What Is IP Geolocation?
Many of our competitors use Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to geolocate users, which as a standalone solution, is often not sensitive enough to deliver accuracy to a State Line or a Block Level.
An Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission (IRGC) report on the possible regulation of Intrastate Internet Poker noted that IP address gelocation is not 100% reliable and it can be “spoofed”. One method used to spoof IP addresses is through the use of an anonymizer (better known as a proxy server) which masks a user’s actual IP addresses. More information about proxy servers and their usage is available here.
We address this issues presented by proxy servers through the deployment of specialized Proxy Server Detection equipment that recognizes when a user is masking their real IP address and blocks them from accessing a service from outside a regulated area.
Even in cases where a user’s actual IP address is not masked there can be a discrepancy between the location of an IP address and a user’s real location. This discrepancy can result in a user located just on the inside edge of a regulated area being denied access to a service or a user just outside of a regulated area being permitted access. This problem is often caused by the inaccuracy of the IP database used. Geolocation companies that rely on IP based location in the U.S. often claim an IP to state database accuracy of 98% to 99%. However, the figures regarding the accuracy of IP based geolocation very wildly, ranging from 70% to 99%.
Due to these issues IP based geolocation may well not be enough for an operator to confirm their user’s location. This is why GeoComply offers a MATRIX solution that uses a number of different metrics to determine the location of a user. In addition to IP geolocation, GeoComply utilizes multiple data sources in-order to calculate a user’s locations. These data sources include; GPS, WiFi access point triangulation, screen sharing detection software and proxy server detection. By taking advantage of these multiple metrics (analysed through a secure and proprietary decision-making engine) GeoComply offers an unrivalled accuracy for geolocating PC & Mac web users.