post code lookup

[Dimitar Christoff]

hey peeps,

i need to implement a address-by-postcode lookup (address filled by postcode + house number) to ensure validity for shipping details and ease the signup process, yada yada.

Anyway - any recommendations on what APIs are out there and what costs?

 

[temi]

What country post code are we talking about, UK?

 

[Dimitar Christoff]

yeah, PAF lookups, UK....

i found some dated api at postcodeanywhere.co.uk/developers/samples/#php

their php lib still uses file(); on a remote url at their server which is disallowed by just about any decent hosting co out there and poses a security risk...

anyway, i re-factored it to use curl and built a prototype to proof concept with ajax/mootools that seems to work well enough: webtogs.co.uk/postcode_test.php
if anyone else is interested, i may package and release the final version for general use...

wonder what the costs will be on lookups as any cost is too much right now - it's on trial that will soon expire... wish i could get my hands on the database itself

the post office holds a copyright on uk addresses, go figure.... licensing is killer for startups like us ;( perhaps it would be possible to reverse lookup address data via google maps?


oh btw: the 10 posts minimum for links, this should not really be applicable if you select not to automatically parse urls and titles as they wont be anchored...

 

[eugen]

Developed a web application for UK some time ago. I have used this. ( www(.)simply-postcode-lookup(.)com ).

Don't know what is the cost of it, but it's easy to use / integrate.

 

[seopaul]

im actually just about to implement this at work, were using hopewiser.com they charge £800/year for internal use i.e staff etc and i think its about 3p a lookup for web work... there api docs are quite good aswell...

 

[Dimitar Christoff]

ones i went with works out at 1p per lookup at the moment so i am happy (updated rolled out and live already)

 

[seopaul]

ahh who are you using if you dont mind me asking... a saving of 2p a lookup is quite a diffrence

 

[Dimitar Christoff]

postcodeanywhere.co.uk - it depends on how many lookups you purchase, i went for a package of 3000 or something for the time being, it can auto-topup and fires warnings your limit is getting close to the end.

their PHP API was a bit dated (fopen of url) so i have rewritten it using CURL, feeding it to an ajax handler via JSON objects, if anyone is interested, i am happy to post snippets here.