Spatial perception of target objects in our environment is a central aspect of daily life and therefore the subject of extensive research. It has been shown that spatial tasks are influenced by different biases, such as the foveal localization bias or overestimations of the covered distance of moving objects. Importantly, researchers commonly use the actual target location as a benchmark for estimated target locations and any deviations are interpreted as a meaningful consequence of specific experimental manipulations. Yet, it is questionable if a comparison with an otherwise identical baseline task would be more advisable to account for potential task-unspecific, general biases. Using a simple target localization task, we provide empirical evidence that baseline localizations deviate from the actual target location and that using the actual target location as a benchmark for specific experimental manipulations leads to mischaracterization of observed effects on target localization. Our results offer explanations why inconsistent results may have been observed regarding localization biases and underline the importance of incorporating baseline measurements in spatial tasks.