The chart below illustrates the relationship between address components within Taiwan, as well as their associated checkbox in the rating interface.
The table below outlines the expected address components for different result types in Taiwan. These rules apply to all Maps Evaluation tasks with some exceptions to Autocomplete.
Always ask yourself just how likely the user is expecting to see the given result in relation to the query string. For example, a result is not immediately relevant just because the result title contains strings from the query.
Query | Result | Rating and Explanation |
百貨公司 | 小北百貨 Show Ba | Bad – User intent issue |
Even though the result does have the words “百貨” (department store), Small North is more similar to a hardware/general merchandise store. It is quite clear that users are expecting results such as SOGO, making our result irrelevant. |
Query | Result | Rating and Explanation |
台北車站 Taipei Station | 台北車站 Taipei Main Station | Navigational |
This result is an exact match to this query and the wording of the query leads to a single result. Only rate this as a category search if: 1)A result that matches the query term exactly does not exist in the real world and 2)The query term had the preposition “M” (of), such as in “HibSWifi” (station(s) of Taipei) -or- a space to separate the location and POI, such as in “台北 車站” (station(s), Taipei) | ||
中山站 Zhongshan Station | Bad – User intent issue | |
All other results that are not Taipei Main Station do not meet user intent, even if they are within Taipei. | ||
台北的火車站 Train station(s) in Taipei | 台北車站 Taipei Main Station | Excellent |
All results within Taipei are equally relevant. | ||
松山車站 Songshan Station | Excellent | |
All results within Taipei are equally relevant. | ||
板橋站 Banqiao Station | Good – Distance/Prominence issue | |
Result is in New Taipei City. We only need to apply slight demotion as 1) there are only 4 possible results within Taipei and 2) this is the one of the closest results outside of Taipei. | ||
高雄 宜家 Kaohsiung’s IKEA | 宜家 高雄店 IKEA Kaohsiung Store | Navigational |
Rate Navigational as this is the only branch within Kaohsiung City. | ||
宜家 嘉義城市店 Carrefour Taichung Store | Good – Distance/Prominence issue | |
Result is in Chiayi City. We only need to apply slight demotion as 1) this is the next closest result to the one in Kaohsiung and 2) there are only a handful of branches within Taiwan. |
Query | Result | Rating and Explanation |
武愛街112巷 Ln. 112, Wuai St. | 900屏東縣屏東市武 愛街112號 Ln. 112, Wuai St., Pintung City, Pintung County 900 | Excellent |
武愛街112巷 (Ln. 112, Wuai St.) does not exist, but 武愛街112號 (No. 112, Wuai St.) does. User intent is most likely for 武愛街112號. We will accept the latter as the closest verified address (refer to global guideline: 10.3. Address does not exist, scenario #1). |
POI/Business Names | Accepted Variations |
附設幼稚園 (Attached kindergarten) | 附幼 |
國民小學 (Primary school) | 國小 |
高級中學 (High school) | 高中 |
中華郵政 (Chunghwa Post) | 郵局 (Post office) |
XXX有限公司 (XXX Ltd) | Ok to omit “有限公司” |
*this list is non-exhaustive and to be used as guidance
Correct Name | Result Name | Rating and Explanation |
Deer Nana Cafe | 鹿角咖啡 | Incorrect |
The result name is different from their commercial name(s) found in official sources. Business registry websites list “鹿角咖啡” as their registered business name, however we cannot accept it as it is different enough and almost unrecognisable to the average user. |
Stores often put descriptive terms, some simply used to detail their services/products, making it confusing to determine which parts are essential and which ones are not.
