The purpose of this document is to provide guidance for Search and Autocomplete (AC) rating within the French market. These guidelines are to be considered supplemental to the Global Search and AC Guidelines.
The table below shows the required address components for different result types for both Maps Search (MS) and Autocomplete (AC).
Essential Address Component? | Address Components | ||||||||
POI Name | Street # | Unit # | Street Name | Locality | State / Region | Postal Code | Country | ||
Result | Business / POI | Yes | Yes | If applicable | Yes | Yes | No | MS: Yes | Optional* |
AC: No | |||||||||
Full Address | n/a | Yes | If applicable | Yes | Yes | No | MS: Yes | Optional* | |
AC: No | |||||||||
Street | n/a | Yes | Yes | No | MS: Yes | Optional* | |||
AC: No | |||||||||
Sub-Locality ((Quartier, Arrondisse- ment) | n/a | Yes | Yes | No | Optional | Optional* | |||
Types | Locality | n/a | Yes | No | No | Optional* | |||
Postal Code | n/a | Yes | No | Yes | Optional* | ||||
Above- Locality (Région / Département) | n/a | Yes | No | Optional* | |||||
Country | n/a | Yes | |||||||
* The country is often a “nice to have” piece of information, but should always be included when the result is located in another country other than the test locale.
SEARCH | ||
User Query | Result | Rating & Description |
[pâris] User & Fresh Viewport over Paris, France | Paris Paris, France | The result corrects the misspelled character in the query. There is no better result in real world. Rate Relevance: Navigational. |
[besancon] User & Fresh Viewport over Paris, France | Besançon Besançon, France | The result corrects the misspelled character in the query. There is no better result in real world. Rate Relevance: Navigational. |
User Query | Result | Rating & Description |
[íle et vilène] User & Fresh Viewport over Paris, France | Ille-et-Vilaine Ille-et-Vilaine, France | The user has misspelled the name of the department (Département) but the result is a phonetic match. No other real-world results exist that would match the query, as typed. Returned result is spell-corrected. Rate Relevance: Navigational. |
[Aniaire sur sène] | Asnières-sur-Seine Asnières-sur-Seine France | The user has misspelled the name of the locality but the result is a phonetic match. No other real world results exist that would match the query, as typed. Returned result is spell-corrected. Rate Relevance: Navigational. |
User Query | Result | Rating & Description |
[rue abbe] Fresh Viewport over Paris, France, no User location | Rue de l’Abbé-Groult 75015 Paris France | Result is the closest match to query (within fresh viewport). Rate Relevance: Excellent. |
Rue du Bourg-l’Abbé 75003 Paris France | Considering query structure, street name, as well as other possible results within fresh viewport, we would consider this result as secondary intent. Rate Relevance: Good + User Intent issue. | |
[rue belleville] Fresh Viewport over Paris, France, no User location | Rue de Belleville 75019 Paris France | The street returned here is the only possible result matching the query within fresh viewport. The missing preposition in the query can be ignored. Rate Relevance: Navigational. |
User Query | Result | Rating & Description |
[grande armee] | Avenue de la Grande Armee 75017 Paris France | Official street name is “Avenue de la Grande Armée”. Result is missing diacritic (accent aigu). Rating should be Address Accuracy: Correct with formatting issue. |
[avenue iena] | Avenue d’Iêna 75116 Paris France | Official street name is “Avenue d’Iéna”. Result returns incorrect diacritic (accent circonflexe instead of accent aigu). Rating should be Address Accuracy: Correct with formatting issue. |
[Musee Orsay] | Musèe d’Orsay 1 Rue de la Légion dHonneur 75007 Paris France | Official POI name is “Musée dOrsay”. Result returns incorrect diacritic (accent grave instead of accent aigu). Rating should be Name Accuracy: Partially Correct. |
[etat de new york] | Etat de New York États-Unis | Official name is “État de New York Result is missing diacritic (missing accent aigu). Rating should be Address Accuracy: Correct with formatting issue. |
[père lachaise] | Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise 16 rue du Repos 75020 Paris France | Official POI name is “Cimetière du Père Lachaise”. Result is missing 2 diacritics. Rating should be Name Accuracy: Partially Correct. |
[Tabac Biarritz] | Soubelet Dominique 28 Avenue du President J F Kennedy 64200 Biarritz France | The word « President » is missing a diacritic (« Président»). Even if the street imagery and/or business registry are missing the diacritic, please use the official orthograph rules. Rating should be Address Accuracy: Correct with formatting issue. |
User Query | Result | Rating & Description |
[jeanne arc] | Rue Jeanne D’Arc 75013 Paris France | The correct spelling is « Rue Jeanne d’Arc ». The preposition should be in lowercase. The Rating should be Address Accuracy: Correct with formatting issue. |
[Boulangerie plateau] | Boulangerie Du Plateau 153 Bd Henri Barbusse 78500 Sartrouville France | The street imagery shows that the store front name uses the lowercase “de” as in “Boulangerie du Plateau”. Therefore the rating should be Name Accuracy: Partially Correct. |
