This POI Evaluation Common Mistakes document has been created especially for the Portugal market based on the most observed mistakes in the most recent POI Evaluations ratings.
The very first element to rate is the validity. Analysts tend to accept as valid two POI situations that are in fact invalid.
The first one is when a POI does not have a physical location. For instance, a contractor that has a registered address at their residence but does not operate out of that location. According to the GLs 3.1. service providers such as plumbers and handymen are usually considered No – Service Business out of a Home if they are registered to a residential address. If they are registered to a commercial address that they do not operate out of, a rating of No – No Physical Location would be preferred.
The other situation concerns the business owner who rents his private residence for a shortterm rental. We saw some analysts rating automatically “Valid” a POI that has a name similar to a formal Accommodation/B&B/Hostel place. The name appearing is often misleading and more in-depth research is necessary.
POI: Praça Velha II – Estúdio no Centro de Braga
URL:https://www.booking.com/hotel/pt/praca-velha-ii-estudio-no-centro-de-braga.pt-pt.html
Address: Largo da Praça Velha 19A, 2º Tras, 4700-439
Rating: Research shows that this exclusive accommodation is managed by a private host and is a single residence for short term vacation rental. Guidelines 3.0 and 3.1 stipulate that correct rating is No – Not a POI.
However, please remember that any apartment complex with a distinct name is considered a Valid POI (GL 3.1.1).
In the last POI Evaluation task reviews we observed that many analysts rate “Partially Correct” a name that is different than all official sources. Listed names that do not allow the user to identify the POI, since they are missing important words that characterize the business, should always be rated as “Incorrect”.
POI : Taberna
URL: https://www.tabernalondrina.com/locais/vila-real
Address: R. Madame Brouillard 17, 5000-573 Vila Real
Rating: Incorrect. Listed name is not recognized with certainty because it’s missing crucial
parts that prevent user from knowing what POI this listing refers to. Name of the POI is Taberna Londrina – Vila Real. Rate: Incorrect (GL 4.1.3).
There are other situations when the listed name includes holding names/corporates structures. When the business name on the website or on the storefront does not include the corporate status (Lda., S.A., etc.) rate Partially Correct.
POI : Casa Éteres – Drogaria, Lda
URL: https://www.racius.com/casa-eteres-drogaria-lda/
Address: Avenida Marechal Humberto Delgado, 124 4760-012 Vila Nova de Famalicão
Rating: Partially Correct. The addendum “Lda” refers to a company’s corporate structure that is not present in the storefront and should not be used for this particular POI. Per guidelines 4.1.2.3, the name can be recognized and the appropriate rating is Partially correct (Correct name is: Casa Éteres).
Important note: The best way to confirm name accuracy is through the POI’s official pages, as the correct name is the one the business/POI uses to describe itself. These names can be listed in different sections of the entity’s official website or official social media website(s): chain business locator page on the official website, About/About Us section on an entity official website, claimed social media pages or signs and storefronts seen on official sites or social media pages.
Other official sources to take into consideration while rating name accuracy are limited to:
signs and storefronts seen on recent street or online imagery or crowdsources review pages, recent articles in primary publications, or official restaurant menus (user photos or scanned images from restaurants).
Any other source that is not included above cannot be used as a reliable source to research a POI’s name.
In the last set of POI Evaluation results, analysts tend to accept an address as correct while forgetting to verify two aspects of the components.
Analysts often forget that the name title is important and is an integral part of the street name. If it is absent, street name is rated incorrect.
POI: Palácio dos Albuquerque
URL: http://www.monumentos.gov.pt/Site/APP_PagesUser/SIPA.aspx?id=3344
Address: Rua João IV, nº 37 a 45, 2200-406 Abrantes
Rating: Incorrect – Street name. According to the official website and CTT the result address has the wrong street name because the name title “Dom” is missing. Expected address is Rua Dom João IV, nº 37 a 45, 2200-406 Abrantes (GL 5.1).
Other situation that happens is that analysts tend to forget that when there’s a unit number in the official address and the same is missing in the listed address, accuracy must be rated Incorrect and unit/apt checkbox checked.
POI: Ericeira Surf & Skate
URL: https://ericeirasurfskate.pt/pt/pt/storepickup/index/index/
Address: Caminho de Santa Quitéria nº45, Madeira Shopping, Santo António 9024-501 Funchal
Phone: +351 261 860 900
Rating: Incorrect – Unit/Apt. According to the official website there’s a unit number for this address and it’s missing in the listed one. Correct unit nr is Loja 0.012 (GL 5.4).
Analysts tend to forget that the only valid sources to verify a phone number are official sources. If only unofficial sources are available and a phone number is listed in our listing, rating should be Can’t Verify (GL 6.1).
