This would be helpful as I am constantly having issues rebuilding my org's address locators that are used in AGOL as it seems locks on the address locators never get released when I issue the python command to stop the service.
This would be a huge improvement. Almost all of our needs are met through ArcGIS Online except we need to be able to reference our own addressing data, as it is being updated and corrected far more quickly than any public geocoding services we have access to.
This can be a showstopper for many government agencies to fully adopt ArcGIS Online as they need to use the most current addressing data (that they maintain) for the most basic workflows. Imagine being a permit technician who constantly works in new subdivisions, and the houses just had the addresses assigned yesterday, but it will be a year or more before they make there way to the Worlwide Geocoding Service. It prevents routing from working and fully integrating AGOL into workflows as the address must be manually maintained on a sticky notes so they know what to type in to a web portal. They same thing is true for public works, utilities, deliveries, etc.
Also think of the data potential if ESRI allowed authoritative government agencies to upload their most recent data in near real time as addresses were created and updated. This could be immediately consumed by the Worldwide Geocode Service and bring incredible value to the entire ecosystem.
At first I thought, I'll use some credits and put the Locator on AGOL, thinking a locator on AGOL might support Suggestions and Units, as AGOL is the leading edge of development. And then I'll just script replicating to AGOL. To my surprise AGOL can't host Locators. It is not In Product Plan either, which was also unexpected. Hosted locators could generate revenue from storage credit. ArcGIS Online Hosted Locators
Update::: Big thanks for our Rep Rob Hathcock! So the solution is to publish as Gazetteer style Locator. Since our address point layer has a field Full Address where all info is concatenated, it works perfectly! Really forgiving with spelling, like for units, prefixes, etc. Best of all? No 'ghosts'! So it's finally all good, at last. I don't know what magic it has under the hood but it seems far less sensitive to spelling. I have noticed one issue, of the difference in Suggestion vs hitting Return (magickey vs no magickey) which I will post a separate question about. That is a separate issue and an inherent design feature enhancement I have for the locator product team, to make them both behave the same and return the same result array.
I would still love to host our Locator on ArcGIS Online for speed purposes and to offload some bandwidth. And it would generate Esri credit revenue. And for those without the luxury of using a single field the Ghost result bug is still a key issue for the Locator product team.
When/if Locators can be Hosted on AGOL please add Gazetteer as an option and a way to have Results be identical from the Suggestion array and Enter key array. Locators: Why are suggestions different than Results? Make them the same. (Update: Thanks to help from Brad the Create Locator works even better in Pro; hopefully it will be added as a Hosted option to AGOL in a future update)
It is difficult to believe this isn't an option yet. We have a specialized locator but no good way to host it short of setting up a server. In our environment that is unlikely.
