The purpose of this document is to provide guidance for Search and Autocomplete for the People’s Republic of China. This guideline is a supplement to the Global Search and Autocomplete Guidelines.
You should base your ratings on official resources whenever available for all POI results before looking into other sources. Official resource includes official websites and official social media.
Consensus logic requires at least TWO aligned sources to support for rating.
In the case where official address exists:
If result address is the same with official address, please rate Correct.
If result address is less specific than official address, please rate Incorrect.
If result address is different or more specific than official address or has variances, please verify through other resources using consensus logic.
If both official and result addresses are physically at the same location, rate result address Correct. If official and result addresses are physically at different locations, rate result address Incorrect.
Example:
Result Title | Official Address | Result Address | Address Accuracy | Comments |
肯德基(青 年路餐厅) KFC(Qingni an Road) | 人民中路 17号新西 南大厦广 场 | 中国云南省昆 明市五华区人 民中路17号百 盛购物广场1 层 | Correct | Result address is different from the official address but is aligned with that of Dianping and Baidu. However, consider address as correct because both are essentially pointing at the same location. |
When applying the above rules, you must provide your research in comments for your rating.
Please refer to resource doc to validate through major resources.
A result can satisfy user intent for multiple reasons, but most often, the result satisfies the most specific part of the query. This is referred to as a match. There are other ways a result can satisfy the user query in addition to the global guidelines:
Query | Result | Type of match | Explanation |
国际裁员中心 (International Financial Center with a typo/ homophone) | 国际财源中心 (International financial center) | Spell correction for homophone | Satisfies Intent: 裁员is homophone word of 财源, result corrected user typo, rate Excellent for relevance. |
Pudongguoji (Pinyin syllables of Pudong International) | 上海浦东国际机场 (Shanghai Pudong int’l airport) | Pinyin syllable | Satisfies Intent: Pudongguoji is the pinyin syllable of 浦东国际rate Excellent for relevance. |
^ ‘ —J —J (延+ stroke input for 庆) | 延庆 (Yanqing-a district of Beijing) | Stroke input | Fresh viewport and user location are both in Beijing. This is the best possible result combine with the strokes and the location info. Rating can be Excellent. |
卢湾区法租界 (French Concession Luwan District) | 法租界警务处暨中 央捕房旧址 (Historical site of the French Concession Central police station) | Intent/ Concept match | The French Concession is a historical carry-over area during the colonial period in Shanghai Luwan District. While the area does not exist anymore, there is a physical site dedicated to it in Luwan district (which has been renamed to Huangpu district). The result is considered relevant as it is a perfect place to present a historical scenario from the French Concession for users to sightsee. Rate Excellent |
空总医院 (Air Force General Hospital) (Fresh viewport and user location are both in Tianjin) | 中国人民解放军第 HAHE^ + 国人民解放军空军 ^#E^) (The People’s Liberation Army No. 464th Hospital- previously the People’s Liberation Army Air Force Tianjin Hospital). | Intent/ Concept match from an Implicit query | There is no exact query matched hospital in Tianjin, the most relevant result in Tianjin is the People’s Liberation Army No. 464th Hospital (previously the Air Force Tianjin Hospital). In this case, this result can be rated Excellent |
地铁二号线 (Subway No. 2 Line/route) (fresh VP covering entire Beijing, and user location near 东直门站 (Dongzhimen Station)) | 东直门站 (Dongzhimen Station) | Transit Intent | Dongzhimen Station is the nearest subway station within Line No2. The rating should be rated Excellent since the user location is near the Dongzhimen area. |
m™ (Jianguomen station) | Transit Intent | Jianguomen Station is another subway station within Line No2. However, since it is further from the user location, the rating of this station needs to be demoted to Good /Acceptable for distance. |
For queries such as real estate property/neighborhood with multiple buildings: if the query doesn’t specify a section/zone (M X ^/K) of the real estate property, any businesses within the real estate property can be rated from Good to Bad, depending on the prominence. The main building of the real estate property complex should be rated Navigational. Rate other sections/zones (M X ^/K) Excellent and each individual building within the real estate property gets Acceptable. Rate Bad for all government related agencies and offices.
