Batch Geocoding with R and Google maps

Batch Geocoding with R and Google maps

“(…)

There is a usage limit on the geocoding service for free users of 2,500 addresses per IP address per day. This hard limit cannot be overcome without employing new a IP address, or paying for a business account. To ease the pain of starting an R process every 2,500 addresses / day, I’ve built the a script that geocodes addresses up the the API query limit every day with a few handy features:

• Once it hits the geocoding limit, it patiently waits for Google’s servers to let it proceed.
• The script pings Google once per hour during the down time to start geocoding again as soon as possible.
• A temporary file containing the current data state is maintained during the process. Should the script be interrupted, it will start again from the place it left off once any problems with the data /connection has been rectified.

“