OpenCage Guides to Geocoding and Geosearch

Background, examples and recipes for common use cases and questions

Overview / General Background

• Why Open Data?
  What benefits does open data offer?
• Geocoding vs Geosearch
  What is the difference between geocoding and geosearch?

Geocoding > Concepts

• Reverse Geocoding
  All aspects of converting coordinates into location information
• Comparing and testing geocoding services
  Evaluating geocoding services.
• Geocoding and postal codes
  Common questions and misunderstandings related to post codes.

Geocoding > Tips for using the OpenCage Geocoding API

• Formatting your geocoding query
  Clean up your geocoding queries to get the results you want.
• Speed up your geocoding
  Run your geocoding faster.
• Geocoding large datasets
  Points to consider when processing massive volumes of locations.
• Geocoding accuracy
  Is this the result you are looking for?
• Limit API results to a certain country or region
  Only get the geocoding results you need.
• Formatting Addresses
  Presenting location information in the format users expect.
• Show an imprecise location
  Show only a rough or imprecise location to preserve privacy.

Geocoding > Recipies for common situatons

• Putting results on a map
  How to display geocoding results on a map.
• Convert image GPS coordinates into location information
  How to turn image coordinates into useful location information.
• Convert coordinates to country
  Determining which country coordinates are located in.
• Convert locations to NUTS codes
  Find the EU NUTS codes for an address or coordinates
• Determine the ISO codes for a location
  Map coordinates or addresses to ISO 3166 codes.
• Determine the county for an address
  Which county is this address in?
• Get the information for a UN/LOCODE
  Search for UN/LOCODEs

Geocoding > Migrating to OpenCage

• Cost comparison with Google Maps geocoding
• Migrating from Google Maps
  Switch to OpenCage from Google Maps geocoding.
• Migrating from Nominatim
  Switch to OpenCage from Nominatim.

Geocoding > Dealing with API keys

• Replacing your geocoding API key
  How to deactivate an API key and create a new one.
• Protect your API key
  Best practices for keeping your API key safe.

Geocoding > Other topics

• Writing an SDK or integration for the OpenCage Geocoding API
  Step-by-step guide to writing an SDK for our geocoding API.

Geosearch / Autosuggest

• What is Geosearch?
  Helping users turn search queries into locations.
• Why is geosearch needed?
  Location search is not the same as traditional web search.
• Consumer expectations for location search
  UX challenges in building a location autosuggest.
• Geosearch: Technical Considerations
  Technical challenges in building a location autosuggest.

Other Geolocation Technologies

• Browser Geolocation
  Determine a user's location with browser geolocation.
• IP Geolocation
  What is IP geolocation? How does it differ from geocoding?