Forum Discussion
Issue in bubble map
Dear Microsoft team,
In the bubble map visual for few users the location "France-34295" pincode is showing up under Florida,USA and for the other users it is showing up in France but in a wrong location.
How is this possible?
Regards
Mihir
9 Replies
Hi mihir0030
Thank you for contacting the Microsoft Fabric Community Forum.
The issue with the bubble map incorrectly placing "France-34295" under Florida, USA, or in an incorrect location in France, stems from geocoding inconsistencies due to ambiguous location formatting. Since "France-34295" is not a standard geolocation input and "34295" is also a ZIP code in Florida, geocoding services may misinterpret the location. This is especially likely if the mapping tool or geocoding API defaults to U.S. locations when country and postal code fields are not clearly defined.
To resolve this, it is recommended to separate location data into distinct fields, such as "Country" and "Postal Code," rather than combining them. This approach enables mapping tools to accurately identify and display the correct location. In platforms like Power BI or Tableau, assigning appropriate data categories to each column, such as designating one as "Country" and another as "Postal Code," will help ensure the tool interprets the data correctly.
Refer to the official documentation for more details:
Tips and Tricks for maps (including Bing Maps integration) - Power BI | Microsoft Learn
Regards,
Karpurapu D,
Microsoft Fabric Community Support Team.
Hi v-karpurapud & Poojara_D12
I tried the approach you had mentioned, but the bubble is still showing up in an incorrect place in France. It should show up in Montpellier but it is showing it in Le Champ Beaubois.
Kind Regards
MihirHi mihir0030
Thank you for the update. Since separating location data into fields like "Country" and "Postal Code" does not resolve the issue, this points to a deeper geocoding limitation. Bing Maps does not recognize "34295" as a valid postal code in France, so it tries to find the closest match, which can result in the bubble being placed incorrectly sometimes in Le Champ Beaubois, France, or even in Florida, USA, due to overlapping ZIP codes.
To address this, consider bypassing Bing’s text-based geocoding by using exact geographic coordinates. In Power BI, map "Latitude" and "Longitude" directly in the visual. It’s also helpful to keep a lookup table that connects codes to the correct city names, postal codes, and geographic coordinates. This approach helps ensure accurate and consistent location mapping for all users.
Regards,
Karpurapu D,
Microsoft Fabric Community Support Team.
Hi mihir0030
The issue you're experiencing with the bubble map visual in Power BI—where the location "France-34295" appears under Florida, USA for some users and in the wrong location in France for others—is a common geocoding problem caused by ambiguous location data. Power BI relies on Bing Maps for geocoding, and when you provide a value like "34295" without enough geographic context, it may incorrectly interpret it as a U.S. ZIP code (in this case, Venice, Florida), rather than as part of a French postal code or region. This behavior can vary slightly between users due to differences in browser settings, region settings, or cached data, which is why the bubble appears differently across sessions or users.
To fix this, you need to disambiguate the location data. Instead of just using "France-34295", split the location into separate fields—such as City, Postal Code, and Country—and ensure the map visual uses a properly structured hierarchy or the "Country" and "Postal Code" fields with correct data categories assigned in Power BI (e.g., setting "Country" as “Country/Region”, and "Postal Code" as “Postal Code”). This helps Bing Maps resolve the location more accurately and consistently across all users.
Hi mihir0030
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Thank You.
Hi mihir0030
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