Best Places Datasets & Databases

What is Places Data?

Places data is a subcategory of geospatial data. It relates to points of interest, or POI data. In fact, places data is often used as a synonym for POI data. A POI is a location which according to footfall analytics has a high visitor rate. A places database will group POIs so that businesses can understand where people are moving to and from in the real world.

What are the attributes of Places Data?

Like all kinds of location data, places data is expressed in geographical terms such as lat/long coordinates. These relate to a real-world location or area. Other attributes in a places dataset include the kind of built-up structures in that POI. For example, the dataset will tell the user about the place itself. If it’s a building, what is the building used for? If the building is a grocery store, what is the brand? What’s the building footprint of the store? All of these data points enable POI data enrichment so that users can build an in-depth understanding of the place in question.

What are the use cases of Places Data?

Gathering insights on consumer mobility is a priority for businesses of all industries. That’s why so many are investing in places data from an external data provider. Location intelligence has all kinds of applications, from location-based marketing to retail store site selection. Here’s some examples of how places data is being put to use today:

Consumer mobility analysis
Consumer mobility simply means Monitoring foot traffic has become increasingly important in a post-pandemic society. Many consumers have changed their mobility patterns, and businesses are being forced to react to this change in consumer behavior. Places data enables businesses to understand which locations and areas are still being visited often, and which are not. For example, a places dataset might reveal that a pre-pandemic POI like a cinema now attracts very low levels of footfall. Users are also able to map these consumer mobility insights onto wider market trends. To continue with our example, they could ask: has footfall in cinemas decreased across all locations, or is this behavior place-specific? Based on these geospatial and mobility insights, businesses can make decisions which cater to real-world consumer behavior.

POI mapping
POI mapping is pretty self-explanatory. It’s when the user maps various places of interest to understand their proximity to each other and how individuals move between them. Places data is used for POI mapping when users enrich their proprietary location POI dataset with places data from an external vendor. This way, users can ensure there are no blindspots in their map so they aren’t basing decisions on incomplete data.

Geo-targeting
Geo-targeting is when businesses shape a strategy around a specific location, usually a relevant POI. A places dataset enables users to identify new locations to target. For example, a newly-built university campus. A marketer might identify this campus as a good site to set up a new billboard or run an on-street marketing campaign. Also, if they’re working with a places API, they’re able to get real time updates on foot traffic attribution. They might see that their target consumer segment is not visiting the geo-targeted place so frequently during a given period. For example, students are not likely to be on campus during vacation periods. Based on this data, the marketer could then geo-target a different location.

What are the sources of Places Data?

Places data is sourced in the same way as location data and POI data. Generally speaking, all geospatial data uses GIS software to collect mobile location signals as they’re received by GPS and satellite. Places data differs in that it’s usually been standardized by the data provider so that the raw GIS data is ready-to-use. For example, a places data provider can translate lat/long coordinates into POI maps so that when you buy a places dataset, you can put the data to business use straight away.