Understanding - The Basics of Geolocation

All modern smartphones equipped with Global Positioning System chip inside. GPS uses the information about location and timing that satellites send from space. Having an app that uses GPS is extremely draining on mobile batteries. There are a few different levels of how GPS can be used that does help save battery life, but they are less accurate with a user’s physical location.

According to a survey, the potential value of the location-based service market is close to $20 billion. Geo-Targeting Vs. Geofencing Vs. Beaconing, are all about leveraging location services.

Geolocation is the identification (or estimation at best) of a device’s physical place.

Geo-Targeting Vs. Geofencing Vs. Beaconing

Types of Geolocation

`Geofencing`

Geofencing is a technology that helps to identify geographical boundaries via GPS and RFID technologies. Geofencing refers to drawing a virtual barrier around a location using users’ IP addresses or without opt-in for IP addresses. Ads inside this parameter can be seen on any devices by any users within this location. Unlike geotargeting, geofencing is dependent on a person’s mobility — like crossing a designated boundary. Relies most heavily on GPS (and WiFi, to some degree)

Best used to find users who: are nearby your store, venue, mall or service.

`Geotargeting`

Geotargeting refers to delivering ads to people that meet a specific targeting criteria and are inside a defined radius. If you’ve defined your target market and want to show ads to those targeted person only. Location accuracy is not as important when using geo-targeting, as other preferences refine your segment. Relies most heavily on IP address.

Best used to reach users who: live or move about in a certain area, for whom you have other data like preferences or demographic info.

`Beaconing`

Beacons are highly specific, to the point that they can tell when users in a retail space go upstairs or downstairs or enter a certain aisle.

Best used to reach users who: are in a certain aisle of your store; who are on a certain bus or train; who are moving through a space like a museum

What is the difference between beacons and geo-targeting?

Geotargeting uses GPS technology to identify customer locations. Whereas Beacons are created using Bluetooth nodes and are used when you want to notify person when they visit a particular aisle.

One important item to remember is that the minimum radius for geofencing and geotargeting strategies on any platforms is 1 mile.

Conclusion

In fact, they are different targeting strategies that should be used for specific campaign objectives. Understanding the types of geolocation is the first step. It will then become easier to understand why, when, and how the appropriate targeting is determined.

One of possible solution to fight COVID-19 - according to NSO Group, geolocation data analytics tools has developed a product aimed at analysing data to map people’s movements to identify who they’ve come in contact with, which can then be used to stop the spread of infection. Mobile phone tracking information from the infected person, which it then matches with location data collected by local telco companies, enabling it to pinpoint citizens who were in the patient’s vicinity for more than 15 minutes and are vulnerable to contagion.

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