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Introducing the new MapQuest Developer Network!

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We’ve been working on a number of infrastructure upgrades over the past few months and recently released one of the most visible updates: the new MapQuest Developer Network! The new Developer Network — along with a quite a few other important upgrades — sets the foundation for a much-improved developer experience that will be rolled out in phases throughout the rest of the year.

developer-network-072015

First, the information architecture of the site has been changed and additional content has been added. We want to ensure that our documentation is easy to find so that it is easy to get started while keeping the number of clicks to a minimum. Our documentation is available via the Documentation link on the homepage.

Second, we more prominently highlight the types of solutions in which our APIs and SDKs are commonly integrated. We like to think of our APIs and SDKs as building blocks — or better yet, a toolbox — since the APIs and SDKs can be mixed and matched to create truly custom, full-fledged applications. The best features of each API and SDK are detailed in the Products section of the site.

Third, we’ve launched our Plans page, which offers the ability for Developers, Startups, and Small Businesses to sign up for a monthly paid subscription that goes beyond the 15,000 transactions/month offered in our Free plan. The paid subscription plans offer access to all APIs and SDKs included in our geospatial toolbox without the need to contact an Account Manager during business hours. The Plans page is available 24 hours/day, 7 days/week, and it is easy to sign up and get started.

There are a number of items on the Developer Network roadmap that will be introduced later this year, such as:

  • standardized API Web Service documentation, using a common format that makes it even easier to form API requests and understand API responses
  • additional demos that showcase our APIs and SDKs working together to create a full-scale solution, complete with downloadable code
  • enhanced Developer’s Guides for our Map SDKs with re-worked ‘try-it-now’ samples
  • additional Plans that include access to new APIs, SDKs, and other services provided by MapQuest

Stay tuned for additional information about new products, upcoming Developer Network enhancements, as well as other improvements to the overall MapQuest developer experience. As always, feel free to drop us an email or tweet us @MapQuestTech if you have questions.


Planned Outage for Nominatim Search Service

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As many of you know, MapQuest hosts a version of the Nominatim Search Service as a part of our Open Data API and SDK product line, so we wanted to share an important update about this service that will have an impact on users of this service.

The Nominatim Search Service will be unavailable on Tuesday, August 18, 2015 due to system maintenance. While it is never our intention to cause service disruptions, the outage is necessary. We apologize for the inconvenience that this will cause to our users of Nominatim.

Please email us at developer-services@mapquest.com with any further questions.

 

MapQuest Free & Open License Updates and Changes

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As a user of the legacy MapQuest Free & Open license, we want to let you know about upcoming changes in licensing that may affect you and your application. To ensure that we can continue to offer the best service and product lineup possible, we are transitioning to a new licensing structure that will ultimately require our users to sign up for one of the plans available on the Developer Network by Tuesday, September 1, 2015.

In addition, to bring our hosted versions of Nominatim and Xapi into line with the rest of our Open Data API and SDK product line, we are going to start requiring an AppKey to be submitted with Nominatim and Xapi requests.

Please find the answers to some of the questions we anticipated around these changes below. If you have additional questions about these changes, please email us developer-services@mapquest.com.

Why are you moving away from offering Open services?

We are not moving away from offering our users access to Open Data. We are making changes to our Open APIs and SDKs to ensure we can continue to offer our users the best possible product. We’re removing unlimited access and requiring people to sign up for an AppKey based on their specific needs. We still offer free access through a plan that limits users to 15,000 transactions per month. In addition to the Open access, our users will also have access to our licensed Data.

Are you going to remove the Open Data APIs & SDKs from your product lineup?

No. We will continue to offer the option of accessing our underlying services that utilize our Open Data source. However, to bring our Open Data APIs and SDKs in line with the rest of our product offering, we are no longer offering the option of unlimited use of the Open Data APIs and SDKs.

How can I tell if I have a legacy Free & Open key?

Legacy Free & Open keys begin with the letter ‘F’ or the letter ‘D’ and were available prior to May 1, 2015.

I’m using a legacy Free & Open key. What will happen to my key?