2.6 Particular case: Zone Commerciale (ZAC, ZAE, ZA, ZI, CC, etc.)
In some cases, POIs use addresses that are less specific than the one we return.
Result Address | Oficial Address | Rating and Description |
McDonald’s Avenue W.A. Mozart 78260 Achères France | McDonald’s ZAC du chemin neuf Avenue W.A. Mozart 78260 Achères France | The missing component “ZAC du chemin neuf, does not alter the way we rate this address, as our result indicates correct street. Rating should be Address Accuracy: Correct. |
JouéClub! 70 Bis Rue des Salins 25300 Pontarlier | JouéClub! 70 Bis Rue des Salins Zone des Grands Planchants 25300 Pontarlier | The missing component “Zone des Grands Planchants” does not alter the way we rate this address, as our result indicates correct street. Rating should be Address Accuracy: Correct. |
Leader Price 09000 Foix | Leader Price Z.I. Labarre 09000 Foix | “Z.I. Labarre” is the only Street Name component present in the official address of this POI. We only return locality and postal code. Rating should be Address Accuracy: Incorrect – Street Name. |
For instance, a POI could only indicate a street, a roundabout, or an intersection (i.e. corner) as its official address. For these POIs, we sometimes return a more specific address comprised of a Street Number and a Street. If through further research we are able to verify that the street number belongs to the POI then we should rate this address as Correct.
This only applies to full addresses that we can verify through official resources (e.g. Land Registry) and/or recent street imagery, and that match the parcel/property where the POI is located.
Result Address | Official POI Address | Rating and Description |
McDonald’s 12 Rue Gustave Serrurier 76620 Le Havre France | McDonald’s Rue Gustave Serrurier 76620 Le Havre France | Official address only includes name of street where POI is located. Returned address includes Street Number + Street name. In this case, the address we return is more precise than the official address, and we are able to verify it through official resources (i.e. Land registry). The address we return matches the parcel where the POI is located. Rating should be Address Accuracy: Correct |
McDonald’s 8 Route de Jonage 69150 Décines- Charpieu France | McDonald’s Angle Avenue Jean Jaurès et Route de Jonage 69150 Décines- Charpieu France | Official address of this POI is an intersection of two streets. We return a full address (Street Number + Street Name), which we are able to verify through official resources (i.e. Land registry). The address we return matches the parcel where the POI is located. Rating should be Address Accuracy: Correct |
McDonald’s Route de Jonage 69150 Décines- Charpieu France | McDonald’s Angle Avenue Jean Jaurès et Route de Jonage 69150 Décines- Charpieu France | Official address of this POI is an intersection of two streets. We return one of these two streets. Even though the street we return is part of the official address, it is not a full address and is therefore less precise than the official address. Demotion is required. Rating should be Address Accuracy: Incorrect – Country Specific Issue |
There are 2 types of Postal Codes in France. Both use a 5-digit formats:
address or a personal address). It originally derived from the entity’s geographical location.
Distribution EXceptionnelle” which in English roughly translates to “Express Mail Service for Bulk Users”. The main purpose of CEDEX Postal Codes is to facilitate mail collection and distribution for large public (administrations) and private (businesses) entities. CEDEX postal codes can be identified because the word CEDEX (followed by up to 2 digits) is appended after a 5-digit number and city.
For rating purposes in Search, within the French market, returned results must indicate Traditional Postal Codes, and not CEDEX postal codes. This is because CEDEX postal codes are largely irrelevant for navigation purposes.
Official websites for POI’s (businesses or public entities) often times indicate CEDEX Postal Codes in their official addresses. For these cases, all other relevant official sources should be investigated in order to verify which traditional Postal Code is applicable.
