Placecast Becomes Location Police

There’s lots of messy and inconsistent location data out there (see, e.g., the graphic below). Now 1020 Placecast is seeking to clean it up. Today the company announced a free tool, “Match API,” which it is calling a “Rosetta Stone” for location data:

Placecast . . . today announced that they are opening up their Match API for free to the location-based ecosystem. Using this free tool enables location content providers and location-based application developers to refer to a location in any number of ways, and validate that those references resolve to one true location on the planet. Placecast’s Match API is aimed at resolving the time consuming and complex problem of correcting location data that creates little inherent value, so that LBS companies can focus on improving their services and attracting marketing spend.

Location-based companies such as WCities, Socialight, Urban Mapping, and Buzzd have expressed interest in the capability and have begun testing the open web services API. Like a Rosetta Stone for location data, these services can use Placecast’s Match API to translate between different reference systems and correctly identify a location, regardless of the ID system.

The value of this is self-evident. But in the context of other location-related developments (e.g., the launch of SimpleGEO) it shows how LBS and local more broadly are really picking up steam online and in mobile.

Placecast is one of five panelists in my session at Where 2.0 tomorrow: Monetizing Location and LBS: How Do We Get There from Here? It should be a great discussion featuring:

Don Weigel (deCarta), Blair Swedeen (1020 Placecast), Bardia Dejban(Citysearch.com), Surojit Chatterjee (Google), Dan Gilmartin (WHERE)

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