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Acceptable Google Maps NAP abbreviations & variations

By Nyagoslav Zhekov

About this resource

Our Listings Service clients frequently ask questions regarding address formatting. The enquiry often goes something like this:

Does it matter if the street name of our business is “123 James Ave” instead of “123 James Avenue”?

As you can probably imagine, this question comes in different nuances and versions but the answer (almost) always boils down to the same thing – Google and Bing are smart enough to understand abbreviations (or slight variations) and to associate them with their non-abbreviated counterparts.

If this was not the case, Google would only be able to associate a minuscule part of any business’s online citations to their actual existing Google+ Local listing. Even worse, there might be tons of duplicate listings for every single business, a result of even the smallest of inconsistencies in formatting (see my comment on MerchantCircle here for comparison). Differences such as in “JSC” vs “J.S.C.” do not affect in any way Google’s ability to recognize these as the same thing for the purposes of business data clustering.

Put a little trust in the algorithm

Mike Blumenthal discussed this topic back in 2012 by answering the question, Does Google Normalize NAP Data? (Name, Address, Phone).

If Google were not able to normalize this [business] data correctly, then virtually every listing in Google would show duplicates. They don’t. In fact, as a percentage of the total number of businesses in Google’s local index (somewhere north of 100 million), very few on a percentage basis have duplicate listings. So, for the most part, the algo handles those minor discrepancies well.

- Mike Blumenthal

While many people understand that Google algorithms are capable of normalizing data, many people still want to know which address abbreviations and formatting are acceptable. In light of this, we have compiled a list.

Which business details does Google normalize?

Basically, any of the variations below are a-ok and won’t mess with your NAP consistency:
Download

Business name

Limited Liability CompanyLtd
Limited Liability CompanyLLC
Limited Liability PartnershipLLP
IncorporatedInc
InsuranceIns
Certified Public AccountantCPA
EsquireEsq
Juris DoctorJD
Medical DoctorMD
Doctor of Dental SurgeryDDS
Doctor of Dental MedicineDMD
A.A.A.AAA
A Professional Corporation APC

ZIP/Postal code

5-digit ZIP5+4-digit ZIP
A1A 0A1A1A0A1

Phone number

555-555-5555(555) 555-5555
555-555-5555555 555 5555

Street address

AlleyAly
Apartment Apt
ArcadeArc
Avenue Ave
BasementBsmt
BeachBch
BendBnd
BottomBtm
Boulevard Blvd
BranchBr
Building Bldg
BypassByp
CampCp
CausewayCswy
CenterCtr
Circle Cir
Court Ct
CoveCv
CreekCrk
CrossingXing
CrossroadXrd
Drive Dr
East E
ExpresswayExpy
FieldFld
FloorFl
FreewayFwy
FrontFrnt
GatewayGtwy
HangarHngr
HarborHbr
HavenHvn
HeightsHts
Highway Hwy
IslandIs
JunctionJct
LakeLk
Lane Ln
LobbyLbby
MeadowMdw
MillMl
MountMt
MountainMtn
NE Northeast
North N
NW Northwest
OfficeOfc
Parkway Pky
Place Pl
PlainPln
PlazaPlz
PointPt
RanchRnch
RapidsRpds
RidgeRdg
Road Rd
RoomRm
Route Rte
SE Southeast
SkywaySkwy
South S
SpaceSpc
SpringSpg
Square Sq
Station Sta
StravenueStra
Street St
Suite Ste
SummitSmt
SW Southwest
Terrace Ter
TraceTrce
TrailerTrlr
Turnpike Tpk
ValleyVly
ViewVw
VillageVlg
WellWl
West W

State/province

(USA, Canada, Australia)
AlabamaAL
AlaskaAK
ArizonaAZ
ArkansasAR
CaliforniaCA
ColoradoCO
ConnecticutCT
DelawareDE
FloridaFL
GeorgiaGA
HawaiiHI
IdahoID
IllinoisIL
IndianaIN
IowaIA
KansasKS
KentuckyKY
LouisianaLA
MaineME
MarylandMD
MassachusettsMA
MichiganMI
MinnesotaMN
MississippiMS
MissouriMO
MontanaMT
NebraskaNE
NevadaNV
New HampshireNH
New JerseyNJ
New MexicoNM
New YorkNY
North CarolinaNC
North DakotaND
OhioOH
OklahomaOK
OregonOR
PennsylvaniaPA
Rhode IslandRI
South CarolinaSC
South DakotaSD
TennesseeTN
TexasTX
UtahUT
VermontVT
VirginiaVA
WashingtonWA
West VirginiaWV
WisconsinWI
WyomingWY
American SamoaAS
District of ColumbiaDC
Federated States of MicronesiaFM
GuamGU
Marshall IslandsMH
Northern Mariana IslandsMP
PalauPW
Puerto RicoPR
Virgin IslandsVI
AlbertaAB
British ColumbiaBC
ManitobaMB
New BrunswickNB
Newfoundland and LabradorNL
Nova ScotiaNS
Northwest TerritoriesNT
NunavutNU
OntarioON
Prince Edward IslandPE
QuebecQC
SaskatchewanSK
YukonYT
Australian Capital TerritoryACT
New South WalesNSW
Northern TerritoryNT
QueenslandQLD
South AustraliaSA
TasmaniaTAS
VictoriaVIC
Western AustraliaWA
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