Legacy Free & Open keys will be converted to our current free plan, which is detailed on the Plans page on the Developer Network. The free plan allows access to both Licensed Data and Open Data APIs and SDKs and allows up to 15,000 transactions/month. Existing legacy Free & Open keys will be migrated to the free plan on Tuesday, September 1, 2015.

Why are you requiring an AppKey for Nominatim and Xapi?

Our other Open Data APIs and SDKs already require an AppKey and we want to bring Nominatim and Xapi into line with the rest of our Open Data (and Licensed Data) API and SDK product offerings. Requiring an AppKey allows us to do a few things:

  1. It gives us greater insight into how our clients and overall developer community are using our products.
  2. We can ensure that our product roadmaps are aligned with the features that are highly used and most valuable to our clients and the developer community.
  3. We can contact our clients and overall developer community to better communicate news regarding Nominatim and Xapi, such as planned maintenance or system upgrades.

We’re setting the stage to offer an even more compelling product line in the future– one that is a mixture of new products, new features, and enhanced existing features.

If I don’t sign up for a new AppKey, will my service be shut off?

If you are currently a legacy user with a Free & Open AppKey, we will automatically move you to our free plan. If you anticipate needing more than 15,000 transactions per month, we recommend upgrading now. If you don’t upgrade and get close to your transaction limit, we will email you with information on upgrading so there isn’t a disruption in service.

If I don’t sign up for an AppKey, will my access to Nominatim and Xapi be removed?

Yes. If you are accessing Nominatim and Xapi without an AppKey and do not sign up for a key by the September 1, 2015 deadline, requests to Nominatim and Xapi will fail and your application will be impacted. While Nominatim and Xapi won’t be ‘shut off,’ you will be unable to access the service without providing an AppKey with your requests.

What if I need help with implementing my AppKey?

Please visit the forums on our Developer Network if you have questions about providing an AppKey with your Nominatim and Xapi requests.

Transaction Counting and Directions API

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MapQuest plans, whether at the self-serve or Enterprise Edition level, generally operate on a quota system, in which customers purchase a set number of monthly or annual transactions. In most cases, a transaction is a request made to an underlying MapQuest service, such as a request to the Directions API or Geocoding API. To provide additional transparency on geocoding transactions and how they count towards your plan, we developed this post with further detail.

Embedded Transactions

Based on the request type, more than one transaction may be counted towards your quota for a specific request. This type of transaction is an embedded transaction. Embedded transactions must call out to another service in order to complete the initial request.

For example, a request to the Directions API can generate geocoding or reverse geocoding transactions depending on the nature of the request. When making a request to the Directions API with an origin and destination, 3 transactions will count towards your plan: 1 Direction transaction and 2 Geocode transactions.

Reverse Geocoding and Embedded Transactions

Another example of embedded transactions is found in one of our advanced routing options, our reverse geocoding. When routing to/from latitude and longitude coordinates, the Directions API will call the Geocoding API to reverse geocode the coordinates. Since an additional service outside of the Directions API is leveraged, more than one transaction will accumulate towards your plan.

This behavior is controlled by the doReverseGeocode parameter, which is set to ‘true’ by default. In order to prevent the Directions API from reverse geocoding the provided coordinates, the doReverseGeocode parameter can be set to ‘false’ instead by updating the code.

API Response Details and Setting Parameters for Reverse Geocoding 

When routing to/from latitude and longitude coordinates, the Directions API will call the Geocoding API to reverse geocode coordinates. Location information will populate the Locations block in the Directions API response. This is reflected in example 1A below:

Example 1A:

http://www.mapquestapi.com/directions/v2/route?key=yourkeyhere&doReverseGeocode=true&from=39.75939757682461,-105.0499391555786&to=39.76563251993667,-105.00723838806151

In order to prevent the Directions API from reverse geocoding the provided latitude and longitude coordinates, the doReverseGeocode parameter can be set to ‘false,’ which is shown in example 1B below:

Example 1B:

http://www.mapquestapi.com/directions/v2/route?key=yourkeyhere&doReverseGeocode=false&from=39.75939757682461,-105.0499391555786&to=39.76563251993667,-105.00723838806151

When the doReverseGeocode parameter is set to ‘false’, location information about each set of latitude and longitude coordinates will not be populated in the response.

