Category: Location

Point

A zero-dimensional object that represents a single location in space.

Point Cloud

A set of points in space, usually representing the surface of an object.

Point of Interest (POI)

A point of interest (POI) is a defined location that matters for analysis — a shop, restaurant, transport hub, venue or landmark. In a location dataset, POIs are the reference geography that raw coordinates are measured against: without them, a position is just a number pair.

Points, polygons and why the difference matters

A POI is often stored as a single coordinate, but a single point cannot say whether someone was inside a building or walking past it. Serious visitation analysis uses polygons — boundaries drawn around the actual premises. Polygon quality is the single largest driver of accuracy in visit attribution: a boundary that spills into a neighbouring unit, a pavement or a shared car park will record visits that never took place.

What a POI record usually contains

Beyond geometry, a usable POI dataset carries a name, a category or classification, an address, and often opening hours, brand or chain membership, and a stable identifier so the same place can be tracked over time.

Keeping them current

POI data decays quickly. Businesses close, rebrand, move and change footprint, and a dataset that is not actively maintained will silently misattribute activity to places that no longer exist. Recency of update is a fair question to ask any POI supplier.

Polygon

A polygon is a closed geometric figure with straight sides. Triangles, squares, and hexagons are all examples of polygons.

Position

The location of an object in space, often described by its coordinates.

Positional accuracy

The degree to which the position of an object agrees with its true or expected position.

Postal address

An address that uniquely identifies a specific location, used for the delivery of mail and other packages.

Precision

The degree to which repeated measurements of the same quantity agree with each other.

Projected coordinate reference system

A coordinate reference system in which positions are defined by their coordinates in a two-dimensional projection of the earth’s surface.

Proximity Marketing

Proximity marketing is a location-based marketing technique that involves targeting potential customers based on their proximity to a specific location. This can be done using GPS technology or by targeting specific zip codes or geographic areas.