Query | Result Title | Rating | Explanation |
(Yatai Garden) | 亚太世纪花园(Yatai century garden) | Navigational | Unique result matching user intent. |
亚太世纪花园II 第二 期(Yatai century garden II) | Excellent | Section within the real estate property complex | |
亚太世纪花园10号 楼(#10 Yatai century garden) | Acceptable | Individual building within the real estate property | |
亚太社区卡伦帝丹 (Yatai community kalundidan) | Bad | This result is a random business inside the real estate property and does not have a direct relationship with the property. |
Autocomplete and Maps Search generally share the same rating criteria. However, since queries in Autocomplete are incomplete, we need to be lenient and consider any possibility for the user’s intent which may match the incomplete query combined with prominence and given geo-information. Some additional examples to guide Autocomplete rating in China market are listed below:
(All results below are located near the query viewport/user location)
Query String | Query Suggestion /Results | Rating | Comments |
(fresh view port and user location are both in Chunhui Road/春 晖路 Wenjiang District/温江区 Chengdu City/成 都市Sichuan Province/四川省) | 锦里 (Jinli) | Excellent | 锦里/Jinli as same as Jinli Street is a national wide well-known POI/ historical commercial street. The prominence is very high and it matches the vague query. |
加油站 (Gas Station) | Excellent | The gas station is ubiquitous and useful suggestions; it’s always helpful regardless metropolitan or rural areas. | |
成都双流国际机场 (Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport) | Excellent /Good | This result’s initial Pinyin is not “j”. However, while switching from the user’s perspective, user might directly input the airport/机场 without the locality name since the essential intent is airport/机场. | |
吉普 (jeep) | Acceptable /Bad | Although this suggestion matches the query, there aren’t a lot of prominent jeep-related businesses in the locality. | |
(fresh view port and user location are both in Suzhou City/苏州市 Jiangsu Province/ 江苏省) | 中石化 (Sinopec) | Excellent | Sinopec is a famous chain gas station brand in China. The business is well spread all over China. Sinopec is almost equivalent to the gas station. |
Query String | Query Suggestion /Results | Rating | Comments |
Zara | Excellent /Good | Zara is a popular fashion chain business, and there is no official Chinese translation for the business. There are two Zara stores in Suzhou, the suggestion can be Excellent or Good since not every city owns Zara store; if there was no Zara store around the locality, this query suggestion should be rated Bad. | |
+^£@ (Zhongshan Park) | Acceptable /Bad | Although Zhongshan Parks are almost in every major city, there is not one in Suzhou City, the closer Zhongshan Parks are one in Shanghai and one in Wuxi. Both of them are far from the user, demote this suggestion by distance. | |
+«/^aw+« (Chinese Food) | Bad | Chinese food is never a good suggestion in the market of China. Chinese user would directly input food or restaurant without the word “Chinese”. | |
md (initials of McDonald in Chinese) (fresh view port and user location are covered Kulangsu/鼓浪屿 Xiamen City/厦门 市 Fujian Province/福建省) | «# (McDonald) This result is located near the result. | Excellent | It is an Excellent query suggestion since McDonald is a very popular fast food chain business, and the business density is very high in metropolitan areas. |
美迪美容美发会所 (fW^M) (Meidi Beauty and Hair Salon- Kulangsu Store) | Excellent/ Good | This business also well matched the query, and since it is within the fresh viewport, the rating can be Excellent or Good for less popularity. |
Query String | Query Suggestion /Results | Rating | Comments |
. 车 (vehicle) (fresh view port and user location are in Tianhe District /天河区 Guangzhou City / 广州市 Guangdong Province /广东省 | 车管所 (Vehicle Administration Office) | Excellent | It is a well-matched query suggestion, and the suggested entity is locally prominent. |
车陂–地铁站 Chepo Subway Station) | Excellent | It is a prominent subway station which name matches the query within the fresh viewport. | |
车友俱乐部 (Car club) | Acceptable/ Bad | The prominence of this business is low; while it still matches the query and is inside the fresh viewport, it can be rated up to Acceptable. | |
广州本田销售中心 (Guangzhou Honda Dealership) | Bad | Even though this result is related to the query, Chinese user usually won’t initially input the character “车/vehicle” for Honda dealership. | |
Sh (fresh view port and user location are around Nicheng Town/泥 城镇 Shanghai City/上海市) | 上海市 (Shanghai) | Excellent | A very prominent result while matching the query. |
上海站 (The Shanghai Railway Station) | Good | A prominent transit station (secondary intent of the same name city) while matching the query. | |
上海博物馆 (Shanghai Museum) | Good/ Acceptable | A fair prominent result while matching the query. | |
上海戏剧学院 (Shanghai Theatre Academy) | Good/ Acceptable | A fair prominent result while matching the query. | |
上海市人民政府 (Shanghai People’s Government) | Acceptable /Bad | Typically, Chinese user won’t look for local government with initial input starting with the locality name. Since the prominence is low and the result still matches the query; it can be rated Acceptable or Bad. |
上海站A1 出口 (The Shanghai Railway Station A1 Exit) | Bad | It is the secondary level of secondary intent. | |
尚美服装 (Shangmei Fashion Clothing) | Bad | Although it matches the query, the prominence is very low; the user unlikely need this result. |
Due to the high population and business density in China, it is hard to recognize a chain business without the branch name. Therefore, unlike Section 6.2 in the global MS guideline, business branch name is required in China market. If branch name is not included in the result business title/name, the name accuracy should be rated Partially Correct.
Use your best judgement when branch name is not identical to the correct name from your research. Rate Correct if result branch name is only missing the appellation like “店”(store/shop). Rate Partially Correct if result branch name is missing other components.
