In recent years, “points of interest” has gained a lot of popularity. The days of browsing a phone book to find local services are long gone. People in the modern world want to use their smartphones to find out what fascinating locations are nearby, where they are, and how to get there.
However, what precisely is POI? What is its purpose? Moreover, where can you find POI data for your website or app? In this helpful post, we go over all the fundamentals.
What is points of interest (POI) data?
The physical locations of fascinating or practical places that draw people’s attention are represented by POI data. For instance, a sizable grocery store, a pharmacy, a tourist spot, an office complex, or even that little hot dog shop at the railway station.
Why are the Points of Interest important to you as a company?
Because it provides the crucial location context of particular places, it can aid in decision-making, interacting with customers, and expansion initiatives.
Why is POI data important?
In a corporate environment, researching items of interest has benefits. This is especially true when precise data leads to insights and foot traffic to sales. In developing areas, location-based technology and POI datasets hold significant potential. The impact on future business and global trade is significant.
A firm gains more knowledge and creativity by analyzing human mobility. Why? It is simpler to connect on a similar ground the more you analyze how customers interact with your brand or a particular location.
How to find a point of interest data?
So, where do you find information on points of interest? Several sources, including user-generated location data, government directories, websites like Google Maps, and manual verification, are used by data suppliers to gather their information. All of these sources include some POI information, although the quality, accuracy, and timeliness of the information vary.
Common Techniques for Gathering Point-of-Interest Data
The most common techniques for gathering point-of-interest data include crawling the web, using GPS devices, and using manually created databases. Here’s a closer look at the most common techniques for gathering point-of-interest data.
Website sources:
Obtaining POI data from websites like Google Maps and OpenStreetMap is the simplest method. There are several restrictions to using web scraping technologies to export POI information directly into a database or file. While some websites permit this kind of extraction, others have safeguards in place to stop widespread scraping. It can particularly take a lot of time, and the data isn’t always maintained current.
Directories of the government:
Commercial location data is converted by several governments into POI databases that are accessible to the general public. This does have its limitations. Similar to web sources, businesses are encouraged to keep their information current. As a result, over time, the statistics may become erroneous.
Verification by hand:
Using a unique smartphone app, several data suppliers manually check their data on the ground. Compared to web scraping or other automated processes, this yields a more accurate data set. POIs are continuously updated, confirmed, and added.
Web Crawling:
Web crawling is another particular process of automatically visiting websites and extracting data from them. Web crawlers typically start with a list of seed URLs, which are then fetched and parsed to extract links to other URLs. These extracted links are then fetched and parsed again, and the process repeats recursively until all URLs have been visited. The goal of web crawling is to discover all accessible pages on the web.
GPS Devices:
GPS devices can be used to gather point-of-interest data. GPS devices work by receiving satellite signals and then using these signals to calculate the GPS device’s location on Earth. GPS devices can be used to track the location of vehicles, people, or assets in real-time. Additionally, GPS devices can be used to track the movements of animals or monitored for geotagging purposes.
Manually Created Databases:
Point-of-interest data can also be gathered by manually creating databases. This is often done by businesses that want to keep track of their locations and products relative to their competitors. Manually created databases can also be used to store the locations of things of interest that are not readily available elsewhere, such as historical landmarks or hidden gems in a city.
Final Thoughts:
There are a variety of techniques that can be used to gather point-of-interest data. The most common techniques include crawling the web, using GPS devices, and using manually created databases. By understanding the different techniques that can be used to gather point-of-interest data, you will be better equipped to choose the right technique for your specific needs.
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