We currently use MelissaData to scrub our addresses. We have been pretty unhappy with the product and the support in general (considering how expensive they are). Can anyone recommend a good replacement? We want a product that we can download the database and don't want to use any web service type of calls to do the address scrubbing.
In order to have a complete address database, you will need to get it from the source, which in the United States is the US Postal Service. Once you have their data, you will need to parse it into a format that is usable. This is not a simple task since the USPS stores the data in their own proprietary format and the documentation is often "less than helpful". It literally can take years to refine your algorithms to handle all of the wacko edge cases that street addresses have. However, that would allow you to keep the data local instead of calling a webservice. You will need to license from the USPS their ZIP+4 data, and then be prepared to integrate new date each month as it is released. If you are going to scrub your addresses for mailing with the intention of obtaining mailing discounts, you will also need to go through the process of becoming CASS-Certified by the USPS. (This is not a task for the faint of heart, and not a quick process--As I mentioned earlier, it can take years to perfect.)
If your core operations are address verification, it is probably worth it go down that road since the time you spend developing your custom application will support your business. However, if you are not in the address verification business and would prefer to do other things rather than jumping through USPS certification and maintenance hoops, I recommend finding an address verification provider whose workflow will integrate nicely with your requirements. This will allow you to focus on what you do best instead of trying to reinvent the wheel.
In the interest of full disclosure, I am the founder of SmartyStreets. We provide street address verification.
A good replacement is CODE1 from the postal division of the USPS.
CODE1 will have to be installed on the SQL server - something that has to be considered when using this.
Also, to update the db it needs to run a DTSx package nightly, weekly or quarterly depending on how often you wish to update the addresses.
I would recommend trying ZP4 from www.SemaphoreCorp.com. The product and web site have an older look to them, but they've been doing this for years, and it's only $99 for a disc. No, I don't work for them or get any compensation, but I work for GreatData.com (we sell primarily 5-digit ZIP Code products) and have recommended them to lots of clients over the years and haven't heard any complaints.
Related
There are a number of free finance tracking sites out there like mint.com, wesabe.com etc.. .
I've tried all of them and all seem to miss the mark in one way or another. I'm interested in creating my own website, or possibly just a stand alone windows program for tracking my finances in ASP.NET or C#.NET.
I'm assuming the answer is no, but is there any way that a personal developer can download transactions from financial websites like these? I know once you login to most financial sites you can download a CSV or Quicken file. Yet I really like how I can log-in to my Mint.com account and update all my accounts with one click.
Popular applications (like Quicken) and most major US banks support Open Financial Exchange (OFX). If a bank can connect to Quicken, it probably supports OFX (though not guaranteed).
I doubt very many banks have public APIs for this. More likely than not, you will need to send HTTPS requests to the various banking websites, and you will probably have to have custom code for each bank that you wish to support, tailored to the structure of their websites and their form elements.
I'm going to try to phrase this as a generic question.
A company runs a website that has a lot of valuable information on it. This information is queried from an internal private database. So technically, the information in the database is the valuable part.
If this company wished to develop an API that developers could use to access their database of valuable & useful information, what approach should the company take?
It's important to give developers what they need. But it is also important to keep competing websites from essentially using the API to steal everything and essentially steal all traffic from the company's website.
Is there was some way the API could be used in a way that drives traffic back to the original company's website somehow? Something that gives users a reason to keep going there.
This is a design consideration that my company is struggling with that I can imagine other web-based services have come across before.
Institute API keys - don't make it public. Maybe make the signup process more complex than "anyone with an e-mail address".
Rate limit the API based on keys. If you're running more than X requests a minute, you're likely mining the database.
Don't provide a "fetch everything" API. Make the users know something to get information on it. Don't reveal what you know.
I've seen a lot of companies giving out API keys and stating a TOS that all developers must adhere to. For example, any page that uses data from the API must include your logo and a link back to your website. If any developer is found breaking the rules, the API key can be cancelled and your data is safe again.
Who is meant to use the API?
A good general method of solving this problem is to limit access to the data to end users (rather than allow applications or developers at it). Provide applications and users with identification, each, and make sure that to access a subset of the data, a combination of both user and application key is required.
Following this pattern, each user will have access to a very limited subset of the data (presumably, the data that they require for their own specific use), and you can put measures in place to enforce this. Any attempts at data-mining will become obvious.
This type of approach meshes well with capability-type security models on the server side.
I am developing software which I want to sell online. The typical pay the vender, get a digital key that unlocks the application scenario.