| Storefront Signs | Result Name | Rating | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Mr Chef | Correct | Even though this business name is in English, we can accept this variation because it is clearly seen on the sign and is one of the ways the business wishes to be identified. | |
雪腐 | Partially Correct | If the official business name uses foreign language/script, it is acceptable because that is how the business wants us to refer to it. In this example, the “Mr.” in “Mr. 雪腐” is considered an essential part of their business name. When missing, it is rather confusing but still recognisable. Another example would be “台湾大哥大”, where “湾” is in simplified Chinese. | ||
Mr Chef Mr. 雪腐 | Partially Correct | “Mr. Chef” is their Engilsh name and “Mr. 雪腐” is their Chinese name. It is unnecesary to return both variations. | ||
 | 台灣彩券 | Correct | There are several terms seen on their storefront signs: 台灣運彩, 台灣彩 券, 運動彩券, 公益彩券. Upon research, we can confirm that only 台灣運 彩 and 台灣彩券 are the acceptable names for such businesses as they are brand names. | |
公益彩券 | Partially Correct | Returning the category “運動彩券” or “公益彩卷” in place of the brand name is not ideal, but this hardly affects user experience as there are only a handful of brands authorized to sell lottery tickets. Another example would be returning “郵局” or “郵政代辦所” in place of the brand name “中華郵政“. For special cases like these, we can accept Partially Correct at most. | ||
^^^H | SYM | Partially Correct | This business name “源福車業行” must be returned, so that it is clear that they are an authorized reseller, as opposed to being a corporate office of SYM. | |
源福車業行 | Partially Correct | “SYM” is an essential component and must be returned, so that it is clear that they are an authorized reseller for SYM products, as oppposed to being a regular auto shop. | ||
As of Mar 3, 2020, Taiwan has moved from using the 3 + 2 postal code system to a 3 + 3 postal code system. However, the 3 + 2 version is still commonly used and accepted by the post office and many businesses have not made the switch either. For these reasons, we will continue to accept results displaying 3-digit, 3 + 2 digit, and 3 + 3 digit postal codes, as long as they can be verified as correct. This is regardless of what the business lists in their official address.
Official Address | Result Address | Rating and Explanation |
110台北市信義 區信義路五段七 號 | 11049台北市信義 區信義路五段七號 | Correct |
The postal code in the result address is different from the one listed in the business’ official address. However, as the 3 + 2 digit variation is still correct as per Chunghwa Post, we can still regard the given postal code as correct. |
Addresses in rural areas can be quite different so it is always important to exercise judgment when trying to determine the true nature of an address component. Both examples below are complete and accurate even with the absence of street names. When the sub-locality is incorrect/missing, rate Incorrect – Sub-Locality.
Postal Code | Country | Region/State | Locality | Sub-Locality | Street Number |
655 | 雲林縣 | 元長鄉 | 頂寮村 | 11號 | |
306 | 台灣 | 新竹縣 | 關西鎮 | 拱子溝 | 60號 |
Some streets do not follow the conventional format of [street name] + 路／街／大道／巷／弄. Rate normally as long as they are:
Examples | Explanation |
屏東縣三地門鄉賽嘉巷 Saijia Ln., Sandimen Township, Pintung County | Some lanes do not need to be a subset of a road/street/boulevard. |
二00林道 200 Forest Rd. | Identifiable/recognized by government approved sources. |
Depending on the placement of “之”, it can either be regarded as a street number extension (corresponding checkbox: Street Number) or a unit number (corresponding checkbox: Unit/Apt). Note that ”– ” is an alternate form of ”之”.
Correct address | Result address | Rating and Explanation |
251新北市淡水區學府路 45之1號2樓之3 | 251新北市淡水區學府路 45之2號2樓之3 | Incorrect – Street Number |
The first “之” is a street number extension as it follows a street number. | ||
251新北市淡水區學府路 45-1號2樓之4 | Incorrect – Unit/Apt | |
The second “之” is a unit number as it comes after a floor component. |
Counties (^) only contain (£M/^) and county-controlled cities (^). Special municipalities and provincial cities (^) only contain districts (^). This means that whenever there is a change in region level, all the localities within will be affected too.
Addresses that contain references to old regions/localities/streets should be rated Incorrect + corresponding checkbox.
