This document discusses the increasing importance of location data on the internet. As the web evolves from a network of documents to a network of people, location and geographic context are becoming central to how people use and interact with information online. The document outlines how local search queries are growing rapidly, and how location-based advertising and apps are driving this trend. It also introduces several Yahoo! technologies and data sources that can help websites better understand location, including GeoPlanet for place data and WOEIDs, and APIs for geocoding, place-finding, and more. Location data is transforming the internet as everything from search to social becomes more place-based.

1. Where2.0Now?, November 2009 Know Your Place; Geo Without Maps Gary Gale, Yahoo! Geo Technologies

2. “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

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

5. ~15% of all PC search queries are local

6. ~45% of all mobile queries are local Sources: comScore, iConsumer, data.yahoo.com

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

8. 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

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

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

11. 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.”

12. 10 I’M SORRY DAVE, I CAN’T GEOLOCATE THAT PLACE

13. 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

14. 12 WEB SERVERS Jamison Judd on Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamisonjudd/2433102356/

15. 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)

16. 14 WEB SURFERS National Library NZ on The Commons on Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationallibrarynz_commons/3326203787/

17. 15 The West End Downtown The Shops The High Street

18. 16 The Online World Formal, normalised, structured, regular The Real World “We Are Here” The Offline World Informal, eccentric, bizarre, irregular

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

20. 18

21. 35m of 130m Geotagged Images in Flickr The World’s Attention is On… David Crandall et al., Cornell University

22. David Crandall et al., Cornell University

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

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

26. cheap flights london to munich in november

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

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

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

30. 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

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

32. THIS IS PERU …

33. AND SO IS THIS (IN ARGENTINA)

34. AND SO IS THIS (IN BOLIVIA)

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

36. Hilton, Paris Paris Hilton

37. London Jack London

38. Panama Panama Hats

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

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

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

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

43. “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/

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

45. 51° 30' 50.0868", 0° 7' 42.8514"

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

48. 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

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

51. postal codes, airports

52. admin regions, time zones

53. telephone code areas

54. marketing areas

55. points of interest

56. colloquial areas

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

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

59. 44418 12589342

60. 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/

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

62. 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

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

65. Where they are in text

66. Where in structure (title, element names, etc.)Found Normalized WOEID

69. http://isithackday.com/hacks/placemaker/map.php

70. PEOPLE http://fireeagle.yahoo.net/developer

71. 60

72. Sparrow & Voila!

73. http://mapme.at/

74. http://apps.facebook.com/on-fire/#

75. “Webvolution” Web 2.0: Networked People Web 1.0: Networked Documents Web x: Networked World

76. DIG DEEPER? dvd3141 on Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/fuddland/12747989/

78. http://developer.yahoo.com/geo/geoplanet/

80. http://developer.yahoo.com/geo/placemaker/

82. http://fireeagle.yahoo.net/

83. http://www.slideshare.net/vicchi

84. THANKS FOR LISTENING Paul Keleher on Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/pkeleher/1658311814/

85. www.ygeoblog.com twitter.com/yahoogeo twitter.com/vicchi