 Lebanon, Serbia, Singapore for example do not have state information.
- harryzhang 13y ago
  Ireland is one of the few countries that is not covered due to that reason
aranw 13y ago
Where are you getting the UK data from? Also how do you handle, UK Postcodes, and Counties?
icybass 13y ago
StrikeIron is another provider. They have separate products for North American and Global address verification. Tiered monthly pricing. http://www.strikeiron.com/product-list/address/north-american-address-verification-2/ http://www.strikeiron.com/product-list/address/north-america... http://www.strikeiron.com/product-list/address/international-address-verification/ http://www.strikeiron.com/product-list/address/international...
iceman7 13y ago
side question - the documentation ( https://www.lob.com/docs https://www.lob.com/docs ) looks pretty neat. Is the design/layout built homegrown or using any tool out there?

80 points by bavidar 13y ago

rtkwe 13y ago

I wonder how well it really works because addresses are really hard, see: http://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-names/ http://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-b...

bavidar 13y ago
Only way to judge is to test it out. Our data comes from the local post office of every country. We have street level address verification. Happy to give you some free credits to try it yourself just email me.
- harryzhang 13y ago
  We don't claim to be perfect and nobody is. Some countries have greater detail in their postal system than others do which affects accuracy. We have an internal grading system for each country we support detailing exactly how much information we have (larger/developed countries we typically have 98% coverage for street or building level). For those interested, feel free to email me harry@lob.com for additional details about a specific country.
polemic 13y ago
Address Verification is a slightly easier prospect than (for example) natural language geocoding or identity verification. Canonical street addresses are generally understood for a particular jurisdiction and many postal services keep 'common name' dictionaries as well - they've been doing this for a while, after all.

srinivasanv 13y ago

How do you verify the data for Middle Eastern countries which don't really have street address systems or zipcodes, and only use PO Boxes? Just check that the PO Box exists?

a2d9s22 13y ago

$0.15 is completely ridiculous - also, can you tell us how you're doing this globally? Zip is required and some countries don't have ZIPs.

wanderingstan 13y ago

I've done some jobs that needed address verification and it was a pain. If they've really solved it, it's a huge accomplishment. The rest of their tools look good too. Snail-mailing is sadly still essential to business and needs a workable API.

ksutariya 13y ago
I agree snail-mailing needs a revamp. Their service would be interesting if I could use their API to send mail to an international country from the US and their edge centers sent it from within that international country. That way the mail would get there much faster than the traditional route.

vyrotek 13y ago

Looks good. Free for the United States is pretty attractive. Although the only thing I have to compare it to is Melissa Data. http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/store/service/?id=59a168b8-6d66-4f85-b000-38abcad310a2 http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/store/service/?id=59a168b8...

alex_h 13y ago

I created a small sqlite database for US zip code lookup and verification, for embedding in mobile apps etc. https://github.com/alex-hofsteede/zipcode_db https://github.com/alex-hofsteede/zipcode_db

tstactplsignore 13y ago
Isn't it best to rely on a cloud service for this kind of thing? Addresses are being created and being changed every day, a local database would quickly become outdated.
- erichurkman 13y ago
  His was only ZIP Codes. USPS only publishes ZIP Code updates once monthly, if I recall right. Technically they are copyrighted by the USPS and you are supposed to obtain a reseller license to publish official ZIP Code data. The rate of change is very low, maybe a dozen changes per month at most. It wouldn't be unreasonable, depending on the app, to keep it reasonably up to date.
  - daigoba66 13y ago
    You could also have the app phone home every few days asking for up-to-date data, or diffs, and storing it locally (it shouldn't be that big). Then release a new version every now and then with roll-ups.
- alex_h 13y ago
  Yes, I've been using it with a web service as a backup, but having it embedded in an app makes for a super fast and responsive city/state lookup on devices with potentially flaky connections.

adrr 13y ago

Is the US data from USPS?

bavidar 13y ago
Yes

toretore 13y ago

It would be nice if we could try before we buy (globally). Also, $0.15 per lookup is really expensive. Address verification is a pain; if I could get someone else to do that for me that would be nice.

bavidar 13y ago
You can. Email me...leore@lob.com and ill give you some credits. Happy to talk about pricing too.

xoail 13y ago

I am curious to know how do you verify these addresses? what methods you use? I recently built one for a client using Google maps api and it was not as easy and accurate as I thought.

bavidar 13y ago
We use data provided by local post offices from the country you specify. It was really hard to build, aggregate the data, and than standardize the input and output. Would appreciate any feedback you have on it.
- drgreiner 13y ago
  I have been researching this topic and it seems to me that many countries use varying depths of administrative division levels in their postal systems. Your api seems to stick to a single "state". Do you just assume that the first major division under country, and will you ever support more granular divisions?
  - bavidar 13y ago
    We have the ability and might open the api more but right now we wanted to make it simple. PM and we can talk about your specific use case.

erichurkman 13y ago

SmartyStreets [1] is another provider, not free though. It seems they can do a lot more than verify, like their autocomplete (client side) -- pretty slick. [2] [1] http://smartystreets.com/products/liveaddress-api/pricing#questions http://smartystreets.com/products/liveaddress-api/pricing#qu... [2] http://smartystreets.com/products/liveaddress-api/demo http://smartystreets.com/products/liveaddress-api/demo Have not had a chance yet to use this in a project.