Note: The destination maneuver text will be affected by updates to the doReverseGeocode parameters. If doReversGeocode parameter is set to ‘false’, printed directions will show, “You have arrived at your destination.” When set to ‘true’, destination text will include “1555 Blake Street is on your right.”

You can find plan information and the number of transactions used at any given time after logging into your account through our website.

Enterprise Edition customers are encouraged to contact their Account Manager or the Technical Support team for answers regarding transactions, the Directions API best practices, or correct usage of the doReverseGeocode parameter. Self service customers should reference our documentation on the Developer Network or contact developer-services@mapquest.com.

 

Location Services 5.0 Available Today!

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Sound the alarms— Location Services 5.0 is here! We’ve made big improvements to search architecture, handling and geocoding in the U.S. and Canada in order to provide more accurate geocoding results for your applications.

So, what does this mean for you? Simply stated, we’re helping you create a better experience for your users. We’re hyper-focused on accounting for increasingly common designators, search behavior, and data nuances so that your applications are using the most accurate results.  Here’s an overview of what’s new in this release:

Better support for non-exact address points and intersections

When a non-exact address point is geocoded (e.g. 1555 Blak St., Dnver, CO US), we’re able to better estimate the location where a pin should be dropped, helping improve the accuracy of these results. We’ve also added back support for “and” and “&” within street names when searching for an intersection.

Refining secondary designators

Secondary designators are used to differentiate unit or building numbers when one address has multiple associations. In this release, we have improved how the geocoder handles results for true secondary designators (e.g. 9S180 Lake Dr Bldg 19A, US 60527) as well as removed the association between secondary designators and numbers as part of a street name (e.g. 163 Old Hwy 21, State Road, NC US 28676).

Improved handling of nuanced language and postal service abbreviations

There are a few different improvements in this area, all of which will help better handle nuanced language, address structure, and abbreviations. Have you ever seen a directionals within a street name (e.g. 123 E. Eastwest St.)? Well, they exist and it can make things quite confusing when trying to pinpoint an address. No longer!

You’ll also see expanded for U.S. Postal Service approved abbreviations (i.e. US Highway 70 can now be entered as US-70), punctuation within an address, and Canadian front-of-house numbers (e.g.  44-116 2nd Ave, E1C 7Y2).

Confidence code updates

We take pride in our geocoding results and provide a 5 digit confidence code to every result. Visit the documentation to learn how to determine the meaning of a confidence code. If you have questions on how the recent update to Location Services impacts confidence codes or your geocoding results, contact Technical Support.

Extended Rights Geocoding: Now Offered on Business and Business Plus Plans

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Here at MapQuest, we’re focused on improving our products and solutions to meet our customer needs. We make a point to listen to our customers and incorporate their feedback when evaluating our offerings and prioritizing new features. Today, we’re happy to announce one of our top offerings is now available to our Business  and Business Plus customers — Extended Rights Geocoding (ERG) license.

Extended Rights Geocoding

Extended Rights Geocoding give you the flexibility to display geocode results on a MapQuest map, an alternative provider’s map, or no map at all. We make it easy for you to pinpoint the best combination of location-based providers to meet your needs and your budget. Additionally, you can store the geocode results within your own database as long as you have an active agreement with MapQuest.

Who is eligible?

Customers with a Business Enhanced, Business Plus Enhanced plan, and Enterprise customers. To upgrade your existing self-serve plan, got to “My Plan” and click on “Change Plan.” For Enterprise customers, reach out to your Sales Rep or Account Manager for more information.

Additional Key for ERG

With our ERG licenses comes an additional key that is required for any geocode requests in which you wish to store the results or display the results on another provider’s map. The key will be sent via email upon signing up.

Pricing

Self-serve customers can purchase a license for an additional $100/month on either the Business Enhanced or Business Plus Enhanced plan, for a total of a $499/month or $899/month agreement. The transaction limits for these plans are 200,000 and 500,000 respectively. View plan details here. Customers are required to commit to a 6 month agreement, and they will be billed on a monthly basis.

