Have you ever wondered how different people from different locations visit your website? Or how to determine the location of your website’s visitors?
An IP geolocation database is a directory containing the longitude and latitude of each computer communicating over a particular network.
It allows you to determine the location of your website’s visitors. For example, the IP address of the devices used to visit your website can be used to determine your readers’ country, city, or ZIP code — thereby determining the users’ location. Click here to locate and identify your website visitors.
Geolocation services access several databases that give them information to locate your website’s visitors through their IP addresses.
These databases are often more precise when determining a user’s country, but the accuracy tends to decline at the city and street levels.
The regional internet registries, which allocate and distribute IP addresses to companies in their respective service regions, are the primary source of IP address data. The secondary sources include data mining and wifi positioning systems.
The accuracy of this data largely depends on the company managing it. This means that the more efficient the company is, the more accurate the database is.
IP Geolocation databases are essential for many internet services, including:
- Search engine customization
- Content distribution
- Banking
- Media
- Telecommunication
- Education
- Travel
- Hospitality
- Entertainment
- Travel
- Healthcare
- Local advertising
- Fraud detection
Although IP is only four digits long, databases of IP information can reveal a lot about a user. It is also helpful in spotting an irregular visit to your website.
Also read: What is a Proxy and What are They Used For?
Why is IP Geolocation Database Useful?
IP geolocation database can be used for various purposes that benefit both the
company and the user.
Geo advertising
Geo advertising helps businesses to create more targeted and personalized campaigns.
Many networks even allow advertisers to target customers based on their geographic locations using IP geolocation.
Fraud detection
Geographic IP detection allows retailers and payment processors to detect credit card fraud by comparing the IP location to the billing or shipping address on the account.
For example, If a customer provides the merchant with an address and phone number in New York, but the IP address indicates that the customer is from China, it is obviously a fraudulent move.
Content personalization
IP Geolocation allows businesses to provide customers with more personalized services using their IP addresses.
For example, they can program their website to display its content in the clients’ language, based on their location.
How reliable is an IP geolocation database?
Even though IP addresses can determine a user’s exact location, they are not always precise.
This is because IP addresses can be impersonating (VPNs), and internet data providers may have different coverage areas.
Therefore, a user’s actual location might not match the information provided by an IP geolocation service.
However, paid services like Apiip typically allow subscribers to pay for geolocation services.
These premium services provide more accurate user locations, ranging from 90 to 95 percent.
The following details are stored in the database for each IP address:
- The name of the ISP
- The location’s latitude and longitude, postal code, time zone, country, region, and city
- The GeoName ID
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