Former Name | Current Name |
台北縣 (Taipei County) | 新北市 (New Taipei City) |
桃園縣 (Taoyuan County) | 桃園市 (Taoyuan City) |
台中縣 (Taichung County) | 台中市 (Taichung City) |
台南縣 (Tainan County) | 台南市 (Tainan City) |
高雄縣 (Kaohsiung County) | 高雄市 (Kaohsiung City) |
員林鎮 (Yuanlin Township) | 員林市 (Yuanlin City) |
Former Name | Current Name |
軍功路 (Jungong Rd.) | 和平東路四段 (Section 4, HePing East Rd.) |
中港路 (Zhonggang Rd.) 中棲路 (Zhongqi Rd.) | 臺灣大道 (Taiwan Blvd.) |
新興路 (Xinxing Rd.) 潭興路 (Tanxing Rd.) 光陽路 (Guangyang Rd.) 仁愛路 (Renai Rd.) 大新路 (Daxin Rd.) | 福潭路 (Futan Rd.) |
中清路 (Zhongqing Rd.) | 中清路二段 (Sec. 2, Zhongqing Rd.) |
*this list is non-exhaustive
Correct Address | Result Address | Rating and Explanation |
330 ^am^HB Taoyuan Dist., Taoyuan City 330 | 330 ^H«am Taoyuan City, Taoyuan County 330 | Incorrect – Region/State + Locality |
Taoyuan County (^H^) has been elevated and is now a special municipality called Taoyuan City (^H^). This means that the localities formerly labelled as county- controlled cities (^) are now districts (^). |
Below are some examples of strangely formatted addresses and how to rate them:
Result Address | Correct Address | Rating and Explanation |
403台灣台中市西區公益 路一段155巷號 | 403台灣台中市西區公益 路一段155巷 | Correct with Formatting Issue |
Even though the address can be interpreted as either having an additional “^” (no.) or missing street number, we will simply regard it as a formatting issue. This is the only issue present in the whole address. | ||
台灣台中市西區公益路一 段155巷號 | Incorrect – Postal Code + Other issue | |
There is more than one issue that needs to marked for. Postal Code is missing in the address (Postal Code), on top of having formatting issue due to the additional “^” (no.) (Other issue). | ||
美濃區 843台灣高雄市美濃鎮 | 843台灣高雄市美濃區 | Incorrect – Locality + Other issue |
The order of locality “美濃區” is incorrect as it should come after region “高雄市” (Other issue). “美濃區” and “美濃鎮” are essentially referring to the same thing, so we will regard the address as having duplicated address componnents. (Other issue). We will also need to flag for the incorrect locality “xl®” (Locality). | ||
802台灣高雄市高雄市民 權一路43號 | 802台灣高雄市苓雅區民 權一路43號 | Incorrect – Locality + Other issue |
We will regard the address as having duplicated address components “高雄市” (Other issue) and missing locality “苓雅 1” (Locality). |
When determining pin accuracy in Taiwan, always use satellite layer due to the lack of building contours in vector layer. The only exception is when the result is a geo feature (such as streets, lakes…).
Sometimes, it is not immediately obvious what a pin rating should be due to poor and/or lack of street and/or satellite imagery. However, it may be possible to deduce the rating based on identifiable clues in street and satellite imageries.
In the examples below, all street imageries are reproduced in U with our intended POI indicated by the ★ symbol.
3.5. How to Rate:
3.5.1. Foreign Language Results
Traditional and simplified Chinese are considered as different scripts of the same language. The Japanese have also adopted some Chinese characters into their writing system. If you do not have enough evidence to decide between one or the other, always assume it is in traditional Chinese. Always consider the query language and result region. Results should not be marked Result name/Title is in unexpected language or script or Incorrect – Language/Script issue just because they are not in traditional Chinese.
As in the case of characters such as 戶/户/戸 (unit), the differences can be minimal and almost indiscernible.
The table below shows some examples, with shared characters in blue:
*we will always accept 台 as a variant form of 臺
Addresses in rural areas can be quite difficult to verify due to the lack of resources/street imagery. Some-sub localities do not follow the conventional format of [locality name] + 里／村／鄰. Rate relevance and name accuracy normally and rate Can’t Verify for the address and pin accuracy (unless there is an obvious data issue such as a missing mandatory address component or a pin not in the correct locality).
Result | Rating and Explanation | |
112台北市北投區大屯里二崎 Erci, Datun Village, Beitun Dist., Taipei City 25.156246, 121.497865 | Name Accuracy | n/a |
Address Accuracy | Can’t Verify | |
Pin Accuracy | ||
It seems that “二崎” (Erci) is a smaller locality within sub-locality “大屯里” (Datun Village). Even though sources seem to suggest that the address is correct and the pin is dropped within at the correct location, we will rate Can’t Verify as long as it is not Wrong. | ||
112台北市北區大屯里二崎 Erci, Datun Village, North Dist., Taipei City 25.174006, 121.577063 | Name Accuracy | n/a |
Address Accuracy | Incorrect – Locality | |
Pin Accuracy | Wrong | |
In this result, we can see that the locality “北區” is Incorrect and should be “北投 區”. Furthermore, the pin is Wrong as it is not dropped within Beitou District. | ||
Taiwan is famous for its night markets (夜市), old streets (老街), and shopping districts (商圈).