For any additional questions, feel free to reach out to developer-services@mapquest.com

New Routing Options Available Today

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Weight constraints? Height constraints? No problem. We recently added new routing options, to the avoids string collection, letting you easily avoid bridges or tunnels on your next trip. We’ve added these bridges and tunnels to our avoid string collection. The complete list now includes:

  • Limited Access (highways)

  • Toll Road

  • Ferry

  • Unpaved

  • Approximate Seasonal Closure (Seasonal roads may not be selected with 100% accuracy)

  • Country Border Crossing

  • New: Bridges

  • New: Tunnels

Additionally, you now have more control over the returned route from our Directions API. You can ensure certain road types are not included in the routes with “disallow,” or you can add your preference for certain roads with “prefer.” When using ”avoid,” the route avoids road types where possible, and you’re notified if the route was unable to avoid the road type. Conversely with the “disallow” feature, the route request will fail if a route does not satisfy your criteria. Currently, we only offer “prefer” for highways, and we’ll be adding additional road segments in the future.

Click here for more information on our Directions API.

5 Items to Consider When Refactoring an API

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Do you ever wonder what our developers are up to when they’re not working on new mapping or routing solutions?

Check out what steps our development takes when improving our current API set in this recent post from Kumiko Yamazaki on DZone.

 

 


Search Ahead Production Release

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Nothing spoils a good user experience in a location-based application faster than an inaccurate address input. Sometimes it’s a missing a digit, other times it’s a case of searching for a street with an unusual spelling (Iliff Avenue, anyone?). One of the biggest challenges your application faces is ensuring the search query is as accurate as possible.

Today, MapQuest is happy to announce the production release of our Search Ahead API, which allows access to our predictive search platform.  Whether it’s a full-fledged mapping application or a simple form in which users need to input addresses or location, Search Ahead provides a better experience by predicting what the user is intending to type, as they are typing.

What it is:

Search Ahead is our version of autocomplete, offering predictive matches to an address as a user is entering it into the search box. This “type along” feature helps ensure your user searches for 1060 W. Addison Ave, instead of 1060 W Adison Ave, thus returning the most accurate results and eliminating the need to re-search.

Who can benefit:

Literally everyone. Retail stores, restaurants, real estate, insurance, transportation — Search Ahead gets you and your customers where you’re going, faster.

How it looks:

The Search Ahead API was designed to adhere to API design best practices and industry standards.  All location data is expressed in a geoJSON format, which is easy to integrate into geospatial applications.  This lightweight API also features a pre-assembled displayString, so that you can easily get this functionality up and running quickly.  Rest assured that the API also offers the individual components (properties) in the response, so you can assemble a customized display of results in your application.

What it provides:

Today, the Search Ahead API provides suggestions for addresses (example: 1060 W Addison Ave, Chicago, IL, 60613), adminareas (example: Chicago, Canada, 60613), and airports (example: Denver International Airport).

Where to learn more:

Search Ahead API documentation is available on the Developer Network.  If you don’t already have an AppKey, click here to sign up and get started.

Product Launch: Reinvent your maps with our Mobile SDKs for iOS and Android

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We have a lot of exciting things going on here at MapQuest. Our new mobile map SDK will allow you to deliver a fully native mapping experience across all platforms and the ability to control the look of your maps along with vector-based traffic. In addition, we’re modernizing across the board with an updated map stack and the sunsetting of some of our older products including Flash, JavaScript, and Leaflet V1. Read on to learn more.

Mobile Map SDK

We’re excited to announce the launch of our mobile map SDK, allowing you to deliver a fully native mapping experience across all platforms. Regardless of the screen, your customers will have a consistent and familiar experience with you and your brand.

Our new native mobile maps are available in two styles including satellite style with road overlays and our newly redesigned MapQuest style. The satellite style with road overlay maps combine satellite imagery, road networks and cities. These beautiful, fully rotatable and zoomable maps will help you create top-notch interactions with your customers. Whether your map is used to find the closest store or if your delivery teams leverage maps to pinpoint their next stop, you can guarantee intuitive interaction with a modern look.

