Misspellings in the street name should be flagged as Incorrect. This includes minor misspellings, including missing hyphens or dots, as well as incorrect street directions and types.
Listed street name | Official street name | Rating |
Dr Joachim-Heer Strasse | Dr. Joachim-Heer-Strasse | Incorrect – Street Name |
Dr. Joachim Heer Strasse | Dr. Joachim-Heer-Strasse | Incorrect – Street Name |
Mattstetenstrasse | Mattstettenstrasse | Incorrect – Street Name |
Marktstrasse | Marktplatz | Incorrect – Street Name |
Marktpaltz | Marktplatz | Incorrect – Street Name |
Flüelistr | Flüelistr. | Incorrect – Street Name |
Most Common Mistakes in Categories
Approximate – Category is too specific .
When a category is accurate, but only partially fits the listing or only matches a specific aspect of the POI, we rate Approximate – Category is too specific, GL 8.1. Category Rating Options.
Example
Name: Müller
Address: Bitzistraße 2, 6370 Stans, Schweiz URL: https://www.mueller.ch/meine-filiale/ Category: shopping.toys
While the listed category appears on the product selection menu on the official website (Spielwaren), it only matches a specific aspect of the POI. Final rating: Approximate – Category is too specific.
Approximate – Category is too general
When a category is accurate, but overly broad, and there are other categories that are more specific to the POI, we rate Approximate – Category is too general, GL 8.1. Category Rating Options.
Example
Name: Alpin Cargo
Address: Bockbartstrasse 5, 3930 Visp, Schweiz
URL: https://www.alpincargo.ch/
Category: industry
The listed category appears fitting at first glance; however, researching the category list, we find a better match in industry.cargo. Final rating: Approximate – Category is too general.
For each category, the category reference list includes a description of the category. When deciding whether a listed category is accurate and the best possible fit, always refer to the description since the category name alone might be misleading in some cases.
The most common mistakes are related to observing the correct sequence of words in the POI name.
Example
Name: Cargo Alpin
Address: Bockbartstrasse 5, 3930 Visp, Schweiz
URL: https://www.alpincargo.ch/
Researching official sources, we are not able to find the returned name variant. All of the variants put Alpin first. However, users would still be able to recognize the POI by this name variant, GL 4.1.2. Partially Correct.
Name should be rated: Partially Correct.
In some cases, it can be difficult to find the listed name variant on official sources. Using a specific Google search argument can be helpful. For example, “Deluxxe Shisha” site:https://www.deluxxe-hannover.de/ finds all of the instances of Deluxxe Shisha on the specified website – or in this case, it doesn’t find the exact term.
It might also be that the search argument does find a name variant, but closer examination shows that the variant is only used in the meta description, but not on the actual page. Example: “getränke kessler” site:https://www.bierverlag-kessler.de/ finds the name variant. Checking the landing page, however, we can see that the variant is not used on the page, but only in the meta description
Name should be rated: Partially Correct.
Most Common Mistakes in Phone Number
Finding phone numbers on official sources might also be difficult in some cases. The search argument described above for name variants can also be helpful here. Even searching for parts of a phone number could prove successful, since phone numbers are often listed with blanks between segments. Looking for the last two or three digits of a number can retrieve a match. However, don’t spend too much time using this approach.
If we can’t find the listed phone number on official sources, we rate Can’t Verify. Please don’t rate Incorrect in such cases.
Most Common Mistakes in POI Validity
POI Validity – Third party address
The most common mistake observed in this component is mistaking the address of third parties listed on official websites, for example data protection representatives, legal counsellors, technical service providers, etc.
Example
Name: Pensionskasse Swiss Re
Address: Centralstrasse 8A, 6210 Sursee, Schweiz
URL: https://www.pensionskasse-swissre.ch/
The listed address belongs to the data protection representative of Swiss Re, not to the POI itself, which is located on Mythenquai 50/60, 8022 Zürich. There is no Swiss Re branch at the listed address. Consequently, we rate No – POI is closed.
Another common mistake is rating a POI as valid solely because it is listed on reliable sources or online map services. First, we need to determine if the POI has an official website or social media presence. If no official sources are found, we then look for user reviews on reliable platforms. If the reviews are mixed—some indicating that the POI is closed and others suggesting it is open—the correct validity rating for the POI is Can’t Verify. Similarly, if there are no reviews available and no recent street imagery for the location, the appropriate rating is also Can’t Verify.
This process is outlined in Section 3.2.2 of the Permanent Closure Research Workflow Diagram.
GL 10. Hours states that only official sources are allowed for hour ratings; however, we have seen ratings based on crowdsourcing review sites, competitor SERPs and third-party aggregators, including, but not limited to, Google map links, social media sites not claimed by the POI, etc. Please be sure to only use official sources when rating POI hours.
Analysts outside of the locale were sometimes unable to access the official sources due to international access restrictions, so they used unofficial sources instead. As a reminder, the GL (Appendix: Releasing a Survey) state that POIs with international access restrictions on official websites should be released under the “Other” option.