UK postcode mapping location error

[gaznez]

Hi all,

I have been using a map visual in my model for years.  The visual shows the location of customers in the UK.  Recently, a customer that we've had for a while has started showing in Georgia - instead of Watford in the UK.  The post code is WD24 4AJ.  The data category of the Post code column of data has been set as 'Postal code'.  I have tried concatenating various combinations of Street, Post code, City and Country - and setting the data category as 'Place' & 'Uncategorised' - but none of that shows up at all in the visual.

I didn't want to convert to latitude/longitude as there are tens of thousands of customers.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks

[v-shex-msft]

Hi @gaznez,

If add other GEO information column does not help to mapping these data point correctly. You can consider to submit a support ticket to contact to power bi team to report and confirm if this scenario related to backend map engine.

Support | Microsoft Power BI

Regards,

Xiaoxin Sheng

[DataNinja777]

Hi @gaznez ,

I also experienced the same issue for Japan map visual yesterday.  One of the customers started to appear in totally different part of the world.  I temporarily solved the issue by creating a calculated column in the customer table with Country = "Your country name", and putting the country field in the location section.  It was resolved in this way, abeit this is not a fundamental solution and is just a band aid.  I thought something in configuration must have changed. 

Best regards,

[nmyers]

Hi, 

Same issue, one postcode plotting in Georgia, HAve checked on Bing Maps and it geocodes correctly, also switched to ArcGIS and maps correctly. 

[gaznez]

Can anyone confirm if this is a Bings Maps issue - as it seems I am not the only experiencing this problem (I'm also getting Australia locations now as well as Georgia)!  If no solution, I think I'm going to have to opt for longitute and latitude - but this will be a long exercise and will require ongoing work every time we have a new customer.  Was hoping for a better solution given that we are paying for several licences!  

[gburrows]

I'm seeing the same issue except last week the postcodes were showing up in Georgia and now they're in Australia. Have tried to follow the tips & tricks to add country, address etc but nothing changes it. Similarly I can't practically add lat & long to all my data points. 

[TMGH]

I'm having the same problem.

I have three maps that have worked for months are refreshed weekly and today all of them are showing one client as being in Georgia.

All the postocdes that do this are totally different. Is it a Bing maps issue as ive tried all sorts of ways of creating longer postal addresses to overcome the issue. 

[Anonymous]

Hi, following this thread because I've had the exact same issue, a location post code from the UK appearing in the Map in the country of Georgia.

[allanp5]

I have the same issue except with a BB2 postcode. BB1 is plotted correctly, most BB2 and all BB3 postcodes are plotted correctly, but a single BB2 postcode is plotted in the country of Georgia instead of in Blackburn, UK.

Like you, adding longitude and lattitude points for tens of thousands of customers isn't really an option.

I have also found that adding a country column and making sure that columns are correctly categorised makes no difference.

[allanp5]

As an update, I find that different users see different results and I see different results when comparing data refreshed at the same time in both a published report and a report in Power BI Desktop.

[gaznez]

Hi @allanp5 , I have the same situation too.  Different between Power BI desktop and Power BI Service - and different for each user on the service.  I have raised a support ticket - and will update this thread if/when I get a response.

Thanks

[ChrisMuthmann]

Hi @gaznez ,

any updates on this issue? Do you have a statement from Microsoft?
Kind regards,
Christoph

[v-shex-msft]

HI @gaznez,

I think the postcode should not accurate enough to help map visual location data points accurately.
Fort this scenario, perhaps you can read the official document about the 'tip and tricks to use map visual' if they help with your scenarios.

Tips and Tricks for maps (including Bing Maps integration) - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

Regards,

Xiaoxin Sheng

[gaznez]

Hi @v-shex-msft ,

The tips and tricks suggest either combining several location columns (which I already tried) - or adding longitude & latitude (which I said I can't do given that there are tens of thousands of customers).  What is disappointing is that until recently the postcodes plotted correctly.

Any further ideas?

Thanks

[ChrisMuthmann]

We are using City, zip code, ISO Code-3 (Country) and had have no issues untill last Wednedsay. (2024/05/29). Since then, the locations have randomly been in Australia or the USA. Two users in the same room using the same dashboard will get different results.

[ChrisMuthmann]

Hi @Petebro!
Could you please have a look at this issue?
Locations are randomly mapped to Georgia and Australia.

E. g. Location Name: Aachen, 52062, DEU is shown in Georgia/USA
Kind regards,
Christoph

[ChrisMuthmann]

Things have been looking good for me since yesterday.

[gaznez · Accepted solution]

Hi @ChrisMuthmann ,

Seems to be working for me now too.  I did have a few calls with the Microsfoft help team - but it seemed like no progress was being made.  Fingers crossed it stays working!  Sorry I missed your previous posts - I wasn't notified of them via email.