Rate pin accuracy normally when the AOIs have physical structures/well-defined areas or have signs indicating their boundaries. Otherwise, rate pin Can’t Verify. Please see some examples below:
Result | Rating and Explanation |
士林市場 Shilin Market 
| Perfect |
Research confirms that the gray-coloured building is a roofed structure with a sign that says ‘Shilin Market’. Research confirms that our pin is dropped on a different roofed structure, but with a sign saying “B1 ^#^An” (B1 food court entrance). We can confirm that the food court belongs to the night market. | |
台南花園夜市 Garden Night Market 
| Perfect |
Research confirms that the night market is a carpark by day and night market on certain nights. Our pin is dropped within the correct carpark. | |
饒河夜市 Raohe St. Night Market 
| Perfect |
Research confirms that the night market occupies the entirety of Raohe St., and there are gate-like entrances that mark both ends of the street. Our pin is dropped within the defined boundaries (the street itself). | |
師大夜市 Shi Da Night Market | Can’t Verify |
Research confirms that there is no indication of the actual boundary of Shi Da Night Market. There is no physical structure containing the stores (such as the building of Shilin Market), not located within a well-defined area (such as the carpark of Garden Night Market), or has any signs indicating where it officially begins/ends (such as the gate-like entrances of Raohe St. Night Market). |
Sometimes, the result can still match user intent even though it does not match the start of the query string.
[Fresh viewport + result near queried location]
Query | Result | Rating and Explanation |
健 | 台北市大同區健康服務中心 | Excellent |
It is common to see users drop certain parts of a POI’s name when performing a search. This can include non-essential terms that indicate things such as the POI’s location or operating nature. Even though the string starts with “台”, we will consider this a match because “台北市大同區” is a location modifier and we managed to match “健” of “健康服務中心”. | ||
高 | 國立高雄大學 | Excellent |
Even though the string starts with “高”, we will consider this a match because “國立” indicates their operating nature and we managed to match “高”of “高雄大學”. | ||
中和環 | 燒肉眾/中和環球店 | Bad – User intent issue |
Even though the string matches the branch name, it is unlikely for a user to search for this particular business by typing the branch name first. We will not consider this a match. |
[Fresh viewport + result near queried location] | ||
Query | Result | Rating and Explanation |
市府路 Shifu Rd. |
台北市信義區市府路 Taipei City, Xinyi Dist., Shifu Rd. | Excellent |
It is common to see users drop certain address components when performing a search. Even though the string starts with “台”, we will consider this a match because we managed to return the correct street queried for, “市府路”. | ||
Taiwanese addresses are written from largest to smallest components, making it difficult to guess user intent when the string is incomplete. Please consider the following on top of the usual rules when rating address type results:
• Street result
o Width/length
o Nature (commercial/residential/arterial)
o Location (population density, amount of traffic)
[Fresh viewport + user near queried location] | ||
Query | Result | Rating and Explanation |
中山北路七段 Sec 7, Zhongshan N Rd. | 中山北路七段 Sec. 7, Zhongshan N Rd. | Excellent |
A particularly long commercial road in a bustling district. | ||
中山北路七段114巷 Ln. 114, Sec. 7, Zhongshan N Rd. | Good – Distance/Prominence issue | |
A particularly long residential road. It is likely to be user intent so harsh demotion is unnecessary. | ||
中山北路七段114巷60弄 Aly. 60, Ln. 114, Zhongshan N Rd. | Acceptable – Distance/Prominence issue | |
A particularly short residential road. It is less likely to be user intent and should be demoted. | ||
中山北路六段 Sec. 6, Zhongshan N Rd. | Bad – User intent issue | |
Result does not match given string. | ||
忠孝東路四段 Sec. 4, Zhongxiao E Rd. | 忠孝東路四段 Sec. 4, Zhongxiao E Rd. | Excellent |
A particularly long commercial road in a bustling district. | ||
忠孝東路四段216巷 Ln. 216, Sec. 4, Zhongxiao E Rd. | Excellent | |
A commercial road in a bustling district. It houses famous stores such as “東區粉圓” (Eastern District Tapioca). Harsh demotion is unnecessary even though it is only a lane. It is quite wide in width and almost like a regular road. | ||
忠孝東路四段216巷32弄 Aly. 32, Ln. 216, Sec. 4, Zhongxiao E Rd. | Good – Distance/Prominence issue | |
A commercial road in a bustling district. It houses famous stores such as “梅園牛肉麵食館” (Plum Orchard Beef Noodles). Harsh demotion is unnecessary even though it is only an alley. | ||
Zhuyin (or Bopomofo) is the most common input method used by Taiwanese users. In order to arrive at the desired Chinese character, users have to first type out the phonetic symbols (zhuyin) that make up the word. Because of this, it is highly possible to see Autocomplete queries containing zhuyin, simply because they are yet to be completed. When you come across queries like these, only results that match the given string should be considered a match. Note that you should also consider the intonation.