Screen Shot 2016-06-03 at 12.06.44 PM

 

Vector-Based Traffic

Control the look of your maps with our vector-based traffic. Want to match the color of traffic with your brand? Go ahead! You can customize the format of the traffic line and the colors to your heart’s desire. Your mobile user will benefit from faster load times and a clearer picture with our new vector-based traffic within our mobile maps SDK.

Mapping and vector based traffic is just the beginning of our redesigned mobile SDKs. We’re continuously adding to include the various services we offer today — asset tracking, search, directions, geofencing, and more.

Updated Map Stack

In July 2016, we’ll be transitioning all of our existing maps to our new, modern map style. Our newly styled maps are bound to improve the overall experience and interactions your users have with the maps on your site or within your app. This will not require any action from our customers, rather everything will be updated seamlessly.

Sunsetting of Flash and JavaScript

Thanks to these and other features we’ve added to our SDKs, we’ve enhanced our overall strength and capabilities. Today, the performance, consistency and capabilities of our Leaflet Plugins has progressed, making them an increasingly better alternative to our legacy Flash and JavaScript mapping SDKs. As a result, we’re beginning the deprecation of these services. Below are the retirement dates for these mapping SDKs:

  • Flash Maps SDK (Licensed, Open, Mobile): 6/6/2017

  • JavaScript Maps API (Licensed & Open): 6/5/2018

  • Leaflet 1.1, 1.2, 1.3: 6/6/2017

  • iOS and Android mobile SDKs v1: 9/6/2016

On these dates, the SDK and API will be turned off and we encourage Developers using these existing applications to migrate to our new Android SDK, iOS SDK or V2 of our Leaflet Plugins as soon as possible.

Developers looking to migrate to our Leaflet Plugins should reference this migration guide on our Developer Network with step by step recommendations. And check these helpful demos on our Leaflet Plugins. Additionally, our professional services team is here to help make this transition as easy as possible for you and your team. Reach out to us at sales@mapquest.com for additional assistance.

New Portal Features Available to Enterprise Edition Customers

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Additional MapQuest account information will soon be available at your fingertips! New features are being added over the next month to the Enterprise account management portal, helping you better manage your account and keep a pulse on your transaction usage.

Previously, the number of transactions during a given time and the type of APIs and SDKs used were accessible to Enterprise customers. The following account details will be new and can be viewed after logging into your Enterprise account on the Developer Network:

  • Number of transactions used against your limit during the current license term
  • Your Account Manager contact information

As an added benefit, we will provide advanced notifications via email when you’re approaching your transaction limit, once you’ve hit your limit, and incrementally thereafter.

What do you need to do?
Not much! Simply login to view your account information over the next month. Use your existing account email to log into our Developer Network here: https://developer.mapquest.com/user/login

If you have questions about your transaction usage specific to your license, feel free to reach out to your Account Manager. Their contact information can be found under ‘Account Information’ on the left hand side after logging into your account.

 

New, modern map styles for MapQuest

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MapQuest maps are getting a shiny new look. The good news? You don’t have to do anything! The even better news? Our newly styled maps will elevate the overall experience and interactions your users have with the maps on your site or within your app.

Over the next month, we’re transitioning to a new, modern map style within our various mapping solutions.

 

This update will not require any action from you, everything will be updated on the below dates:

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

  • Static Map v4

  • JavaScript API – all versions

  • Leaflet 1.0, 1.1, 1.2

Monday, July 11, 2016

  • Flash SDK

Again, the transition will not require any action on your end. If you have any questions on the updated maps, please reach out to us via our forum or email.

Modernization of MapQuest results in changes to open tile access

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MapQuest is committed to delivering cutting-edge solutions to our customers by leveraging the most updated technology. As a result, we’re transitioning our foundational structure to the cloud and with this transition comes updates to our current offerings.

