Friday, July 10, 2009

Google Maps knows where you are now

Google Maps now includes a geolocation, like Yahoo and its flagship service Flickr. The service provides online mapping with a single click on a button to know its position with more or less precision, as we would do its smartphone with Google Maps for mobile. It is for this technology on the W3C into Chrome and the recent Firefox 3.5, whereas Internet Explorer and Safari are compatible via the Google Gears extension.

Like phone on the other hand, technology based on WiFi access points nearby, triangulation and cross with the location of access points identified in a database. In a dense area, the card is automatically tallied on the position detected with an accuracy of a few tens of meters. In the absence of WiFi, the system itself to the IP address and an approximate position. For the sake of privacy, the browser asks for confirmation to the user for geolocation.

A search with a keyword such as "restaurant" is used to automatically find a restaurant near the place where you are. Google will not fail to find alternative uses a geolocation so precise, for the better-targeted advertising?

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