harryzhang 13y ago
Looks like SmartyStreets is limited to just the US and charges $1000 for unlimited lookups. Lob also autocompletes addresses if not entered fully as well and is FREE for unlimited lookups. I'll also add their data set from the USPS is the same that everyone uses (including Lob) for the US. The real challenge with address verification is international which Lob is able to provide.
- erichurkman 13y ago
  I'll have to sign up for Lob's API to try it out. That price point is quite different. I didn't mean completing missing info, I meant a real time client-side autocomplete widget as you type the address akin to what you'll find on Google Maps. I don't see that on Lob's demos -- I don't think they expose enough data for it through the API. I understand they are all using the same data -- are they using the same tool/algorithm for it?

jjohn 13y ago

I made a site that did something like it a while ago: http://www.scrubmyaddress.com http://www.scrubmyaddress.com

RossP 13y ago

What's the source of your Australian data? The AusPost data is rather expensive, and most providers have somewhat awkward APIs and/or enterprise sales models that get tricky to navigate. Having somebody to abstract that out to would be fantastic.

harryzhang 13y ago
It's AusPost

frankdenbow 13y ago

I use EasyPost for this and verifications are free. Is there a major reason to switch?

harryzhang 13y ago
Verifications are free for Lob for US addresses as well, but we have support for INTERNATIONAL verification...Easypost only has US.
- kevingibbon 13y ago
  My bet is they will offer it for free very soon. Beta testing for UPS / Fedex international http://blog.easypost.com/post/50350200681/ups-international-api http://blog.easypost.com/post/50350200681/ups-international-...
  - harryzhang 13y ago
    Neither Fedex or UPS offer street level international address verification like we do. UPS only covers USA and Puerto Rico for street level and Fedex only covers USA. http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/bussol/browse/addressvalidationstreetlevel.html http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/bussol/browse/addressvalida... http://www.fedex.com/us/developer/product/basics.html http://www.fedex.com/us/developer/product/basics.html

daigoba66 13y ago

If you're just dealing with US Postal Addresses, personally I would just go straight to the source: https://www.usps.com/business/web-tools-apis/address-information.htm https://www.usps.com/business/web-tools-apis/address-informa... (also free).

harryzhang 13y ago
The USPS is where we get our data from...we have a layer of abstraction in case you don't want to deal with SOAP and XML and want something simple via REST.
ericclemmons 13y ago
It wasn't free when I inquired about it a few months ago, as we didn't have a product we were shipping, but needed the address for contactability and verification.

gfodor 13y ago

This would be awesome if it delivers on its promises. How can we know your global address verification works? Can you publish some more information to boost confidence? Also, I would love to integrate this with my app, but $0.15 is pretty steep when you consider the use-case, where margins can be pretty tight and prices are low. A tiered pricing structure would be much more attractive where once volume ramps up you're paying closer to $0.05 per lookup.

bavidar 13y ago
Would happy to give you some test credits to validate our data source. Also we do offer tiered pricing, please feel free to contact me directly for more details.
kevingibbon 13y ago
I agree. I can't imagine where $0.15 makes sense for anyone. Margins in this business are very tight. I'd love to see a monthly plan.

yellowbkpk 13y ago

Are you simply proxying the USPS API or are you making queries against data you purchased from them? If so, which data did you purchase?

harryzhang 13y ago
For the US, yes we are using USPS data as it is the most accurate and up to date.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- yellowbkpk 13y ago
  Right, but are you proxying the API or do you have a database locally you're querying?
  - harryzhang 13y ago
    Querying their API and we have a backup source as well when USPS goes down (ie last week)

gschammah 13y ago

is it possible to get a demo account to test how it works outside the US?

harryzhang 13y ago
We can give you some credits. Please make an account and email me harry(at)lob.com

francoisfeugeas 13y ago

State is a required field ? And we have no details on which data files you use ? I'm very interested in such a service, but this does not look serious at all...

pinaceae 13y ago

erm, how exactly does this work globally? state and zip are required fields. Ireland, for example, does not have zip codes... full list of such countries: http://hellowahab.wordpress.com/2011/05/24/list-of-countries-without-postal-codes/ http://hellowahab.wordpress.com/2011/05/24/list-of-countries... and here is an example from Drupal where it failed the state requirements: https://drupal.org/node/636464 https://drupal.org/node/636464 Lebanon, Serbia, Singapore for example do not have state information.

harryzhang 13y ago
Ireland is one of the few countries that is not covered due to that reason

aranw 13y ago

Where are you getting the UK data from? Also how do you handle, UK Postcodes, and Counties?

icybass 13y ago

StrikeIron is another provider. They have separate products for North American and Global address verification. Tiered monthly pricing. http://www.strikeiron.com/product-list/address/north-american-address-verification-2/ http://www.strikeiron.com/product-list/address/north-america... http://www.strikeiron.com/product-list/address/international-address-verification/ http://www.strikeiron.com/product-list/address/international...

iceman7 13y ago

side question - the documentation ( https://www.lob.com/docs https://www.lob.com/docs ) looks pretty neat. Is the design/layout built homegrown or using any tool out there?