Query | Result | Relevance Rating |
[La Poste Siège Social] Fresh Viewport over City of Paris — User location missing | La Poste 44 Boulevard de Vaugirard 75757 Paris CEDEX 15 France | Result indicates CEDEX Postal Code instead of Traditional Postal Code. Official resources allow us to obtain traditional postal code for this entity. Rate Address Accuracy: Incorrect – Postal Code. |
La Poste 44 Boulevard de Vaugirard 75015 Paris France | Result indicates traditional postal code, which matches geographical location of entity user is looking for. Rating should be Address Accuracy: Correct. |
In France there are some categories of businesses (Bureau de Tabac, Pharmacie, Boulangerie/Pâtisserie) that are frequently independently-owned. For these types of businesses, returned names can sometimes vary. We should be returning the official storefront name of the POI (known as nom commercial or enseigne in France). There are, however, cases where some of these businesses do not have an official storefront name: This means that they have not registered a name by which they want their store to be known by. For these specific cases, we will accept the name of the category as the name of the POI.
Banette 49 Cours Gambetta 69003 Lyon France | Pascal et Sylvie Delbecque Artisan Boulanger 49 Cours Gambetta 69003 Lyon France | We return the name of an associated brand (Banette) for this Bakery. After some research, we find out that Banette is the brand/company that provides raw materials and baking recipes. This bakery is not a franchise. Therefore, rating should be Name Accuracy: Incorrect. |
Banette L’Atelier des Délices 8 Rue Victor Fort 69004 Lyon France | L’Atelier des Délices 8 Rue Victor Fort 69004 Lyon France | For this bakery, we return the name of an associated brand (Banette) alongside official name. After some research, we find out that Banette is the brand/company that provides raw materials and recipes to the bakery. This bakery is not a franchise. Since official name is also present in returned name, no need to demote for additional information (Banette), as it is not misleading. Therefore, rating should be Name Accuracy: Correct. |
Pharmacie 22 Boulevard Joseph Vallier 38000 Grenoble France | Pharmacie des Eaux Claires 22 Boulevard Joseph Vallier 38000 Grenoble France | We return the name of the category for this Pharmacy, instead of the official name. Since we can verify the official name of this POI, rating should be Name Accuracy: Incorrect. |
Catherine Marcelle 27 Boulevard Georges Clemenceau 38000 Grenoble France | Tabac Presse Le Reinitas 27 Boulevard Georges Clemenceau 38000 Grenoble France | We return the name of the owner/manager of this tobacco store. After doing some research, we find out that official storefront name of this shop is Le Reinitas. Therefore, rating should be Name Accuracy: Incorrect. |
Tabac 4 Boulevard de la Valbarelle 13011 Marseille France | SNC Attal 4 Boulevard de la Valbarelle 13011 Marseille France | We return the name of the category for this tobacco store. After doing some research, it appears this business does not have an official storefront name. We can only find the name under which the business is legally registered. Therefore, rating should be Name Accuracy: Correct. |
Insurance agents (e.g.: Agent général d’assurance) work independently from the insurance company they represent and for these types of businesses, returned names can vary. For these types of results we will accept (no demotion required) either the official storefront name of the POI (that is, the name of the insurance company that the agent is affiliated with), the name of the insurance agent, or a combination of both.
Result Name | Official Name | Rating and Description |
Jules Julian 5 Rue des Prêtres 31000 Toulouse France | AXA Assurance Julian de Vernon Gilot 5 Rue des Prêtres 31000 Toulouse France | We return the name of the insurance agent without the brand (insurance company) he represents. We are able to verify this insurance agent through business registry. Therefore rating should be Name Accuracy: Correct. |
AXA Assurance Julian de Vernon Gilot 5 Rue des Prêtres 31000 Toulouse France | We return the name of the insurance company the insurance agent represents. This agent can be verified through the insurance company Axa’s official website. Therefore, rating should be Name Accuracy: Correct. |
2.10 Alternate/Colloquial road names
Result Address | Correct Address | Rating and Description |
Autoroute du soleil 77760 Ury France | Autoroute du Soleil A6 77760 Ury France | Alphanumeric name (A6) is missing in result. Therefore, rating should be Address Accuracy: Incorrect – Street Name. |
Aire de Montélimar Autoroute du Soleil 26780 Allan France | Aire de Montélimar Autoroute du Soleil – A7 26780 Allan France | Alphanumeric name (A7) is missing in result. Therefore, rating should be Address Accuracy: Incorrect – Street Name. |
La Francilienne 95560 Baillet-en- France | La Francilienne N104 95560 Baillet-en-France | Alphanumeric name for this “Roule Nationale” (N104) is missing in result. Therefore, rating should be Address Accuracy: Incorrect – Street |
France | France | Name. |
N410 93200 Saint-Denis | Boulevard Anatole France 93200 Saint-Denis France | We return alphanumeric name (N410) of a “ Route Nationale”. This section of N410 is located within the boundaries of the city of Saint-Denis, where it is named “BoulevardAnatole France”. We should return traditional name and exclude alphanumeric name. In this case, rating should be Address Accuracy: Incorrect – Street Name. |