I've never set this up before, does anyone have any info on good service providers, and things I need to know when setting this up?
Microsoft uses digital river, maybe check them out?
You can checkout a typical license acquisition flow using FastSpring
FastSpring / NetLicensing flow
This combines FastSpring e-Commerce and NetLicensing license management.
You did not say what language you are planning on using, but this is a great solution for a .net compiled language:
http://xheo.com/products/copy-protection
It provides two key features. First the ability to automatically generate your licenses based on many different ecommerce solutions so you don't have to keep paying a 3rd party a % for it. Second, it offers code protection to prevent people from using Reflection on your software to crack it / steal your intellectual rights. (note i said prevent, not completely stop)
I'm using FastSpring, you give them binary file and keys, and you setup your account to send an email that contains these two informations. you can tell them what you want and they will do it for you
I'm looking into building a web app that allows multiple e-commerce stores to coexist on the same installation and lets allows each individual vendor manage their own products, pricing, sales reports, etc. I know that there have been a number of previous questions on the Stack regarding the best shopping cart software, but this is a bit of an unusual twist and I couldn't find it answered elsewhere.
Obviously, open source is better from a pricing standpoint, but I've got no problem with spending money on a quality product that meets my needs. The ideal package would allow each store to be uniquely skinned, would minimize the amount of time that it takes to get a new store up and running, and would include payment gateway and shipping integration.
I've run across a few things in my scouring of the web, but haven't found "the one" yet--I know that osCommerce sort of supports what I'm trying to do, but I'm looking for something designed with this functionality in mind. Any ideas?
Thanks!
Justin
I am at present looking into the same thing. After looking at all the different cart on the market I have settled on PHP Mall 2. I have had demos of X-Cart Pro, iscripts multicart and a few others.
There were only 2 that were any good at handling payments direct from buyer to seller without any added costs of have a mod done for that. They were PHP Mall 2 and iScripts Multi cart. iScripts Multicart didn't really have alot happening in the backend, and vendor shops were really just an about us page with their products showing.
I settled for PHP Mall 2 becuase each vendor can have their own website as such and can customise it to the way they want it. They can choose from a number of templates for their shop.
The part I really like about it is the payments system, there are a number of payment gateways out of the box and the vendor can choose which ever he/she wants. (because not everyone use paypal right!). Its also a fair bit cheaper than all the others and provides alot more from a site admin and seller admin side of things.
I was tasked with looking into a multi vendor cart for a project that was canceled. Before it got canceled, I felt that the below were strong contenders. This is not a comprehensive list but it's somewhere to start. The requirement for multi vendor was paramount, so the listed have varying amounts of CMS/blogging etc; so they are not necessarily apples to apples.
I did get to try out magento community and using information found here http://www.magentocommerce.com/boards/viewthread/145/ got what I felt was the correct experience for multi store/vendor for my purposes. Mileage may vary depending on requirements. It's a beast though and for some reason comparison doesn't indicate the multi vendor capabilities. My impression was that Magento was definitely for the technically minded, with a very high degree of configurability available. It's a meta system for sure. The average joe business owner wouldn't stand a chance with it. However, it might be a perfect for resellers.
http://www.x-cart.com/mall_solution.html
http://www.php-shop-system.com/products/iq-cart-for-joomla-our-new-cart-component-for-joomla.html
http://www.magentocommerce.com/product/compare
I am also in search of a multi-store solution. Magento Commerce is too expensive. OpenCart now supports multi-shop but only a single user can manage the stores. I would have preferred setting up multiple stores and have different users manage each store.
I've also been undertaking research within this area and discovered the following options;
For joomla = http://www.ijoobi.com, IXXO
For Magento = http://www.unirgy.com, MVDE
There is also an interesting product called MultiCart from iScripts, and the X-Cart Pro from Qualiteam.
I have a task to validate addresses entered into a system I am currently creating. The system requires that address entered are validated against a valid data source. In the UK the dataset comes from the Royal Mail and is expensive to access.
The data needed is post code info for the whole of europe to start with accessed by an API into the web application.
There are a number of companies that offer this service,
QAS
Capscan
Postcode anywhere
These all offer the service I require. However this is expensive and in some cases not a complete data set. e.g. not Ireland
I was also wondering if there would be a way to utilize the Google Maps API to validate this data via postal code and country.
Would the google maps method be possible or do I have to go down the line of one of these expensive companies? Any thoughts on what line I should take.
The answer probably depends how critical it is for you to receive support and possible customization for this service.
