Do you know where your online customers are? Can you tell whether the right users in your network are all authorized to access its content? Are you able to detect and block suspicious traffic and devices?

If your answer to these questions is no, then you might be in trouble. Companies are increasingly aware that geographical knowledge has to be utilized to bring out their digital efforts to the fullest potential. Yet that’s not as easy as it sounds. Being effective here requires leveraging web users’ location, notably with the details extracted from their IP addresses.

The good news is that it is possible, thanks to IP Geolocation API. So let’s do a quick review of its capabilities, shall we?

IP Geolocation in a Nutshell

The idea behind IP geolocation is to tell the location of a device—wherever it may be on the planet—using its IP address. This can be a computer, smartphone, or even a radar source. One way of doing this is through lookups via IP Geolocation API.

When a geo IP lookup is made, the software gathers the geolocation data of a specified IP address which is then displayed as an output table to the user. This information can reveal the country, region, city, latitude, longitude, postal code, and more details of a device.

Sources of IP Geolocation Data

Companies offering an IP geolocation API rely on various sources of information when it comes to the data they provide. These can come in the form of:

• Regional Internet Registries – Also known as RIRs, these nonprofit organizations administrate and supply major portions of IP addresses to Internet service providers (ISPs) while also being in charge of managing the corresponding records.
• City code interpretations – These are the naming standards that are given to airports and cities which can be used as default locations of the devices nearest to them.
• Browser geolocation – This information is collected from those users who accept to share their location while using a web browser.

Industries Leveraging IP Geolocation

Both online enterprises and brick-and-mortar companies can leverage IP geolocation technology. Its location-based data can help gain in-depth knowledge of the marketplace, provide personalized user experiences, and improve the ability and means to engage and convert.

IP geolocation details can also help track down malicious entities and stay protected from cyber attacks such as phishing. For instance, confirming if an email comes from a legitimate source is possible by looking into the geolocation data of the sender’s IP address.

Protecting intellectual property online is another approach to take advantage of IP geolocation. When employed, the technology allows organizations to take control of who can access their content based on visitors’ locations or the licensing agreements in their region.

Tips for Successful IP Geolocation

However, to make the most out of IP geolocation technology, users must consider a few important aspects:

1. Check accuracy claims – The accuracy between IP geolocation API services differs from one another, which is why it’s important to check how they fare on a city, state or country level.
2. Know their coverage – It’s vital to be aware of the IP address space covered by a provider to see if their capacity matches your expectations and needs.
3. Be mindful of default locations – Sometimes IP geolocation companies use GPS coordinates only to pinpoint the general location of an IP address. This means that the exact coordinates of a device may not be available which can lead to confusion and poor decision-making.

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Geolocation can reveal essential details of an IP address and the user behind. When applied correctly, the data offered by IP Geolocation API can be used to verify identities, detect fraud, personalize user experiences, gather insights and more.