What is IP geolocation?
IP geolocation is the science of determining the physical location and Internet connection characteristics of a Web visitor, and then leveraging this data to deliver the optimal user experience and determine business strategy. IP geolocation is the technology upon which our Internet Location Intelligence platform is based.
How is IP geolocation used?
IP geolocation has demonstrated business value in four primary areas – fraud prevention, marketing, compliance, and security. In the fraud area, e-commerce and financial services sites can compare a Web visitors’ registration and shipping addresses with his actual location to detect suspicious transactions. Online marketers can execute geographically based ad campaigns just as they do in the offline world. Providers of digital content use relocation to determine a viewer’s geographic eligibility to access their content. Internet businesses that are subject to geography-based regulations – like online casinos – use the technology to make sure they operate legally. And governments and law enforcement agencies can trace Internet criminals.
Do I have an IP address assigned to my computer like my phone number is assigned to my phone?
IP addresses work more like the party lines used in the early phone systems. Most end-user IP addresses are dynamically assigned (from a pool of available IP addresses), rather than pre-assigned. When you connect to the Internet, your ISP assigns your computer an IP address to be used during the life of that connection. These are dynamically assigned (or DHCP) IP addresses. When you sign off, someone else will be assigned that address for temporary use. Servers (e.g., Web site hosts) and other business systems often obtain pre-assigned, “static” IP addresses, when they need to have a “permanent address” where users can find them.
Why is it so hard to locate where an IP address is?
There is no connection between the IP numbering system and your location. Unlike a land-based phone number (land line), where the area code indicates the caller’s geographic area, the IP address is unrelated to location. The IP address is more like a cell phone number. You may live in Boulder, Colorado, but have a cell phone number with a Boston area code. The cell phone number was assigned in one location, but used in another.
How can you identify a Web visitor’s location without invading their privacy?
IP geolocation maintains a person’s privacy because what is being assessed is the location of a computer within a 20-50 mile area – not a person, not an email, not a street address. Neustar’s IP geolocation method assesses the infrastructure of the Internet, not the individual.
Compare it to mailing a letter. Take an envelope and write an address on it, seal it (empty), do not include a return address, put a postage stamp on it, and mail it from a post office. The envelope will be stamped with a postal code indicating the location at which it entered the postal system. The envelope is in the postal system and will reach its destination, but there is no information about its contents or sender.
How can you use IP geolocation data to approximate the location of a visitor?
To use the IP address to approximate the location of the user, two pieces of information are critical. First, you must know the physical location of the computer where the IP address is assigned. Once that is known, you must know how the computer is connecting to the Internet.
Let’s say the computer with the IP address is located in Toronto, Canada. If the computer user is connected to the Internet via DSL we can make a location assumption because we know that a DSL connection must be within 1.6 miles of the DSL Server. But if that same user was connecting to the Internet via a dial-up connection, then we know the user can be anywhere in the world and dialing back into his ISP’s POP. To accurately target a user’s location it is important to have both the physical location of the computer and to know the network connection type. Just looking at the location of the IP address is not enough.
To accurately target your users via IP address, it is important to have all this information – physical location of the computer and connection type — as a part of your decision-making process. Just looking at the location of the IP address is not enough.
What is Internet Protocol (IP)?
The method or protocol by which data is sent from one computer to another on the Internet. Each computer (known as a host) that is connected to the Internet has at least one IP address that uniquely identifies it from all other computers. The most widely used version of IP today is Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4). However, IP Version 6 is also beginning to be supported. IPv6 provides for much longer addresses and therefore for the possibility of many more Internet users. IPv6 includes the capabilities of IPv4 and any server that can support IPv6 packets can also support IPv4 packets.
What is IPv6?
IP version 6 uses 128-bit addresses. Within version 6,there are 340,282,366,920,938,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 possible IP addresses.
What is “WorldIPv6Day”? When is it?
As stated by the Internet Society, “on 8 June, 2011, Google, Facebook, Yahoo!, Akamai and Limelight Networks will be amongst some of the major organizations that will offer their content over IPv6 for a 24-hour “test flight”. The goal of the Test Flight Day is to motivate organizations across the industry – Internet service providers, hardware makers, operating system vendors and web companies – to prepare their services for IPv6 to ensure a successful transition as IPv4 addresses run out.”
What impact does Neustar IP Intelligence anticipate from that day?
It will certainly bring more overall attention to IPv6. However, as stated above, June 8 is being driven by content providers, not ISPs. ISPs need to start provisioning IPv6 IP addresses before the market will really take off.
Does Neustar IP Intelligence provide IPv6 data today?
Neustar has a JumpStart program for customers that want to start integrating IP based location and network data into their IPv6 applications. The data set is currently in a limited set of fields for IPv6. The availability of other location and network intelligence will be dictated by demands and market adoption.
What delivery mechanism supports the IPv6 data?
The IPv6 data is available as a data file or through GDS 6.2, using the Java API.
I am not currently running GDS6.2. Can I still enroll in the IPv6 Jumpstart program?
Yes, you will need a separate instance of the GDS to run the IPv6 data.
How can I enroll for the IPv6 Jumpstart program?
Please contact your Customer Success Manager or email support-IPintel@neustar.biz.
What specific fields are currently available in the IPv6 data?
The data is derived from registry records and includes:
- continent
- country, country_code
- region, state
- city, postal_code, phone_number_prefix, timezone, latitude, longitude
dma,msa - registering organization
How many entries does Neustar IP Intelligence have today?
It varies by week but approximately 60,000 rows.
Can the Jumpstart version be used on our production systems?
Yes, the Jumpstart version has gone through Neustar’s full QA cycle. GDS customers are required to use a separate GDS instance. As a reminder, at this time, support for IPv6 is available on GDS 6.2 using the Java API.
When will Neustar IP Intelligence be releasing a generally available version of its IPv6 data?
Neustar plans to take feedback from our customers to develop a full set of offerings related to IPv6. A generally available version will be released when IPv6 is more widely deployed by ISPs around the world.
When will most people get access to IPv6?
The rollout to residential consumers has not really happened yet. Comcast has begun trials and they plan to complete the transition by 2012 once they determine which of several approaches works for them. And, everyone with Verizon 4G wireless service gets a native IPv6 address. Some businesses have access to IPv6 but it is still unclear how many who have access are taking advantage of it. Only until recently, content available via IPv6 was lacking, but that is changing.
