[PDF] normalized address

What is address normalization?

One way of doing quick and dirty categorization of address data to find duplicates or join tables is to apply "address normalization" to the address data. Address normalization attempts to convert an arbitrary input address string into a finite number of standard forms that the input might intend to represent.

What is a standardized address?

Most addresses do not follow the USPS standard, which defines a standardized address as, ‘one that is fully spelled out, abbreviated using the Postal Service standard abbreviations, or as shown in the current Postal Service ZIP+4 file.’

What are the benefits of normalizing mailing addresses?

By normalizing varying addresses, substantial man-hours can be saved by staff sifting through hundreds of mailing addresses for accuracy. Reduce mailing costs: Direct mail campaigns can lead to wrong or incorrect addresses that can create billing and shipping issues in direct mail campaigns.

How do I normalize an email address?

For email addresses, foo@bar.com and foo@BAR.com are equivalent; the domain part is case-insensitive according to the RFC specs. Normalizing means providing a canonical representation, so that any two equivalent email strings normalize to the same thing. Normalize the email address by lowercasing the domain part of it.