For decades, companies and government agencies have been adding location data to content, enabling users of geographic information systems (GIS) to analyze content based on physical location and visualize the content by plotting it on maps. But while GIS was largely confined to a relatively small market niche, the maturation of geography and mapping standards combined with the increasing popularity of consumer Web site services is supercharging the effort to add location data to content. The umbrella term for this Web-based activity is "geoweb." In this initial research note on the topic, we will discuss what the geoweb is, what it enables, and how it will evolve.
The geoweb adds to - not competes with - the Web
What is the geoweb? Like many nascent technology terms, the definition depends on who you ask. In the vendor world, the meaning of the term can vary from company to company. Industry analysts complicate the matter further, as the individual firms and analysts tend to push their own terminology -- sometimes regardless of industry acceptance. They also tend to ignore things not on the research calendar, which is the case for geoweb, so the term has not gained much ground from that community. Likewise, the mainstream business and trade press tends to not understand or avoid the topic, only focusing on geography when it concerns a popular product or service, such as a new model of GPS-enabled iPhone from media darling Apple, or an enhancement to a well-known mapping application, such as Google Earth. However, there is an active blogging community focused on the topic of mapping, content, and location data. But even in that group, the geoweb term is not always applied or not applied in the same manner or with the same meaning (e.g., proponents of the concept may call it the geospatial Web).
That said, it is important to get on the same page in terms of what the geoweb term implies. From our perspective, the geoweb is about:
- Adding location data to Web content, not the creation of a parallel Web. The geoweb isn't another version of the Web -- a parallel Web for geography fanatics. Despite its name, the geoweb is more a concept than an actual product or site. The concept is adding geographic information to Web content and then displaying it on a map to give the user a better understanding of where specific content -- a news story, for example -- comes from or how it relates to the real, physical world. Think of the geoweb as an enhanced Web that has been improved by injecting or retrofitting content with location data.
- Content tied to a precise location. To be part of the geoweb, content has to become location aware. This is accomplished by tagging the content with precise geographic data using standard map coordinates (latitude and longitude). The process of tagging can occur during content creation or after the fact, using analysis techniques and appending the location data. A series of terms, from geotagging to geocoding to geoparsing, encompasses the variety of means for adding the correct location information.
- Another successful Web 2.0 technology adoption. The term Web 2.0 has come to mean any number of “new” technologies, such as the use of AJAX for interactive Web interfaces and the adoption of social bookmarking tools for popularizing Web content. The geoweb is another Web 2.0-like enhancement to the Internet, further moving the Web from a digital forum for static, impersonal content to an interactive, easy-to-use, and increasingly personalized information source. Implementing the geoweb concept does not require future technology. To tag, analyze, and display geoweb data simply requires modern browsers and access to sites and services that are capable of managing and serving geoweb content.
The geoweb delivers enhanced capabilities to all types of users
What does the geoweb enable? It enables:
- A new way to navigate the mass of ever-growing Web content. There are two primary ways for most users to navigate on the Web -- by the embedded navigation system of a site (i.e., menus, links, and other predefined navigation techniques built upon the hypertext linking capabilities of the Web) and by search.
Embedded navigation: Using maps overlaid with content will offer users a new form of visual navigation. A site can determine if its primary, supplemental, or alternative interface is geoweb-driven. For example, a news site may decide to default its home page navigation to a view of the world with news items appended to the appropriate regions. It might also offer a map view as a supplement to traditional navigation, for example, by providing an embedded map in its main menu navigation. Another option would be to let users decide between traditional and map-based navigation by providing an interface “toggle switch” for those who want a familiar menuing system and those who desire a more visual, geography-centric experience.
Search: There is no doubt that search engines will get better as algorithms are tweaked, but search results will dramatically improve by adding more metadata and other information about the content, such as location details. By adding geography specifics to content, users will be able to refine text searches and receive enhanced results as well as navigate by the search engine-generated maps.
How will these new capabilities roll out in the real world? Some vendors are making it simple for a Web-based news service to not only easily surface relevant maps related to content, but to also plot a whole range of content on a map. Others allow developers to tap into Web services to tie almost any information to a map. For example, US Olympic gold medal winners can be plotted on a map according to their hometown, giving the sports reader an easy-to-consume understanding of the concentration of this country's top athletes. In the business world, this same technology can present a sales manager a visual, map-based interface for understanding the value of deals plotted against location. In both cases, traditional Web navigation is augmented -- and potentially supplanted -- by a map/content interface. - Geo-based personalization. In addition to the more active navigation and search capabilities geoweb technology enables, adding location to content enables robust geographic personalization. With geotagged content, sites and services can ensure that users get all the relevant content they need based on location. It is possible to do this to some degree today (e.g., many sites already ask for user ZIP codes for relevant weather news), but the accuracy of the results for most content is inconsistent as sites cannot easily determine the exact location for most content. For example, without latitude or longitude, how does a Web site (specifically, its search engine, content management, and/or database) know the difference between events in Georgia? Does a story refer to the US state or the Eastern European country recently fighting with Russia? Sites try to refine queries, but by adding specific location data, a precise match can be made between geography and content, enabling a much finer-grained and accurate personalization experience.
