Pulling longitude and latitude from an address?

[laurenm]

I've found countless posts across the web about azure maps and geocoding but I don't actually want to map these locations. I need to find the distance between address 1 and thousands of others for the year. The only want it seems to do that is to convert the address to longitude and latitude but I have not found any solution how to do that in a list/table form for view and calculation. Any success stories and advice out there?

[v-tejrama]

Hi  @laurenm ,

Yes, that's right calculating distances between addresses requires their latitude and longitude coordinates, which you can obtain through geocoding. Batch geocoding APIs like Azure Maps, Bing Maps, and Google Maps allow you to process multiple addresses at once.

• Azure Maps – supports Batch Geocoding API, where you send a list of addresses and receive their lat/long.

• Bing Maps – has a Batch Geocoding service, ideal for thousands of addresses.

• Google Maps – offers Batch Geocoding via Places API.

  Steps you can follow:

  Here’s a general approach:

  1. Prepare your address list (Excel, CSV, or database).
  2. Send the list to a geocoding API using a script or batch endpoint.
  3. Save the returned coordinates with each address.

Calculate distances using the Haversine formula or built-in functions in BI tools or databases.

This process lets you convert addresses to coordinates and then calculate distances, without needing to plot maps.

Thank you,

Tejaswi

[v-tejrama]

Hi @laurenm 

I wanted to check if you had the opportunity to review the information provided. Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions.

Thank you,

Tejaswi.

[v-tejrama]

Hi @laurenm,

I hope the information provided has been useful. Please let me know if you need further clarification or would like to continue the discussion.

Thank you.

[v-tejrama]

Hi @laurenm ,

I wanted to follow up and see if you had a chance to review the information shared. If you have any further questions or need additional assistance, feel free to reach out.

Thank you.

[laurenm]

Also, to clarify, these APIs do not appear to be free, is that correct?

[v-tejrama · Accepted solution]

Hi @laurenm ,

You are correct; the initial step in calculating distances is to geocode the addresses to obtain their latitude and longitude. This is typically done by using a script or application to interact with geocoding service endpoints. For example, Azure Maps and Bing Maps provide a Batch Geocoding API that enables you to upload a list of addresses in JSON or CSV format and receive coordinates once processed. In contrast, Google Maps does not support true batch geocoding, requiring each address to be processed individually.

Regarding costs, these services offer limited free quotas or monthly credits such as Azure Maps’ free tier, Bing Maps’ non-commercial use allowance, and Google’s monthly credit. If you need to process thousands of addresses regularly, you should anticipate charges and may need a paid plan, while small datasets or quick tests can generally be handled within the free quota.

Thank you,

Tejaswi.

[laurenm]

Thank you for the additional information!

[v-tejrama]

Hi @laurenm ,

If your issue has been resolved, please mark the post with the helpful response so it can assist others facing similar problems. If you need any more help or have further questions in the future, feel free to reach out I'm always happy to assist.

Thank you,
Tejaswi.

[laurenm]

Hello, I have not, though it's unclear where I'm supposed to 'send' my list of addresses to the geocoding maps you listed above in order to test it out. 

[mh2587]

You need Latitude and Longitude to calculate the distance between two locations with following formula:

=acos(sin(lat1)*sin(lat2)+cos(lat1)*cos(lat2)*cos(lon2-lon1))*6371

for more details check this Calculate Distance