On Monday, July 11, 2016, our direct tile access to MapQuest legacy maps will be discontinued. After Monday, July 11, 2016, we’ll require those using our direct tiles access to sign up for a plan on the Developer Network and transition to one of our four mapping solutions:

Please find the answers to some of the questions we anticipate around these changes below. If you have additional questions about these changes, please email us at developer-services@mapquest.com or contact us via our forum.

If I don’t sign up for a new AppKey, will my service be shut off?

If you’re currently getting direct tile access, your service will be shut off beginning Monday,  July 11, 2016. We encourage you to sign up for a plan to access an AppKey and access our various mapping solutions.

What are the differences between the plans you offer?

The available plans include: Free, Basic, Plus, Business, Business Enhanced, Business Plus, and Business Plus Enhanced. Please see our plans page for pricing and additional information. We also offer an Enterprise-level plan that includes additional benefits and flexibility. If you are interested in an Enterprise-level plan, please contact us to discuss licensing options.

How are transactions counted within your mapping solutions?

A map transaction is generally generated under the following circumstances:

  • The initial load of the map when using SDKs such as the JavaScript Maps API, Leaflet Plugins, Mobile SDKS, or legacy Flash Maps API

  • There is a change in zoom level

  • There is a change in map type, for instance, a change from the default map to satellite imagery

  • The user pans and causes more than 40% of the displayed map to change (legacy Flash Maps API only).

  • A request is made to the Static Map API Web Service.

What if I need help with the transition to a new mapping solution?

Please visit the forums on our Developer Network if you have questions about transitioning from direct tile access to Leaflet, Mobile SDK or Static Map API.

What you need to know about our geocoder and quality codes

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Chances are you’ve heard a few things about our geocode quality codes. You’ve probably heard that they are some of the most granular in the mapping business, but you might be wondering what that means.

How can a quality code, granular or not,  help your business?

First, what is a quality code?

A quality code, simply speaking, is an indicator for the degree of accuracy in a geocode result. Many mapping applications will tell you, on a grade-letter scale, how confident they are in a geocode result. We take it a step further and analyze every piece of the query, from the street name to the zip code, so that you can ensure your drivers or deliveries know exactly where they are going.

Let’s look at an address for an example: 1060 W. Addison St., Chicago, IL 60613. This returns a quality code of L1AAA from our geocoder, which is one of the best possible geocode results, but let’s break down why.

 Screen Shot 2016-04-05 at 10.58.56 AM.png

L1: This means that the geocoder is certain where this street address, or “Location” is located. The letters each correspond to a segment of the address. An ‘A’ is an exact match, a ‘B’ is a good match, a ‘C’ is an approximate match, and an ‘X’ indicates this information was not provided. Looking at this address, you can infer that the geocoder knows exactly where this location is, and that the street address, city and zipcode provided are exact matches. If this was a delivery address, you could dispatch your driver knowing exactly where they are going!

Assuming that, on occasion, people make mistakes when they enter an address, let’s see what happens if we tweak this address just slightly and request 1060 W. Addison Ave., Chicago, IL 60613. The geocoder now returns an L1BAA. This tells you that the geocoder is still quite certain where this location is, but that the street address wasn’t an exact match. However, a ‘B’ is still a good result, and capable of receiving a delivery.

When making a determination as to whether or not you would dispatch a driver to a location, both of these addresses are good examples. But, you may be wondering, could quality codes tell your business when you might not want to drive to an address? Absolutely! Let’s look at 2345 Martin, Dallas, TX. The geocoder returns an L1CAX. Let’s break that down:

When searching for this address, the Geocoder did find a result for 2345 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, so it returned an L1 because it knows where this location is, however, for the street address it returns a ‘C’ because it’s taking a best guess that the user meant Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. The city and state gets an ‘A’ code, but the user did not provide a zip code, so the geocoder returns an ‘X.’

As a business, you might decide there is too much margin of error with this quality code, and you don’t want to waste valuable time having your driver hunt for this questionable address. Which saves both time and money, and gets you to your next delivery faster.

We have more than a dozen quality code indicators, and you can read even more about them in our developer documentation.

