Open Location Code
In cartography, an Open Location Code (OLC) is a geocode system for identifying an area anywhere on the Earth.[1] Open Location Codes are also known as "plus codes".
Open Location Codes are a way of encoding location into a form that is easier to use than latitude and longitude. They are designed to be used like street addresses, especially in places where buildings aren't numbered or streets aren't named.[2]
Open Location Codes are derived from latitude and longitude coordinates, so they already exist everywhere. They are similar in length to a telephone number -- 849VCWC8+R9, for example -- but can often be shortened to only four or six digits when combined with a locality (CWC8+R9, Mountain View). Locations close to each other have similar codes. They can be encoded or decoded offline, and the character set was chosen to avoid spelling words in more than 30 different languages. Similar looking characters are not used to reduce confusion and errors, and because they aren't case-sensitive, they can be easily exchanged over the phone.[3]
In August 2015, Google Maps included Plus codes in their search engine.[4]
References
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