Digital Element

Digital Element is a U.S.-based corporation that first coined the phrase "IP Intelligence", a technology that maps the Internet using non-invasive methods and indexes by Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. First to market this technology and considered an early pioneer in the geolocation market, the company provides an online technology that uncovers characteristics about online users based solely on their IP addresses^[1]. This information can be used to target advertising, localize content, manage geographic rights, drive local search and enhance analytics. It is a business unit of Digital Envoy, part of Dominion Enterprises. In 2007, Landmark Communications, Inc. purchased parent company Digital Envoy. The company is now a part of Dominion Enterprises, a media and information services company.

Digital Element was founded in 1999 by Rob Friedman, Sanjay Parekh and Dennis Maicon.It is privately funded with investments from AOL Time Warner Ventures, Siemens Venture Capital, H&Q Asia Pacific, CrossBow Ventures, Cordova Ventures and Frontier Capital. It is a business unit of Digital Envoy. U.S. headquarters is located in Norcross, Georgia, USA.

Technology overview

Methodology: Digital Element utilizes more than 20 different methods to determine the physical location of an IP address down to the city level worldwide^[2]. Digital Element utilizes Intelligent Trace Agents (ITAs), which function in much the same way as a search engine spider. ITAs constantly crawl the Internet, providing a comprehensive, global view by utilizing network tools, routing tables (BGP, ASN, etc.) and triangulation from various points on the Internet, to name just a few. The data information is constantly monitored and updated.

Patents: The company’s technology utilizes more than 20 different patented and patent-pending methods ^[3][4][5].

Products

NetAcuity uncovers geographic information, connection speed, domain name, Internet Service Provider (ISP), language and other characteristics about online users based solely on their IP addresses. NetAcuity Edge is a hyperlocal^[6] data set for five-digit zip code and UK postal code targeting.

Industries served

There are many industries that can benefit from using geolocation technology. These include online advertisers, online advertising networks^[7], online retailers, financial services firms ^[8], education, manufacturing, hospitality and travel^[9], and technology companies.

Applications

Current Trends in technology is ideal for targeted online advertising^[10], content localization^[11], geographic rights management, and enhanced analytics.

See also

• IP Intelligence
• Geolocation
• IP Geolocation
• IP Location or IP Address
• Geolocation software
• Geomarketing
• Geotargeting
• Geographic Rights Management
• Internet Protocol
• IP Address
• Website localization
• Web analytics

References

1. ^ Practical eCommerce “Quick Query: What, Exactly, Is An IP Address?", September 4, 2009
2. ^ KeyNote Systems “Keynote Systems Completes Assessment of Digital Element's IP Intelligence Technology”, April 2, 2008
3. ^ U.S. Patent Number 6757740
4. ^ U.S. Patent Number 10106523
5. ^ U.S. Patent Number 7451233
6. ^ MarketingVox:"NetAcuity Edge serves hyperlocal targeting"
7. ^ iMedia Connection “Ad Exchanges will be revolutionized by IP intelligence” October 13, 2009
8. ^ Wall Street Journal, “On the Web's Cutting Edge, Anonymity in Name Only”, August 4, 2010
9. ^ Brand Republic, “Thetrainline brings Digital Element on board for localised ad task”, February 10, 2011
10. ^ Contagious Magazine:“Back to Basics for Online Advertising”, December 7, 2009
11. ^ Internet Retailer “Personalized web site content gives retailers an edge’, June 25, 2010

External links

• Digital Envoy website: [1]
• Dominion Enterprises website: [2]
• Digital Element website: [3]
• Competitors
  • IP2Location [4]
  • MaxMind [5]
  • Quova [6]