 

Bug fixes and status code updates for MapQuest’s Directions API V1 and V2

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On Tuesday, August 16, MapQuest will release an update to our Directions API V1 and V2 and your application may be impacted.

The release for MapQuest Directions API V1 and V2 includes bug fixes to our alternate route response, eliminate a duplicate route bug and remove the ability for closed roads to be returned in real-time routes.

Additionally, we’ll be updating the status codes for our Directions API V1 and V2. Please reference the new status codes and descriptions below, and visit our documentation page for additional details on our Directions API.

 Screen Shot 2016-08-11 at 11.27.20 AM

Thanks for your patience. As always, feel free to reach out to Support via email or through the forum with any questions.


Premium POI data now available with Search Ahead API

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Earlier this summer, we were thrilled to tell you about our new Search Ahead API, as part of our product suite. This predictive search feature autocompletes addresses as users type, offering suggestions based on the input. We promised it would get better, and today, we’re pleased to announce the addition of POI data.

Most users’ top priority, when using a mapping application, is to get from point A to point B. Sometimes that destination is an address, other times, it’s a point of interest. Bad search queries are a thing of the past, no matter the search, with our autocomplete feature. Search Ahead’s Premium POI data ensures that your users search for Cafe Du Monde, and not Cafe DuMont.

It’s not just limited to specific locations, either. We’ve also included categories and franchises, meaning if users start typing “pizza,” both Pizza as a category, and Pizza Hut franchises will be suggested.

All our POI data is provided by our numerous data providers, meaning you can count on the extensive, accurate data you’ve come to know and trust, as part of MapQuest’s product suite. As part of our lightweight Search Ahead API, all data is expressed in geoJSON, making it easy to integrate into any mapping application.

Premium POI data is available to our Enterprise clients, as part of our already amazing Search Ahead API. Talk to your Account Manager today, to see how you can utilize this feature so that your users get an accurate search query, every time, whether it’s an address, an adminarea, or a hard-to-spell restaurant.

Looking to become a MapQuest for Business customer? Contact our team at sales@mapquest.com.

Get hacking on MapQuest APIs

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In the next few weeks, summer will be winding down and your calendars will start looking more and more like a Tetris board. We, here at MapQuest, are no exception. So before the madness ascends, we thought we’d take a second to fill you in about some of our upcoming adventures. We think they’re pretty cool.

Come September, MapQuest will be packing our bags and heading to Irving, Texas, and San Francisco to sponsor two national hackathon events, as well as guest speak at a worldwide API & digital innovation event:

  • Verizon’s Hack Day in Irving, Texas, on September 10, 2016

  • TechCrunch Disrupt Hackathon in San Francisco on September 10-11, 2016

  • Apigee’s Adapt or Die Conference, San Francisco on September 27, 2016

At both hackathon events, MapQuest will be offering API workshops, free on-site help from MapQuest’s top developers, loads of free MapQuest swag and premium prize giveaways, such as $5,000 to a top hacker team at TechCrunch Disrupt Hackathon.

For more information on Verizon’s Hack Day event, visit the event page here. For details on TechCrunch Disrupt Hackathon, click here.  View Apigee’s website for their conference details. And, if you’re interested in learning about, signing up or integrating MapQuest’s APIs, head on over to our documentation page.

 

New Feature Release: Overages

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On August 25th, 2016 MapQuest released a new feature – the ability to add additional transactions to monthly self-service plans. It’s exactly like overtime minutes for your mobile phone plan. If you opt into the Overages plan (the default choice for new customers) your transactions never stop, even when you reach 100% of your monthly transactions total. Instead, you will be billed in 10% usage blocks until you reach 150% of your quota. When you reach 150% (for most plans) you will automatically be upgraded to the next higher plan. This is helpful when you launch new services of your own that are rapidly growing. It’s also helpful for customers who occasionally go over the monthly transactions limit during a particularly busy time. It’s your choice to opt in, and you can stop overages at any time. Many customers have asked for this feature and we are excited to announce it is now shipping.