POI: Café Restaurante Ti Jacinta
URL: (blank)
Address:Várzea de Água nº28, 2600-621 Erra
Phone: +351 243 675 747
Rating: Can’t Verify. The POI does not have an official source; however, the unclaimed Restaurant Guru has a review dated from February 2024 making this a Valid POI: https://pt.restaurantguru.com/Cafe-Restaurante-Ti-Jacinta-Coruche/reviews. Even
though the phone number listed is the same of the unclaimed website, phone must be rated Can’t Verify because the source is considered unofficial per guidelines 6.0 and 6.1.
Important note: in case a POI has a location specific page where a phone number is not listed, but the parent website lists a general phone number (same for all the market’s locations), the same must be taken into consideration when rating phone accuracy.
URL
In some cases, a general URL is provided and some analysts miss to do research to verify that a more specific URL exists for the POI. When a location-specific page exists for a business at one specific location, the main page on the official website or the main page of the official’s website branch locator is rated Partially Correct.
POI Worten Setúbal Retail
URL: https://www.worten.pt/lojas-worten
Address: Estrada de Aljeruz, M542, 2910-752 Setúbal
Rating: Partially Correct. The URL navigates to the parent website but the POI has a specific website: https://www.worten.pt/lojas/worten-setubal-retail (GL 7.1).
In other cases, it happens that two POIs are located within the same locality and analysts miss to point out that the URL is for the incorrect POI.
POI: Lidl
URL: https://www.lidl.pt/s/pt-PT/pesquisadeloja/faro/rua-eng-nuno-abecassis-1/ Address:
Rua Bom João, 8000-232 Faro
Pin: 37.013536, -7.918962
Rating: Incorrect URL. Name, address, and PIN listed are for the Lidl in Barcelos, but the URL in the listing is not for the same Lidl at Faro. Correct URL should be https://www.lidl.pt/s/pt-PT/pesquisadeloja/faro/bom-jo%C3%A3o-1/ (GL 7.1).
Another situation that happens often is that analysts tend to rate listed third-party pages as correct when they should not be considered as official URLs. A webpage owned, maintained, by the business/government/POI is considered the official website (GL 7.2).
POI: O Mundo da Fruta
URL: https://pt.locale.online/o-mundo-da-fruta-1832532497.html
Address: Rua Pinheiro das Sete Cruzes n 1149 4505-007 Argoncilhe
Phone: +351227444226
Rating: Incorrect. Listed URL is a business directory website that is not actively owned or updated by the POI and does not count as a correct URL according to GL, section 7.3. Correct URL for the business is https://www.facebook.com/omundodafruta/.
Many analysts miss to rate Incorrect a category misleading the business activity. Sometimes the activity can be similar but is in fact quite different as livraria and papelaria, drogaria and farmácia, hotel and hostel.
In other cases, analysts miss the most dominant aspect of the POI and rate the category as Correct instead of Approximate – too general. A deep search is very beneficial to see if a more specific category exists.
POI: Six Senses Douro Valley
URL: https://www.sixsenses.com/pt/hotels-resorts/europe/portugal/douro-valley/
Phone: +351 254 660 600
Category: travel and leisure ➞ travel accommodation ➞ hotel
Rating: Approximate – Category is too general. This hotel is a luxury 5-star hotel. Best
category is: travel and leisure ➞ travel accommodation ➞ hotel ➞ luxury hotel (GL 8.1).
Another situation happens when analysts rate Approximate a category that seems to fit an aspect of the POI at a first look. However, further research in the POI’s official sources and the Category Reference List indicates that the listed category does not represent any aspects of the POI and a better fit can be found – one that represents the dominant identity of the POI (GL 8.2).
POI: Mindform – Formação Profissional
URL: https://www.facebook.com/p/MindForm-Forma%C3%A7%C3%A3o-Profissional- 61553980325009
Address: Rua Hermenegildo Capelo nº2 R/C Dto 2410-108 Leiria
Phone: +351 912 270 501
Category: civil service ➞ educational institution ➞ school
Rating: Incorrect – According to the Category Reference List, listed category describes an institution specialized in the general education of children, typically from kindergarten up to high school. Research reveals that this POI is not a school in that sense, instead, it’s an establishment specialized in specific training courses for adults.
Correct category should be civil service ➞ educational institution ➞ adult education school. Category does not accurately describe the identity of the POI and should be rated as Incorrect, per GL Section 8.1.
Another point that should be considered is that better fit categories can exist outside of the most specific category of the list. Sometimes the listed category is too specific or only matches one of the aspects of the POI (GL.8.1).
