An unfamiliar area of the city, a small amount of free time, and the need (or desire) to get to the metro/hotel/station – probably everyone has gotten into such a situation at least once. In such cases, a service that provides information about nearby points of interest will come to your aid.
What Is POI?
Points of Interest or POIs are special locations that are considered useful from the point of view of the person who has marked the point. Points of interest usually include, but are not limited to:
- Cultural objects – theaters, churches, squares, historical buildings;
- Transport network nodes – metro and train stations, airports, bus, and taxi stops;
- Industrial objects and places of business – stores, gas stations, markets.
Many collections of POIs were created as a crowdfunded effort when many people were adding their favorite places to a shared knowledge base. But the most detailed and precise databases are usually made by specific companies that made their business providing knowledge for navigation applications and websites.
POI Usage
The usage of POI information is extremely beneficial for both businesses and customers. Users can make better decisions about their routes and buying choices because they have many useful pieces of information about places nearby, such as:
- Distance from the current location;
- Working hours and contact details;
- Ratings and reviews;
- Other similar places in the area;
And much more.
And by just being in the POI database, companies are getting free advertisements and move another step closer to their potential customers. In addition to latitude and longitude, which are always required for becoming a point of interest, company information might include a description, category and search tags, contact details, and business hours.
Challenges of Finding Accurate POI Data
The navigation data market is filled with offers from many providers who promise only the best POI data for the best price. But outside marketing promises, there are four factors that differentiate high-quality POI data from other datasets:
- Freshness;
- Accuracy;
- Consistency;
- Coverage.
Information Freshness
A new supermarket or restaurant is opening; new parking spaces are being built while a nearby cinema may close. Information about points of interest based on new data is important for users to avoid negative experiences because the location of interest may not be available at the moment. Many free databases lack data freshness as constant database updates require a large amount of continuous effort.
POI Accuracy – No Fake Places
To avoid bad experiences for your customers, analyze the sources of POI data you are getting access to. Some providers might gather big POI datasets from various sources to increase their coverage statistics without really verifying if some points of interest existed in the first place.
Consistent Updates of POI Database
A dataset of any scale quickly becomes outdated if it is not constantly updated. Keeping information fresh usually requires powerful company infrastructure and many hours of work. Any high-quality POI dataset should come with a predictable way of getting constant updates.
Global Coverage
Even the freshest and most accurate POI collection will not be enough if it doesn’t cover the whole region you are targeting. Even if you have really grand plans and want to cover the whole world – it is better to depend on as few providers as possible. Finding a POI provider who can offer full coverage in countries and regions you are interested in is the right way to go.
Our POI Data Verification Services
With the recent pandemic devastating the global economy, many points of interest are gone out of business forever. If you feel that your POI database is out of date or missing some important details, Intetics POI updating service is just for you. Using trusted POI data sources, we verify over 50,000 POIs in over 35 countries around the world every month. Our services include:
- Data correctness check: verifying POI location, description and contact information;
- Restoring missing/incomplete POI information;
- Eliminating duplicates, outdated and nonexistent places.
Intetics uses a range of unique techniques to continually verify the POI database. Our research specialists analyze the available data in open Internet sources and cross-reference public POI databases to always keep your dataset updated. The collected information is verified through telephone calls and in-person visits. This multi-step process guarantees the highest quality of collected data and best user experience for your customers.