Here’s how it works:

When you sign up for overages, you will receive email alerts when you are approaching your monthly limit, when you reach your monthly limit, and when you go into overages. Overages are billed in 10% blocks as they accrue. For each 10% block of usage, you receive an email and an invoice. When you reach 150% of your monthly quota you will automatically be upgraded to the next plan to prevent runaway overages charges. When you are upgraded to the next plan your start date and monthly quota target will be reset. Customers exceeding 150% on the two highest plans (Business Enhanced and Business Enhanced Plus) will be referred to a MapQuest salesperson. This infographic shows the process:

 overage-chart

MapQuest’s Top Hidden Gem APIs

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We at MapQuest consider our APIs to be the cornerstone of any solid, location-based application, and we pride ourselves on helping you deliver the best experience for your users. Whether you’re routing trucks, delivering food, managing sales territories, or providing directions, we have you covered.

But how well do you know our APIs? You might know we have a great Search API, but did you know we let you search within a radius? Or, did you know we’ll host custom data for your search needs? Super cool, right? Below, we have a few hidden gems that can enable to make your application even better.

Data Manager

DMv2-GUIOur Data Manager API allows you to store custom datasets in a spatially-aware database, hosted by MapQuest. This RESTful web service allows you to upload custom points, lines and polygons which can be maintained through simple GET and POST requests. The best part is that your data remains your data; private, secure and entirely yours. When combined with our Search API, you can search in both MapQuest data and your own data.

Search By Drive Time

Our Search API is a pretty versatile API. Did you know that, in addition to searching by radius, you can search by drive-time? A radius search might show that a hospital is five miles away, but a search by drive-time will show you if that’s more than a 20-minute drive.

Optimized Route

We created this feature because sometimes the shortest route isn’t the optimal route, and finding the best route between 20 locations can be an exercise in frustration. Our Optimized Route function re-orders multiple stops between an origin and a destination to ensure maximum efficiency. Get your users to their destination, whether it’s three or thirteen, faster.

Quality Codes

QualityCodeToolNobody wants your confidence in our Geocoding API to be higher than we do, which is why we have quality codes. Our quality codes are some of the most granular in the business, giving you a detailed breakdown of an address or lat/lng pair, at a glance. Quality codes enable you to formulate better plans and decisions, based upon your own criteria.

Five Things Users Should Know About Search Ahead

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No one at MapQuest is more passionate about our APIs than our fantastic Product Managers. They know their products inside and out, backward and forward; in fact, you might call them a little evangelical. Each month, we sit down with one of our PMs to discuss what they wish our users knew about our APIs.

This month, we sat down with Senior Product Manager, Jonathan Harahush, and asked him what he wishes users knew about our Search Ahead API.

Autocomplete and Type Ahead

For those of you wondering “What is Search Ahead, anyway,” it is, quite simply, our version of type-ahead, autocomplete searching. As users enter their query, Search Ahead utilizes our powerful, predictive backend search prowess to return relevant suggestions.

Modern response

The API was designed to adhere to the latest API design standards. It also embraces GeoJSON as the standard for expressing location data, which integrates well with other geospatial libraries, like Leaflet. We provide just enough information about each suggestion in a lightweight manner, so it’s easy to get up and running.

The right amount of data

Search Ahead returns data in a variety of collections — think of them as “buckets” of data — which represent certain categories (e.g. addresses, admin areas, airports, etc.). You can choose whether or not you want to use all of the collections, or just some. For example, maybe your application is used to find airports. Choose just the airport collection to ensure your users’ queries return Denver International Airport, instead of Denver, CO or Denver Garage Door Experts.

Location, location, location

Sometimes you need a little location relevancy bias in your Search Ahead search results, and sometimes you don’t. Search Ahead lets you choose whether or not to submit a user’s location, thus returning location-relevant data. The choice is yours.

Customization for days

The Search Ahead API returns responses in a complete or piecemeal format, providing endless customization options for display within your application. Do you want to bold the street address? Italicize the city? Display the result as two or three lines? The preassembled string response, or individual pieces enable you to customize as much or little as you want.

All that’s missing is you

For more information, check out our Search Ahead API documentation.

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