Using MaxMind’s accuracy radius

As more of the world takes a privacy-focused approach to web use, IP geolocation fills an essential niche in customer analytics. It’s fast, it’s non-invasive and doesn’t require the customer to opt-in, and it works for most IP addresses. If you want to get the most value out of IP geolocation, however, you have to understand how to use the data effectively. The mappable geolocation area data included in MaxMind’s geolocation products and services is composed of geolocation coordinates (latitude and longitude), and an accuracy radius (in kilometers). This mappable area is our most precise geolocation data because, as discussed in our previous post on accuracy, IP geolocation isn’t precise enough to put a pin on a map . Some geolocation technology (for example, GPS) may return a point, or a point with such a small accuracy radius that it can easily be treated as a point, but IP geolocation is different.