2.11 Specific street numbers (Bis, Ter, Quater, etc.)
2.12 Street Type
User Query | Result | Rating and Description |
[credit agricole 135 bis rue ordener Paris] | Crédit Agricole 135 Rue Ordener 75018 Paris France | “135 Bis Rue Ordener” is the official address of this POI. It is a valid and unique address. Returned address should therefore be rated Address Accuracy: Incorrect – Street Number (with Relevance : Navigational). |
26 rue Kléber 93100 Montreuil France | “26 Bis rue Kléber” is a valid and unique address. Therefore, returned result should be rated Relevance: Bad + User Intent. If returned address exists, it should be rated Address Accuracy: Correct. |
User Query | Result | Rating & Description |
[avenue de la pompe] User & Fresh Viewport over Tour Eiffel, Paris | Rue de La Pompe 75116 Paris France | The result is inside the fresh viewport – the street type in the result differs from the one in the query, but it is the best possible result as “Avenue de la Pompe” does not exist in the area of expected results. Rate Relevance: Excellent. |
[quai branly] User & Fresh Viewport over Tour Eiffel, Paris | Quai Branly 75007 Paris France | User entered a less common street type in the query and the result here is the best possible match. Rate Relevance: Navigational. |
Rue Branly 92700 Colombes France | One perfect match exists within close proximity to user location (“ Quai Branly ”). Also, returned street type does not match the one in query. Rate Relevance: Bad. | |
[quai bellevue] Fresh Viewport in Toulouse, France, no User location | Quai Bellevue 11000 Carcassonne France | Although it is not located within fresh Viewport, this suggestion is the closest and best possible match. Rate Relevance: Excellent. |
Avenue Bellevue 31500 Toulouse France | Although returned result is located within fresh Viewport, there is one nearby result that better fulfills user intent. Since street type in query is less common, we assume user is certain of street type. Rate Relevance: Bad + User intent. |
All of the instructions stated in section 3 of this document (Search) apply when rating in Autocomplete mode.
Since the query string is usually shorter in AC than it is in Search, diacritics and special characters should get special attention when evaluating results. If a user types a special character/diacritic, we assume he is expecting a result that includes it.
| Query St | Result / Suggestion | Rating & Description |
[pâ] User & Fresh Viewport over Paris, France | Paris Paris, France | Suggested result disregards special character in query. Relevant results that include special character exist in real word. Returned result is therefore irrelevant. Rate Relevance: Bad. |
Pâtisserie | Category suggestion takes into account the special character present in query. Likely primary intent. Rate Relevance: Excellent. | |
[rue de l’a] User & Fresh Viewport over Paris, France | Rue de l’Arrivée Paris, France | Suggested result takes into account the apostrophe in query string. Numerous results exist in real world. This is a perfect match, somewhat prominent. Rate Relevance: Excellent. |
Rue de Lappe Paris, France | Suggested result disregards apostrophe in query string. Relevant results that include apostrophe exist in real world. Returned result is therefore irrelevant. Rate Relevance: Bad. |
There are several other languages spoken in France besides French, which is the official language. These are called regional languages (langues régionales), and include -but are not limited to: Breton, Basque, Occitan, Corse, Catalan, etc.
Queries in regional languages are expected. However, results (whether they are addresses or POI’s) should be returned as their official names in French, when available.
Query | Result | Rating and Description |
[Alaer] | Allaire 56350 Allaire France | The query is in a regional language (Breton). We return the official locality name. Result should be rated Address Accuracy: Correct. |
[rue de saint- brieuc, rennes] | Straed Sant-Brieg 35000 Rennes France | The query is in French; we return street name in regional language (Breton). Result should be rated Address Accuracy: Correct with formatting Issue. |
[straed sant- brieg, roahzon] | Rue de Saint- Brieuc 35000 Rennes France | The query is in regional language (Breton). We return exact match, in French. Result should be rated Address Accuracy: Correct. |