- A much easier way to visualize content, understand its importance, and discover previously unknown relationships. The most basic impact of the geoweb evolution is that users will quickly see where things are happening or happened (such as a product sale), allowing users to validate, tweak, or change their activities. For a consumer, this could mean looking at a new neighborhood or street for a house in a low-crime neighborhood; for businesses, this could mean redefining sales regions to focus the most productive employees on the most "target rich" locations. This is a case where seeing -- the map with overlaid data -- delivers much more than the text ever could.
Simply plotting an event is only the first step, though. The next step is the ability to correlate events based on locations. GIS systems and the underlying databases that fuel the geoweb are not just about maps. They are about data analysis of geographic-centric information, with an important ability to plot the results on a map. The geoweb promises the same to Web users. Instead of simply plotting a single or series of events, a user can combine two or three events, exclude certain events, and then plot the query results on a map to deliver a much more sophisticated visual analysis of complicated, interrelated activities. - A more compelling way to disseminate content. Based upon the previous ideas of improved navigation and enhanced visualization and analysis, content providers can push out their information in more compelling ways that will increase the appeal of their content. Users will get used to seeing their content in relationship to locations they care about, allowing content providers and Web sites that embrace the capability to retain volunteer users who otherwise would simply click away to alternatives if they delivered more value.
In the business world, while users are expected to use company systems, the simplicity and ease of access of alternatives makes it important that organizations provide their users a similarly useful experience. For example, while a company may mandate the use of salesforce.com for CRM (customer relationship management) activities, ignoring the ability -- and the allure -- of geoweb-like alternative services will lead the most sophisticated internal users to either abandon or supplement existing systems with external services. This will result in less data capture, which in turn will result in a relative decrease in overall organizational knowledge. - A new, open platform for innovative services and content uses. Like the Web, the geoweb draws its power from both the reliance on industry standards and the ability for anyone to leverage the standards in ways that create offerings or content that is important to millions, hundreds, or just a handful of people. For example, by opening up its Google Maps APIs (application programming interfaces; see the API overview link here), anyone -- individuals or developers for vendors and organizations -- can decide what content they want to link to location and display it on a map. Some of these solutions, such as traffic data or electoral maps, will appeal to a wide variety of users. Other solutions will be useful or interesting to only a small population.
From GIS to GPS to Google Maps: Users are ready for the geoweb
While the term geoweb may not register in the minds of most consumers and business users, the power behind the geoweb concept has become deeply rooted with many people through their exposure to geographically enhanced content.
Adding geographic data to content is not knew. For years, government agencies, such as the US Geological Survey (USGS) and the US Census Bureau, and companies, such as oil and gas firms, have leveraged the ability to add geography to content in order to enable map- and geography-based data visualization and data analysis. GIS tools were specialized and rare when compared to other business software, and the users were a relatively small group. But despite, or perhaps because of, the relatively small and focused market, the GIS industry worked out many issues over the past decades -- solutions and insight that can be leveraged by those developing and promoting the geoweb.
For consumers, the mix of geography and content was largely reserved to static road maps, textbooks, and the occasional map on the evening news or in the local newspaper. But the rapid adoption of global positioning system devices (GPS) in cars and the widespread use of free Web mapping services (e.g., Google Maps and Microsoft’s Live Search Maps) have made the integration of maps and geographically-aware content commonplace. Like many technologies, what started out as a high-end capability used by a handful is being transformed by the impact of wide scale consumer adoption.
The result will not only be increased consumer use and a growing expectation of geographically aware content, but easier access to and lower cost of geoweb solutions for businesses, other organizations, and governments.
Wide-open tools and mobile platforms will spur geoweb success
The geoweb concept has a solid foundation to build off. GIS practitioners and their experience can be leveraged, and popular consumer devices and services lay the groundwork for further adoption of location-aware services. With the technology development and the user familiarization well underway, the geoweb concept can avoid many hurdles faced by other new technologies. And with the Web and standards as its underpinning, the creative power of developers and content providers can further drive the use of location-based content and services.
What is the next hot service or Web site featuring geoweb content? These days, it makes more sense to think in terms of computer (desktops and notebooks) and mobile device offerings (driven by the iPhone today, perhaps the Google-led Android platform in the years to come). Given that mobile platforms by nature have more geographic significance -- they are on the go, after all -- expect a lot of innovation in mobile services. Location-aware services from companies like Loopt will continue to appear as the tools become more familiar and the mobile devices gain traction.
The geoweb outlook: The term fades away, but geography becomes further entrenched
While GIS systems won't really go away, the geoweb, with its Web like economies of scale and adoption, will rapidly eclipse its parent in terms of sheer use. But how long will the geoweb itself reign? The most likely reality for the geoweb term is that its ascendancy will be short-lived. However, it won't lose favor due to failure, but rather because it is so successful. Adding location to content will become a given, and geotagging and overlaying content on maps will be an expectation, rather than a welcome surprise. Thus, while the geoweb term may have only a few minutes of fame, the geoweb concept and impact will have long-lasting, deep impact.
For geoweb vendors, the move from the spotlight to the backend will only expand business opportunities. Instead of a separate geoweb solution, content and service providers will demand that their core systems understand, interact with, and output geographic information. Vendors that make it easy to both integrate with existing services and allow for easy developer experimentation will distance themselves from others who try and sell stand-alone offerings and attempt to keep their tools and service capabilities under lock and key.
By: Tom Rhinelander
