Posted by Reenie/CA on 6/8/06 6:47pm
Msg #124844

Question about Premier-Basic Membership

Can anyone tell me how it is determined in what order names are displayed when searching for a notary? I just put in my very own street address and was 8th on the list and 3.1 miles away from my own address. My friend who is 2 miles away was listed closer to me than myself???

Reply by Harry [NR] on 6/8/06 7:30pm
Msg #124848

This question has been covered before. Names are sorted and displayed in "closest-to-the-search-location" order. The distance is measured between the primary location listed in your profile and the geometric center of the ZIP code you searched on. The geometric center is calculated based on the extents of the polygon forming the ZIP code which is, in turn, defined by the extents of the street ranges in the ZIP code. (As ZIPs are really a collection of street segments bound by a starting and ending number.)

UNLESS you logged-in and checked the box next to "Geocode?" on the search screen, the search address you entered would not be geocoded to the street level. Rather, it would be coded to the ZIP code level. Geocoding of the search address costs money each time it is used and is therefore currently not available to most users, especially notaries. In short, your friend is closer to what our system believes to be the center of the ZIP code; the rest of the search address was disregarded because you do not have full geocoding privileges.

Harry
Notary Rotary, Inc.