Have you ever experienced visiting a website that redirects you to a landing page specific to your current location? Have you asked yourself how they do it? This is made possible through a technique known as IP geolocation.
In its most basic form, the technology offers the ability to identify the geographical position of a device such as a computer or a smartphone — looking into its geolocation data and the assistance of an IP database. And to operate as part of other systems, the method requires the use of an Application Programming Interface or API.
But IP geolocation isn’t limited to just redirecting visitors to the sites or pages that can best serve them. It can be applied to enable or enhance several other functions as well. Let’s find out about these below.
1. Manage Network Traffic for Better Cyber Defense
As the digital threat landscape continues to evolve and grow in sophistication, traditional security measures continue to fall behind in effectiveness. More and more advanced attacks are happening, and that is why new types of security measures are needed.
Network traffic management, also known as traffic filtering, is the use of traffic attributes that can grant or prevent someone from accessing a certain network. With IP geolocation technology, in-house protocols can go a step further by revealing the geographical locations of different IP addresses — letting organizations reject incoming traffic from places outside of their jurisdiction.
If you’d like to read more about the correlation of traffic filtering and IP geolocation, you can continue learning about it here.
2. Improve Price Optimization Strategies in E-commerce
Price optimization is the idea of selling goods at varying prices, which will depend on several factors. A commodity’s pricing scheme can be determined based on competitors, the current supply and demand, their sales goals, and present conversion rates. For e-commerce businesses, failing to consider this aspect can result in reduced profits or none at all.
With IP geolocation, brands can start implementing a protocol that automatically recognizes where their customers are buying from. This sort of dynamic pricing can allow companies to automate the adjustment of prices depending on the location of a purchaser. Such an approach is especially ideal for online businesses as it lets them compensate for varying rates while also not overcharging their consumers.
But that’s not all. Digital retailers can employ IP geolocation to learn where their products are selling well and where they are failing to make an impact. And based on these statistics, they can then set up clearance discounts on a regional basis. This will permit brands to manage their revenues far more effectively by only giving out discounts where it makes sense rather than across the whole market.
3. Enhance Copyright Protection and Digital Rights Management
The rapid growth of connected devices and the Internet of Things means that nearly anyone can access and download licensed content from anywhere in the globe — making it difficult to detect and keep track of the unauthorized publication and consumption of copyrighted materials.
With IP geolocation technology, companies can manage and regulate access to their content depending on the geographical location of a device or whether a VPN or proxies are in use. This allows them to enhance the protection of their digital content distribution while also remaining compliant with licensing and regulations such as the DMCA.
Data from IP geolocation can also be utilized as an additional layer in terms of analytics as specialists can determine where and when certain content was accessed, notably with metrics like the number of downloads and views. Organizations can then use the gathered intelligence to improve existing processes and capabilities moving forward.
All in all, IP geolocation is a dynamic technology that can be applied to various use cases, including network management, price optimization, and copyright protection.