Google can certainly do this. Look into their XML and Geocoding API's. You should be able to craft an XML message asking Google to return Map coordinates for a given address. If the address is not found (invalid), you will receive an appropriate response. Here's a useful page: http://code.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/services.html#XML_Requests
Note that Google's aim in providing the Maps API is to plot addresses on actual maps. While you can certainly use the data for other purposes, you are at the mercy of Google should one of their maps not exactly correspond to your legal or commercial address validation needs. If you paid for one of the services you mentioned, you would likely be able to receive support should certain addresses not resolve the way you expect them to.
In other words, you get what you pay for ;) . If you have the time, though, why not try implementing a Google-based solution then going from there? The API looks pretty slick, and it's free, after all.
Google's geocoding api does what want you want. As Xerus points out, as long as you are not using the geocoded points on a non-google Map, you should be good (terms of service). Specifically,
3.1 Use without a Google Map. Customer may use Google Maps Content from the Geocoding API in Customer Applications without a corresponding Google Map.
3.3 No use with a non-Google map. Customer must not use Google Maps Content from the Geocoding API in conjunction with a non-Google map.
I am both a web developer and a former employee of one of the companies you mentioned. I completely understand where you're coming from. Verifying addresses seems like a simple problem to tackle, but it's very much an iceberg. I suppose one workaround to the legal constraints of the Google or Yahoo! Maps APIs is to request your users verify their addresses on a map. If I were in your shoes, though, I wouldn't go that route.
The reason address verification services are so expensive is that they require licenses and ongoing relationships with grumpy, bureaucratic postal authorities (including the Royal Mail). Unfortunately, postal authorities are the best (and often the only) sources of data against which to verify addresses, so there really isn't any other way to go about it. The bottom line is you need to weigh the cost of bad addresses (usually a question of mail volume) against the cost of the software to verify them. Irish postal data is even more rubbish than Irish postal formats (which frequently omit building numbers), so there's little you can do about those addresses.
The answer depends upon the degree of confidence you place in the data and how your data is being used. For example, if you're using it for mailing or shipping, you'll want to be be confident that the data is correct. If you're just using it as another fraud-prevention mechanism then you could potentially allow a degree of error to creep into the data.
If you want any degree of real accuracy, you're need to go with a service that does real address verification and you're going to have to pay for it. As has been mentioned by Adam, address verification and validation at first seems simple and easy, but it's a black hole fraught with challenges and, unless you've some underlying data to work with, virtually impossible to do by yourself. Trust me, you're actually saving money by using a service. You're welcome to go down this road yourself to experience what I mean, but I can guarantee you'll see the light, so to speak, after even a few hours (or days) of spinning your wheels.
I should mention that I'm the founder of SmartyStreets. We do address validation and verification addresses and we offer this for the USA and international as well. I'm more than happy to personally answer any questions you have on the topic of address cleansing, standardization, and validation.
Another option is YADDRESS.
Validate it against FedEx's api. They have an API to generate labels from XML code. The process involves a step to validate the address.
Google basis (free) does not provide address verification (Geocoding) as there is no UK postcode license.
This means postcode searches are very in-accurate. The proximity search is very poor, even for town searches, often not recognising locations.
This is why Google have a premier and a enterprise solution which still is more expensive and not as good as business mapping specialists like bIng and Via Michelin who also have API's.
As a free lance developer, so serious business would use Google as the system is weak and really provides a watered down solution.
I know that this post is a bit old but incase anyone finds it still relevant you might want to check out the free geocoding services offered by USC College. This does included address validation via ajax and static calls. The only catch is that they request a link back and only offer allotments of 2500 calls. More than fair.
https://webgis.usc.edu/Services/AddressValidation/Default.aspx
You could consider using CDYNE's PAV-I API that validates international addresses. international-address-verification They cover over 240 countries, so it should cover all of the countries that you are looking to validate for.
A great blog describing 14 address finders:
https://www.conversion-uplift.co.uk/free-address-lookup-tools/
Many address autocomplete services, including Google's Places API, appears to offer international address support but it has limited accuracy.
For example, New Zealand address and geolocation data are free to download from Land Information New Zealand (LINZ). When a user search for an address such as 76 Francis St Hauraki from Google or Address Doctor, a positive match is returned. The land parcel was matched but not the postal/delivery address, which is either 76A or 76B. The problem is amplified with apartments and units on a single land parcel.
For 100% accuracy, use a country-specific address finder instead such as https://www.addy.co.nz for NZ address autocomplete.