Locality Suggestions and Prominence Match (GLs section 8.1.4.)
It is important to remember that AutoComplete and Search tasks are rated differently. In AutoComplete the user is still typing the query, hence intent can still change and more than one suggestion can usually satisfy possible primary intent. When the query string starts with the name of locality it is still possible that the user is not looking for locality itself but a POI. The best example for illustrating differences between Search and AutoComplete tasks is the Cork City Library example in the GLs (section 8.1.4. AutoComplete and section 10.1. Search).
Example
Query: [Udine] user and fresh viewport located close to Città della Pieve
Location Intent: Explicitly stated in the query. User location and viewport location, even if fresh, should be ignored
Correct Relevance: Good/Acceptable
Explanation: As per section 8.1.4. Locality Suggestions and Prominence Match Cork City Library example, result is matching the query string but it is less prominent than locality itself. Therefore, it should be demoted for prominence to Good/Acceptable.
Spell Corrections (GLs section 4.1.5.)
The user query may be misspelled or contain parts that may have been entered incorrectly, and the suggestion corrects that issue. This type of match should only be used for obvious issues, when no suggestion for the actual query exists at the user location or when the user intent clearly is satisfied by the autocorrected suggestion.
It is important to do the research thoroughly in order to see what the most likely intent is. Absence of direct matches near user/viewport sometimes can indicate that the query is misspelled.
Example 1
Query: [villa amalfitano] viewport is fresh and user is located in near Palermo
Location Intent: User location within the viewport
Result: Via Amafitano-Monte Porcara Bagheria PA
Correct Relevance: Bad/Acceptable
Explanation: First, we need to establish what the most likely user intent is and then rate the suggestions accordingly.
Research shows that the most likely intent is Villa Malfitano in Palermo, a prominent POI and therefore the query suggestion is misspelled. Result suggestion is a street address Via Amalfitano- Monte Porcara in Bagheria, just outside of the fresh viewport and close to the user. It is not a direct match (query is for Villa and not Via) and not prominent.
Considering the possible interpretations, indubitably the query is misspelled and the most likely intent is a prominent nearby POI. Therefore, the address returned is demoted to Bad or at most Acceptable for relevance as per Gls section 4.1.5.
Query and category suggestions are rated by considering the user intent and the possible suggestions within the fresh viewport. A query suggestion needs to fulfill a specific purpose (intent) to be useful for the user therefore, it is not sufficient that it matches directly the query string.
Query: [viridea ca]
Location Intent: viewport is fresh and user is located within, near Brescia
Research shows that the intent is clearly for chain business Viridea and “ca” most likely stands for first letters of location modifier. Query suggestion matches both and the user is located in Castegnato BS however there are no Viridea stores within suggested locality. The most likely location intent is Castenedolo, where the closest matching result is located. Therefore, this suggestion receives relevance rating Bad.
Matching to the query string is the first step in the rating process and is the minimum requirement for a suggestion to be considered relevant. Once a match is confirmed, the relevance rating is rated
in terms of prominence and distance. If there is no match between the query and the suggestion, rate the suggestion Relevance as Bad.
Use the information provided to determine which suggestions could be considered primary,
secondary, or unlikely intent for each query string.
Tip: If you are unsure whether a suggestion would satisfy primary or secondary intent ask yourself:
Query: [marcello or] viewport is fresh and the user is located in Bologna.
Location Intent: Since no results that match the exact spelling exist, we should use user location to determine query intent.
Copy and paste user location coordinates into another map application and see which the closest suggestions for this query string are.
Research shows that the most likely primary intent is a street address Via Marcello Oretti in Bologna. Despite it is missing street classifier, it is the closest and most logical suggestion for this query string. Result for Via Marcello Oretti in Bologna is considered Excellent.
Result: Dalla Marcello, Bologna
Result suggestion contains part of the query string in the name but it doesn’t take the “or” into consideration. Since the user has made the effort to type it, we expect suggestions to address the “or” part. Therefore, the result for restaurant Dalla Marcello is not considered a match as per Gls section 4.1.1. – Bad.
Prominence vs Distance (GLs section 4.3.4.)
Once you’ve decided how relevant the suggestion is based on user intent, consider the suggestion in the context of all possible suggestions in the real world. Each suggestion is given a rating based on prominence and distance to the user or viewport. The table below shows how they interact: Far distance and low prominence receive low ratings, while prominent suggestions close to the user or viewport receive high ratings.
Distance Prominence | Close | Medium* | Far** |
High | Excellent | Good | Acceptable |
Medium | Excellent to Good | Good to Acceptable | Acceptable to Bad |
Low | Excellent to Acceptable | Good to Bad | Bad |
Medium distance away compared to similar prominent suggestion
** Far distance away compared to similar prominent suggestion
Query: [borg] viewport is fresh and user is within it of it, south west from Piacenza.
Location Intent: User location.
Result suggestion is post office in Borgarello locality, province of Pavia. At first it might seem the result for locality Borgarello given the name, but all the information in the result (classification, address, type, pin etc) point to POI post office. It is important to research the result and understand which entity it is referring to.
Given the user location near Piacenza, there is a much closer and more prominent result, Borgo Val Tidone and other related POIs. This result is both far and not prominent
enough to be considered relevant. Correct rating is Bad.
Query: [villa borghese] viewport is fresh and the user is inside of it, both in Rome.
Location Intent: User location.
Result #1 – Villa Borghese
Research shows that intent is most likely a very prominent park and area of interest, Villa Borghese in Rome.
This is the most logical primary intent for this query. Should receive relevance rating Excellent
Result #2 – Villa Borghese Srl
Query string is “Villa Borghese” and it is a complete query. Result suggestion is a business called Villa Borghese Srl in Nettuno locality, farther away from the user. It is referring to a much less prominent villa. Given its distance and prominence it is demoted to Acceptable/Bad.
Address query strings are rated according to the distance from the user or viewport. Judge the distance relative to all possible suggestions in the real world, even those that are not included in the suggestions.
Location Intent: Fresh viewport, user is outside.
Query: [via monte grappa] viewport is fresh and the user is outside of it, both close to Cervia.
Before rating relevance of Via Monte Grappa Ravenna, we need to research if there are closer real-world results near the fresh viewport. Research shows that there is a result with the fresh viewport in Cervia and others in Cesenatico, Cesena and Gambettola that TryRating didn’t include. Due to the high number of closer matches, this result is demoted to Acceptable/Bad. Be careful to check real world results before demoting others for distance.