# Addresses, places and radius searches

ListShack's geocoding tools turn addresses into locations, check batches of addresses,
find what's at a point, look up places, and let you count and buy records within a
radius. Geocoding is for the **United States only** and runs on ListShack's own
geocoder, so your addresses are never sent to a third-party mapping service.

## What it costs

Geocoding has its own **monthly lookup allowance**. It never uses your free data calls
or your credits.

| Plan | Lookups a month |
|---|---|
| Free | 25,000 |
| Paid | 250,000 |

- Looking up an address, a point or a place uses **one lookup**; checking a batch uses
  **one lookup per address**.
- A lookup that fails, is refused, or times out uses nothing, and a retried lookup
  isn't charged again.
- The allowance resets on the 1st of each month (UTC). Every answer shows how many
  lookups you have left.

**Radius counts and searches** are counts, so they use your **data calls** like any
other count.

## 1. Looking up an address

| You can ask | What you get back |
|---|---|
| "Where is 350 5th Ave, New York, NY?" | Latitude and longitude, and the address in standard form |
| "What county is 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC in?" | The county, with city, state and ZIP |
| "Clean up this address: 350 fifth avenue nyc" | House number, street, unit, city, county, state and ZIP |
| "Is 123 Main Street, Springfield a real address?" | Whether it matches an exact street address, or only a street, place or area |
| "Give me the top 3 matches for 'Main St, Springfield'." | Up to 5 possible matches, best first |

An answer is an **exact address** only when it matches a real US street address. A
match on just a street, a town or a landmark is shown as such.

## 2. Checking a batch of addresses

| You can ask | What you get back |
|---|---|
| "Check these 20 addresses and tell me which are valid." | Valid or not for each, with the standard form or the reason |
| "Standardize this list of customer addresses." | Each address in standard form |
| "Which of these addresses can't be found?" | The ones that failed, with the reason for each |

- Up to 25 addresses at a time; ask again for more.
- An address is **valid** only on an exact US street-address match. It can be invalid
  because it was blank, couldn't be interpreted, or matched only a street, place or
  area.
- One bad address doesn't stop the rest of the batch.

## 3. What's at a location

| You can ask | What you get back |
|---|---|
| "What's the address at 40.7484, -73.9857?" | The nearest street address and its distance in miles |
| "What are the 5 closest addresses to this point?" | Up to 5 nearby addresses, nearest first |

## 4. Looking up a place

| You can ask | What you get back |
|---|---|
| "Where is Austin, Texas?" | Its center point and boundaries |
| "Find Travis County, TX." | The county's center, boundaries and state |
| "What is ZIP code 78701?" | The ZIP code's center and boundaries |
| "Which Springfields are there?" | Up to 5 matching places, each with its state |

For a city, county or state, the assistant also gets a ready-made filter for counts and
searches. A ZIP code doesn't; to search around one, use a radius from its center.

## 5. Counting and buying records within a radius

Radius search finds records within a distance of an address you looked up, the center
of a place, or coordinates you give. It works on US Consumers and US Businesses, but not
yet on Aged US Vehicle Owners and US Cell Phones 2.

| You can ask | What happens |
|---|---|
| "How many homeowners live within 5 miles of 350 5th Ave, New York?" | Looks up the address (1 lookup), then counts (1 data call) |
| "How many businesses are within 10 miles of downtown Austin?" | Looks up Austin's center, then counts around it |
| "How many people aged 65 and over can I mail to within 3 miles of my store at 123 Main St, Columbus, OH?" | Looks up the address, then counts with the age filter and the direct mail rules |
| "Make it 15 miles instead." | Recounts with the new radius; no new lookup |
| "Save that radius search and buy 2,000 records from it." | Saves the search with its radius, then buys after your approval |

- A radius can be from 0.5 to 100 miles, and it
  combines with every other filter and rule.
- A saved search keeps its radius, so previews and purchases contain only records
  inside it.
- Counts are still rounded to the nearest 10, and counts under
  25 are hidden.

## 6. Your geocoding allowance

- "How many geocoding lookups do I have left?"
- "Did that batch use up my lookups?"

## What it can't do

- Geocode or search outside the United States.
- Suggest addresses as you type.
- Return the exact boundary of a city or county; you get its center and a box around it.
- Search a custom area drawn on a map; searches use a radius around one point.

## Limits

| Limit | Value |
|---|---|
| Lookups a month | 25,000 free; 250,000 paid |
| Matches per lookup | Up to 5 |
| Addresses per batch | Up to 25 |
| Radius | 0.5 to 100 miles |

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Source: https://listshack.com/agents/guide/addresses-and-radius/