Power BI Azure Map

[Beto_Zambom]

Hi,

I’m trying to create a map in Power BI to display all the machines we have in Australia. We have a column called CompanyAddressLong, which contains the full address, postcode, and city.

However, when I use CompanyAddressLong in the map visual, some locations are appearing in the US instead of Australia.

Did I miss something in the setup, or is there a configuration I need to change to tell Power BI that all these addresses are located in Australia?

[AshokKunwar]

HII @Beto_Zambom 

If this configuration fixes your map locations, please mark this as the "Accepted Solution" to help others with similar mapping issues!

[AshokKunwar]

Hii @Beto_Zambom 

When using a single string like CompanyAddressLong, Power BI's geocoding engine searches globally. If a street name in Australia also exists in the US, the map may default to the US location if it has a higher "search relevance" in the Bing database

​The Solution: 3 Steps to Lock Locations to Australia

​Step 1: Set Data Categories

​You must tell Power BI exactly what each column represents. This is the most common step users miss.

1. ​In the Data pane, select your CompanyCountryCode column.
2. ​Go to the Column tools tab in the top ribbon.
3. ​Click the Data Category dropdown and select Country/Region.
4. ​Repeat this for CompanyCity (set to City) and CompanyPostalCode (set to Postal Code).

​Step 2: Create a Geographic Hierarchy

​Creating a hierarchy forces Power BI to look at the address "inside" the city, and the city "inside" the country.

1. ​In the Data pane, right-click CompanyCountryCode and select Create hierarchy.
2. ​Right-click CompanyCity and select Add to hierarchy -> CompanyCountryCode Hierarchy.
3. ​Add CompanyAddressLong as the final level of that hierarchy.
4. ​Use this Hierarchy in the Location field of your Map visual instead of the single address column.

​Step 3: Add "Australia" to the Address String (Optional but Highly Effective)

​If you still see issues, create a calculated column that explicitly appends the country name to every address.

MapAddress = 'Table'[CompanyAddressLong] & ", Australia"

Set the Data Category for this new MapAddress column to Address.

​Why this works:

• ​Contextual Geocoding: By categorizing the Country column as "Country/Region," you provide a global filter for the Bing Maps API.
• ​Hierarchy Priority: When you use a hierarchy, Power BI passes the country and city context along with the street address, eliminating ambiguity with US street names.

​Summary for the Community

​The map visual needs geographic context. Always categorize your columns under Column Tools and try to include a "Country" field in your visual's Location bucket to anchor the geocoding to a specific part of the world.

​If this configuration fixes your map locations, please mark this as the "Accepted Solution" to help others with similar mapping issues!

[Beto_Zambom]

Hi @AshokKunwar 

I did all you asked for:

1. CompanyCountryCode -> Contry/Region

2. CompanyCity -> City

3. CompanyPostalCode -> Postal Code

Create also Geographic Hierarchy

Also the new column MapAddress

MapAddress = 'FactDataTotalSprayers'[CompanyAddressLong] & ", Australia"

The map a little bit better, but now 3 points still on US and 1 in Europe:

The interesting is this data set, with all other countries (I just have a part of the data only australia) do not have that error when they add the CompanyAddressLong. 

[Beto_Zambom · Accepted solution]

Just a follow up to close this forum. I change to ArcGis map and with the address all points went to the right location. So this was the solution in the end. 

[danextian]

Hi @Beto_Zambom 

Using addresses instead of latitude and longitude isn’t ideal in Power BI maps. Address-based geocoding can be ambiguous, especially when multiple places share the same name. Even with the country defined in the hierarchy, Power BI may still plot the location in a different country if the geocoding service resolves it incorrectly.

Providing latitude and longitude avoids this issue entirely, as coordinates uniquely identify a location and ensure accurate plotting in Azure and Bing Maps.

[Beto_Zambom]

I understand about the Lat x Long but unfortunatelly that data is not possible to have it

[cengizhanarslan]

Right now Power BI is trying to interpret CompanyAddressLong as a global address. If parts of the string (city name, street, or postcode) also exist in the US, Azure Maps may resolve them there. To solve:

1. Create a column:

   • Country = "Australia"

2. Set Data Category:

   • Country → Country/Region

   • City → City

   • Postcode → Postal code

   • Address → Address

3. In Azure Map visual, place:

   • Country → Country

   • Address or City → Location

This forces Azure Maps to resolve everything inside Australia.

[krishnakanth240]

Hi @Beto_Zambom 

Split the address into fields
Create separate columns and set Data Category correctly
CompanyCountryCode → Country/Region
CompanyPostalCode → Postal Code
CompanyCity → City
Then place Country + Postal Code + City in the map (not the long address string)

or

Use Latitude / Longitude (most reliable)

Pre-geocode addresses (Azure Maps, Google, etc.)
Store Latitude / Longitude = we can get these based on city/country from internet if client won't provide us
Use those fields in the map

Please mark it as a solution with headup if this helps you. Thank You!