Know Your Place

Telematics 2009, Munich, November 2009
Know Your Place; Geo Without Maps
Gary Gale, Yahoo! Geo Technologies

“Webvolution”
Web x: Web of the World
Web 1.0: Web of Documents
Web 2.0: Web of People
A Geo-Enriched, Location-Aware Internet

“LOCAL” – DEPENDENT ON LOCATION
ncinelli on Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncinelli/3757585778/

Local Search Query Volume Is Growing

Local search is rapidly growing: 55% volume growth 07-08
~15% of all PC search queries are local
~45% of all mobile queries are local

Sources: comScore, iConsumer, data.yahoo.com

Local Search Query Volume Is Growing
Source: Borrell Associates, May 2008 “What Local Media Sites Earn – Annual Report.”

4.45
Ad Spend is Moving Online …
2007-12 Projected Local Ad Spend CAGR
21.0%
Internet
Newspaper
-2.5%
0.4%
Radio
0.8%
Yellow Pages
4.9%
Broadcast TV
8.8%
Cable TV
4.3%
Magazine
Source: VSS, Borrell Associates

… At the Expense of Other Media Sources
Source: VeronisSuhler Stevenson

LOCATION IS BECOMING UBIQUITOUS
stevegarfield on Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevegarfield/1270723762//

Location-Based Online Advertising
Location-Based IPhone Apps
GPS-Enabled Phones
Community Mapping
Location Device Sales
Source: Borrell Associates, May 2008 “What Local Media Sites Earn – Annual Report.”

10
I’M SORRY DAVE, I CAN’T GEOLOCATE THAT PLACE

The nature and importance of geography are not well understood. The differences between physical and human geography and the shared core of concepts can be confusing … understanding of geography outside the discipline often extends no further than the colloquial
– Matthews & Herbert, 2008

12
WEB SERVERS
Jamison Judd on Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamisonjudd/2433102356/

13
51° 30' 50.0868", 0° 7' 42.8514"
(125 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, UK)
163.1.117.210
(Oxford, UK)
20442/6015
(Brest, France)
#C5243B212
(Wilmington, Delaware, USA)

14
WEB SURFERS
National Library NZ on The Commons on Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationallibrarynz_commons/3326203787/

15
The West End
Downtown
The Shops
The High Street

16
The Online World
Formal, normalised, structured, regular
The Real World
“We Are Here”
The Offline World
Informal, eccentric, bizarre, irregular

DATA WANTED
KoenVereeken on Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/koenvereeken/2088902012/

18

35m of 130m Geotagged Images in Flickr
The World’s Attention is On…
David Crandall et al., Cornell University

David Crandall et al., Cornell University

http://boundaries.tomtaylor.co.uk/

LANGUAGE
Jovike on Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/jvk/19894053/

cheap flights london to munich in november

IN … INDIA?
bodhitjal on Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/bodhithaj/361857780/

IN … INDIANA?
OZinOH on Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/75905404@N00/505688957/

TO … TONGA?
j_buswell on Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/j_buswell/3683814556/

Thé?
a town in Burgundy, France
IN?
ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2
for India
To?
a town in Ibaraki
prefecture, Japan
Is?
another town in Burgundy, France
IT?
ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2 for Italy
AND?
ISO 31660-1 Alpha-3
for Andorra
You?
a town in Yatenga, Burkina Faso
Å?
a town in NorlandFylke,
Norway
That?
a town in Rajasthan, India

DISAMBIGUATION
KoenVereeken on Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/koenvereeken/2088902012/

THIS IS PERU …

AND SO IS THIS (IN ARGENTINA)

AND SO IS THIS (IN BOLIVIA)

SEMANTICS REQUIRED
dullhunk on Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/dullhunk/3525013547/

Hilton, Paris
Paris Hilton

London
Jack London

Panama
Panama Hats

WHO USES OFFICIAL NAMES ANYWAY?
takomabibelot on Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/takomabibelot/234301712/

MOMA NYC
Museum of Modern Art, New York
paulamoya on Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/40351463@N00/745012335/

Millennium Wheel
London Eye
hismith83 on Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/hismith83/200701961/

San Francisco
City and County of San Francisco
SF Brit on Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/cnbattson/192162591/

“we can make the internet work better by making it
understand how we talk in the real world”
Billy V on Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/billyv/352560572/

PLACE BASED THINKING
alxndr on Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/alxndr/16750001/

51° 30' 50.0868", 0° 7' 42.8514"

PLACES, PEOPLE and THINGS
atibens on Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/atibens/2616899638/

Knowing where our users are, and the places that are important to them
Knowing
geographic locations, and the names of places
Knowing the geographic context of everything we index, manage and publish

http://where.yahooapis.com/v1/
PLACES

GeoPlanet
A Global Location Repository
Names + Geometry +Topology
WOEIDs for

cities and towns
postal codes, airports
admin regions, time zones
telephone code areas
marketing areas
points of interest
colloquial areas
neighbourhoods

woodleywonderworks on Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/2222523978/

WOEIDs
stevefaeembra on Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevefaeembra/3567750853/

44418
12589342

Unique
Permanent
Global
Language Neutral
London = Londra = Londres = ロンドン
United States = États-Unis = StatiUniti = 미국
Ensures that geography can be employed consistently and globally
straup on Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/straup/3504862388/

Continents
Countries
Counties
Regions
Colloquials
Targeting Zones
Postal Codes
Area Codes
Boroughs
Neighbourhoods
POIs

United Kingdom
23424975
VereinigtesKönigreich
Europe
24865675
Country
Continent
Royaume Uni
England
24554868
Great Britain
28298150
Country
Colloquial
イギリス
Warwickshire
12602190
Worcestershire
12602192
County
County
Earth
1
Supername
Stratford-on-Avon
12696101
District
Stratford-upon-Avon
36424
Warwick
39228
Town
Town
CV37
26787646
ZIP

THINGS
http://wherein.yahooapis.com/v1/

Beijing (x2)  Beijing, China (City)  2151330
China (x6)  China (Country)  23424781
Tibet (x3)  Tibet (Sheng)  12578004
Dharamsala (x1)  Dharamsala, IN (town)  2294967
London (x1) London, UK (town)  44418
India (x1)  India (country)  23424848
Geoparse Content
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