Location Aware Web

Adding location to a website makes web content more relevant and user-friendly. It allows publishers to deliver location-based information, simpler store finders, and social networking applications that connect nearby friends.

The location-aware web also creates new opportunities for high-value location targeted advertising. Skyhook Wireless tests have shown an amazing four percent click-through rate on location-targeted text ads, a rate ten times higher than that of standard online text ads. This is only the beginning of location aware advertising on the web. Soon, we will start to see more and more location-aware targeted online ads relevant to a users' exact current location. These ads can be targeted to very specific physical locations (downtown office buildings, nightlife hotspots), display a website visitor's distance from a retail location and offer incentives to visit (e.g., you are .2 miles from Bob's Coffee shop, stop by for $1 off), and much more.

Loki, the location-aware browser plug-in, uses the Wi-Fi Positioning System from Skyhook Wireless to pinpoint physical location within the browser. Flickr, the leading photo sharing website, has integrated Loki into the "Find My Location" button on the Flickr Map. Loki allows Flickr to instantly determine a user's exact location and show them nearby interesting photos. With a database of over 500 million geotagged photos, location helps Flickr to display only the most relevant surrounding photos.

MapQuest has also deployed Loki within the MapQuest Toolbar so that users can easily find directions from their current location without having to type in an address. Product finders like Krillion, social networking websites like BrightKite, local search engines like CitySquares have also integrated the Loki to improve search results and social connections.