Result Title | Correct name | Rating | Explanation |
麦当劳 (McDonald’s) | 麦当劳(国贸店) (McDonald’s Guomao store) | Partially Correct | Result is missing branch name. |
迪卡侬(鄞州大道) Decathlon(Yinzho u Road) | 迪卡侬(鄞州大道店) Decathlon(Yinzhou Road Store) | Correct | Branch name only misses the appellation 店 (store/shop) |
国美电器(海港城 店) Guomei Appliance (Haigangcheng Store) | 国美电器(宁波鄞州海港 城店) Guomei Appliance (Ninbo Yinzhou Haigangcheng Store) | Partially Correct | Branch name misses宁波 鄞州 |
In China, certain streets and geographic features also function as POIs due to their prominence. E.g., 南京路/Nanjing Road, 西湖/Xihu Lake, 普陀山/Putuo Mountain, etc. For these cases, we need to pay attention to whether the classification indicates the result as a POI entity or Address entity as the name accuracy rating will be affected accordingly.
Result Title | Classification | N/A | Correct | Comments |
五台山 (Mt. Wutai) | 地名地址信息 (Locality and Address) | Mt. Wutai is a famous mountain in the province of Shanxi, since the classification of this result is address type, rate the name N/A. | ||
五台山 (Mt. Wutai) | 风景名胜 (Scenic Spot) | Mt. Wutai is also a sacred Buddhist site, and a famous POI, the classification of this result is scenic spot, rate the name Correct. | ||
南京路步行 街 (Nanjing Road Walkway) | 地名地址信息 (Locality and Address) | Nanjing Road Walkway is a famous commercial street in Shanghai, since the classification of this result is address type, rate the name N/A. | ||
南京路步行 街 (Nanjing Road Walkway) | 购物服务 (Shopping) | Nanjing Road Walkway is a famous commercial street in Shanghai, the classification of this result is shopping, rate the name Correct. |
Please refer to Sec 6. Appendix for the admin area types of each address feature.
5.2.Required Address Components
Below is a table of all mandatory/essential address components for each type of result in Maps Search (MS) and Autocomplete (AC).
Table Notes: | |
If Applicable | See section 7.1.2 Unit/Apt in Global MS Guidelines |
Features/POIs without Expected Address | See Global Guidelines |
Yes* | If the result is within the test locale the Country is optional. When the result is outside of the test locale the Country is mandatory. |
For all Chinese street addresses with street numbers, the number appellation of “号” is required after the street number and usually at the end of address. Correct address without “号” should be rated Correct with Formatting Issue.
Correct Address | Result Address | Address Accuracy | Comments |
浙江省温州市 瓯海区凤坊路 50号 | 浙江省温州市 瓯海区凤坊路 50 | Correct with Formatting Issue | Missing “号” |
In China, a formal Chinese address always presents each component with its administrative term. E.g., address 天津市河西区环湖中路6号 has市(city) and 区 (district) tagged to 天津 and 河西 respectively to indicate their administrative level. Although users may not be affected by missing administrative terms, missing administrative terms needs to be rated Incorrect – Country Specific Issue.
Correct Address | Result Address | Address Accuracy | Comments |
天津市河西区 环湖中路6号 | 天津 河西 环 湖中路6号 | Incorrect – Country Specific Issue | Missing administrative terms 市(city) and 区(district) |
For addresses in rural areas, although the tolerance is greater than standard, we still have to demote for those missing components when there are intermediate levels between neighbor components in actual result address. It’s a fact that Street exists in between County and Building. In that way, any address in format of County + Building will be Incorrect – Street Name due to missing Street.
Correct Address | Result Address | Address Accuracy | Comments |
中国重庆市巫 溪县520县道 鱼鳞社区133 号 | 中国重庆市巫 溪县鱼鳞社区 133号 | Incorrect – Street Name | Missing street of 520县道 |
The Elevation Profile will not be available for cycling routes in China. Lack of elevation profile should NOT be flagged as non-MNE.
Road Descriptions will not be displayed for cycling routes in China. Lack of road descriptions should NOT be flagged as non-MNE.
The global guidelines refer to dismount zones in several cases. In China, we do not currently display dismount zones for walkways, sidewalks, etc. These should NOT be flagged as non-MNE.
Exception: We do, however, support Dismount Zones for stairs. If a route should require a cyclist to dismount their bike to ascend or descend a set of stairs, but it is not displayed in the appropriate route step, then this should be flagged as Missing Dismount Zone (non-MNE).
Administrative Divisions of the People’s Republic of China
# | Vice-Prefecture level city and forest zone are in sub-locality level in administrative hierarchy, but in address component, please treat them as localities. Please see Sec 5 for details. |
## | Municipality is in above locality level in administrative hierarchy, but in address component, please treat it as locality. Please see Sec 5 for details. |