Query | Result | Rating and Explanation |
屈臣ㄕ | 屈臣氏 | Excellent |
The last Zhuyin character is missing an intonation. It is likely an incompletely query string and user is likely looking for the chain business 屈臣氏 (氏 is spelt as “ㄕˋ”). Our result is a good match considering the given string. | ||
全ㄐㄧㄚ | 全聯 | Bad – User intent issue |
Based on the string, user is likely looking for the chain business 全家 (“家” is spelt as “ㄐㄧㄚ”). Even though our result matches “全”of “全ㄐㄧㄚ”, it does not match the rest of the string. | ||
桃園ㄖㄨㄥ ˊ | 桃園市 | Bad – User intent issue |
Based on the given string, user is most likely looking for 桃園榮民醫院. Our result does not have any character after “桃園”that matches “ㄖㄨㄥˊ”」, so it will not be considered a match. | ||
ㄇㄉㄌ | 麥當勞 | Excellent |
It is very common for Taiwanese users to skip consonants when typing. In this example, “ㄇㄉㄌ” reads “m d l”. Even though it is very short and incomplete, it is quite obvious that user intent is for “麥當勞” (spelt as “ㄇㄞˋㄉㄤㄌㄠˊ, which reads “mài dāng láo”). |
There may also be times when we come across a result that actually has zhuyin in its name:
[Fresh viewport + user in Tainan City]
Query | Result | Rating and Explanation |
ㄈㄥ | 風神廟 | Excellent |
“風” is spelt as “ㄈㄥ”, so it can be considered as a match and rated Excellent since it is closer to fresh VP/user. | ||
ㄈㄥ之谷民宿 | Excellent | |
The result is located in Taitung City. Even though it is very far from Tainan City, we cannot rule out the possibility that it just might be user intent, especially when it is an exact match. Rate it Excellent even though there are results such as 風神廟 that are closer to fresh VP/user, as it is the closest result that matches the given string exactly. |
Result Type | Result Address | Usual Format | Rating and Explanation |
Address | 台中路 台中市東區 Taichung Rd. Taichung City, E Dist. | 台中市東區台中路 Taichung City, E Dist., Taichung Rd. | Correct |
The result is in an accepted format for Autocomplete. | |||
Business/ POI | 光華路6號, 沙鹿區 Guanghua Rd., No. 6, Shalu Dist. | 台中市沙鹿區光華路6號 Taichung City, Shalu Dist., Guanghua Rd., No. 6 | Incorrect – Region/State |
The result is in an accepted format for Autocomplete. It is important to note that region/state is a mandatory address component for Autocomplete business/POI results in Taiwan and should always be included. In this example, region 台中市 (Taichung City) is missing. |
3.7.1. Day-and-Time-Based Restrictions
It is very common to see day-and-time-based restrictions in Taiwan. You should base your answer on the day and expected time a user would arrive at the step based on information available
.
*this list is non-exhaustive
We will assume that user is driving a regular car by default, so most car type restriction should not affect our users.
It is illegal to cross/make a turn at double yellow/white lines.
You should make the turn before the painted barrier whenever one is present. When measuring the turn channel divider length, measure all the way from the beginning of the barrier to the end of the nonlane space. If the misaligned turn channel is a highway exit, measure to the point where the blue line represents the exit.
It is quite common to see narrow lanes/alleys in Taiwan.
Street imagery is available along the lane/alley | Action |
Yes | Travel along the lane/alley to find evidence of cars along the road |
No | Check street imagery near both ends of the lane/alley to find evidence of cars entering/exiting |