Find caches by zip code errors

[+Knight2000]

I entered some local zip code searches and they came up on the other side of the globe!

 

NE Ohio zips...

 

44312

44444

44305

 

Weird. Not all of them are doing it.

Edited October 12, 2009 by Knight2000

[+Knight2000]

Still doing it. Has anyone else tried it?

[+larryc43230]

Still doing it. Has anyone else tried it?

I just tried it. I get lists of caches in Estonia, Sweden, and Estonia, in that order, with those Zip Codes.

 

--Larry

[+Knight2000]

Has anyone noticed this with any of their local zip codes?

[+larryc43230]

Has anyone noticed this with any of their local zip codes?

It does work as advertised with my Zip Code (43230). It also works with the Zip Code for Downtown Columbus (43215).

 

--Larry

[+Knight2000]

I tried about 6. It worked for half of them.

[knowschad]

Apparently those are valid postal codes for other countries as well.

 

 

44312 : http://www.google.com/search?q=postal+code...active&sa=2

 

 

44444: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sou...amp;oq=&aqi=

 

 

44305: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&saf...amp;oq=&aqi=

 

 

Google defaults to Ohio if you don't add "Estonia" or "Sweden" to the search terms.

 

 

Very interesting find!

[knowschad]

44445 also lists Swedish caches.

[OpinioNate]

It's google. They serve up two locations for those (and many others) postal codes and our site picks the first one. We have an open bug for this.

[+Knight2000]

Very interesting find!

Did I find a geocaching.com Easter egg?!

 

I thought I was just tired last night and my eyes were screwy.

[knowschad]

It's google. They serve up two locations for those (and many others) postal codes and our site picks the first one. We have an open bug for this.

 

 

You use a Google query behind the scenes for the cache search page? Interesting.

 

When I use the public Google interface for those zipcodes, I only see the US reference. I must put the country name into the query as well to get it to return a reference to that country.

[+W8TTS]

When I tried 44320 it came with caches from who knows where.

 

But, where I used 44320 Ohio it worked.

[knowschad]

When I tried 44320 it came with caches from who knows where.

But, where I used 44320 Ohio it worked.

 

Well, I'll be!! I had no idea that you could take a state name on to the zipcode in the zop/postal code search, but by golly... it does work! That is a great tip!

[+beezerb]

When I tried 44320 it came with caches from who knows where.

But, where I used 44320 Ohio it worked.

 

Well, I'll be!! I had no idea that you could take a state name on to the zipcode in the zop/postal code search, but by golly... it does work! That is a great tip!

 

Going to give it a try and see if I can get Searcy Arkansas (72145) out of Brazil.

[+beezerb]

Worked. Thanks

[Skippermark]

This might be related to the issue that's being discussed in the iPhone section where users would enter their zip code into the app, and the returned results would be for another location?

 

People there said it appears the issue has been fixed.

[+releasethedogs]

also some arizona zip codes go to france

[+Knight2000]

I ignore the iPhone section since I don't use one. I certainly didn't mean to start a dup thread. I just thought I was too sleepy!

[Skippermark]

I ignore the iPhone section since I don't use one. I certainly didn't mean to start a dup thread. I just thought I was too sleepy!

No, it's all good. I wouldn't say it's a duplicate thread. Many don't go to the iPhone section, especially if they don't have one. I just noticed it being mentioned there from a little while back and wondered if the two might be related. There was some info posted by Bryan & Nate (I think) that might be helpful to someone reading this thread.

[+DENelson83]

Try adding ", USA" or ", US" after the ZIP codes. That problem manifests itself with the search box on the front page, but not on the /seek/ or /seek/nearest.aspx pages.

Edited October 15, 2009 by DENelson83

[+Knight2000]

The following from mysterious banned TrainLove, living in exile:

 

{Contents snipped by moderator. It's bad form to channel a banned member.}

Edited October 20, 2009 by Keystone

[Deceangi]

Sounds like a similar issue the UK faced, if so it's a Google Data Licence issue. Google have to use separate licences for Commercial and Non Commercial zip/postcode data supply. Groundspeak being a commercial user.

 

If zip/postcode data is anything like the cost of OS map data in the UK, it costs a arm and a leg for commercial use [as opposed to just a arm when buying OS maps]. Having to purchase new zip/postcode data for virtually every country in the world on a regular basis must be prohibitive, which is why I'm guessing Groundspeak use data from Google.

[knowschad]

The following from mysterious banned TrainLove, living in exile:

{Contents snipped by moderator. It's bad form to channel a banned member.}

Is it ok to channel a band member, though?

[+Knight2000]

The following from mysterious banned TrainLove, living in exile:

 

{Contents snipped by moderator. It's bad form to channel a banned member.}

I'm wondering what I posted that wasn't helpful to the caching community. The name could have been deleted but instead the relevant info was deleted.

[+larryc43230]

The following from mysterious banned TrainLove, living in exile:

 

{Contents snipped by moderator. It's bad form to channel a banned member.}

I'm wondering what I posted that wasn't helpful to the caching community. The name could have been deleted but instead the relevant info was deleted.

I obviously can't (and don't) speak for TPTB, but I've been wondering why the mods had allowed forum members in good standing to post messages from TrainLove at all. The issue has nothing to do with whether the information is useful; it has everything to do with the fact that the user has been banned. By posting TrainLove's messages, you are acting as the user's surrogate, and they're re-entering the forums through you. It's a clever way to sneak back in, but not a way I would imagine TPTB approve of. Allowing these messages makes the bannination pretty much meaningless.

 

--Larry

[OpinioNate]

The fix is in, and will be released a week from Tuesday*. When searching a zip with ambiguous results you'll be asked to choose which you meant.

 

*Probably

[+Lil Devil]

I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a few bug fixes today

 

[Pajaholic]

In this thread that Motorcycle Mama closed as a duplicate describes a related, but possibly separate, issue. The OP of that thread reports looking for a cache for a London postcode and being offered a cache claimed to be 2.3 miles away when it was actually 4617.1 miles away in Texas. On that thread, someone suggested that the postcode the OP entered might be valid in Texas, but that seems wrong to me since UK postcodes contain letters as well as numbers while US zipcodes are purely numeric. Surely, it's unlikely that something like "SW1A 4GB" could be seen as a seven-digit Texas zipcode?

 

Geoff

[+feral five]

i get this same error ( in Australia) when searching for postcode 2153. It sends me to Washington State USA ( i think from memnory). The weird thing is that from work, which is 0.5 mile from home, i dont get that error....

 

try making sense of that ????

[+JinxMagic]

I did a search for 19475, and got caches in Sweden. Adding " , US " brought my search back to the US!

[+Team Cotati]

Does anyone know when this issue first began?

[+dibug]

I have also been experiencing this issue but if I just tell it to search again it will finally come up to the correct area for my zip code.