Example
POI: Bershka
URL: https://www.bershka.com/pt
Address: Rua General Humberto Delgado, 207-211, 3030-327 Coimbra
Phone: +351 239 724 375
Category: shopping ➞ store ➞ clothing store ➞ womens clothing store
Rating: Approximate – Category is too specific. Bershka is a clothing retailer that sells women and men’s clothing and fashion items. While the store sells women clothes the listed category is too specific and does not match the main identity of the POI. After research in the Category Reference List, the best fit category is shown to be shopping ➞ store ➞ clothing store.
When deciding between the generosity of the standard and satellite views for Pin rating, use only the standard/satellite views provided in the Rating Tool (GL 9.2.2).
Many analysts tend to copy and paste the Pin coordinates in a web mapping platform as Google Map and then only use the web mapping platform as the main reference to determine the Pin instead of using the Pin location in TryRating. Locating the Pin in Google Map mainly helps to view the street imagery environment and to give a hint to the final rating based on TryRating location.
POI: Da Noi
URL: https://www.danoilisboa.com/
Address: Rua Machadinho 44, 1200-761 Lisboa
Pin: 38.708878, -9.156234
Correct rating: Wrong. Pin falls outside of the property boundaries. Next Door rating does not apply, as the buildings’ addresses are not on the same street. GL 9.1.
Only official sources should be used to verify the hours. Do not use information from unofficial social media pages, claimed or unclaimed crowdsources user review sites as TripAdvisor, or online street imagery. These are not considered reliable sources for verifying POI hours (GL 10.0).
POI: Taberna dos Fernandes
URL: https://www.tripadvisor.pt/Restaurant_Review-g189180-d26193740-Reviews-
Taberna_dos_Fernandes-Porto_Porto_District_Northern_Portugal.html
Address: Rua da Fonte Taurina 70, Porto 4050-553 Portugal
Hours: Sunday: 12:30 – 14:30;19:00 – 21:30
Monday: 12:30 – 14:30;19:00 – 21:30
Tuesday: closed
Wednesday: closed
Thursday: 12:30 – 14:30;19:00 – 21:30
Friday: 12:30 – 14:30;19:00 – 21:30
Saturday: 12:30 – 14:30;19:00 – 21:30
Rating: Can’t Verify. The TripAdvisor website, even claimed, should never be used to verify the hours. Further research indicates that there’s no official site for the POI. According to GL 10.1.1.3 If it’s not possible to, based on available evidence from official sources, to verify a business’s hours, then the POI hours should be rated Can’t Verify.
In other cases, analysts seem to lack a deeper understanding of the cases when there are no listed hours for the POI. In these cases, if research indicates that the POI does have listed hours in official sites the rating of Missing should be applied. GL 10.1; GL 10.1.3
POI: Restaurante Lombardo
URL: https://www.instagram.com/restaurante_lombardo/
Address: Largo de Severim de Faria 1, 7000-528 Évora
Hours: (not listed)
Rating: Missing. Listed official social media page does not, in fact, present POI hours. However, further research indicates that there’s an official site for the POI and that one does present working hours (https://lombardoevora.pt/contate-nos/). Since official hours are listed in official source, the correct rating is Missing – GL 10.1.
A point that should also be considered is that pages with eatbu.com extensions should be used as official sources only when no other official pages are available (official website or social media), and it is clear that the business uses the Eatbu page as their official website – such cases are rare. “Eatbu” pages do not usually provide updating date or any information that confirms the maintaining of the page. For that reason, the preference should be always given to the above-mentioned official sites, when available.
POI: Malandro do Marquês
URL: https://malandrodomarques.eatbu.com/
Address: Rua do Instituto Industrial 7H, 1200-225 Lisboa, Portugal
Hours:
Sunday: closed
Monday: closed
Tuesday: 12:00 – 15:30; 19:30 – 23:00
Wednesday: 12:00 – 15:30
Thursday: 12:00 – 15:30; 19:30 – 23:00
Friday: 12:00 – 15:30; 19:30 – 02:00
Saturday: 19:00-00:00
Rating: Incorrect. Listed hours are the same that are presented in the listed URL. Still, further research indicates that an updated social media page exists for the POI (https://www.facebook.com/MalandrodoMarques). As mentioned, “Eatbu” pages could be used as official sources only when no other official pages are available. In this case there’s a Facebook page and the hours presented there differ from the listed ones. For that reason, and using the most credible official source, hours should be stated as Incorrect. GL 10.1
Some websites are not available in all locales. If you are blocked from accessing an official website, due to an international access restriction, please do not use an unofficial source to verify the POI data, instead you should release the survey, select Other as the reason for releasing the survey and add the following note to the release comments field: International Access Restriction.
Do not use this option for other types of access restrictions, including, but not limited to: