> Geofeeds are useful because they cut out the middleman in terms of geo info, > and provide a mechanism for someone to detect and react to that change > quickly, since a very large use case for these is targeted content and > advertising.
I work for IPinfo. We use active measurements for IP geolocation as a primary source of data. We consider geofeeds as a second-tier source of information. We use it as a fallback data source when active measurements fail. The honest reality is that geofeed does not provide verification metadata of any form. They can be stale, wrong, or false, and maintaining them is a pain for ASN providers. Many large telecoms do not even have publicly accessible geofeed. For example, AS11260 (Eastlink.ca) does not have a publicly accessible geofeed to my knowledge, and I am not sure who to reach out to get one. Not all ASNs are going to publish geofeeds, and it is fine. Providing IP geolocation data has real value, and I do not believe it is the ASN or ISP's responsibility to have their data accurately reflected on third-party IP geolocation providers like us. The ideal operation that we have is this: we do IP geolocation based on building networks of servers running active measurements, working with ASNs, attending conferences and talking with as many ASNs and range operators as possible. Shake as many hands as possible. It sounds borderline impossible, but honestly, that is the only fair way to operate as an IP geolocation provider. If, in any case, an ASN does not want to help us, that is fine, but that does not excuse negligence on our part towards end users. Our responsibility is towards end users (the customers of ASNs; internet users) and ASNs can be just voluntary partners. The moment an ASN, ISP, or an end user has an issue, we have to jump into the conversation and fix the issue. That is why I am here. There is a mention of the word "geolocation" in the NANOG forum, and we have to come here and ask if everything is okay. Do you have any issues with us? Can you check your data with us? Can you help us fix the issue? This MO of IP geolocation as a service should be: aggressive outreach. But we also have to admit that we are not the only provider, and we are not even the largest provider out there. But we do not care, we have to be responsible to everyone. We have to back our data. — Abdullah | DevRel, IPinfo https://www.linkedin.com/in/reincoder/ _______________________________________________ NANOG mailing list https://lists.nanog.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/SDOEDEZ7UUM4FZNHQJQBFCIR4W3HEP2X/
