Have you ever tried to access a webpage but było w złym języku?
(it was in the wrong language)?
Or maybe you’ve tried to stream local sports online and couldn’t access the game?
Many services use “IP geolocation” to determine where users, like you, are located, in order to deliver the right content from the right servers. But they don’t always work perfectly. The goal of this project is to explore questions about the accuracy of these approaches in order to do better in the future.
The details: Today, there are several approaches to IP geolocation such as timing-based methods that use active probing, databases that are updated using public and private network data, and even operator-published geofeeds. However, given the ever growing complexity of the Internet with increasing use of technologies such as proxies, VPNs, satellite networks, and carrier grade NATs, it is unclear whether these geolocation methods are able to still accurately locate users. Further, it is unclear whether client geolocation is even the right solution for all applications in the first place.
Who and what: I am a PhD student at Carnegie Mellon University, and we are working on building a crowd-sourced dataset to explore some of these questions around geolocation accuracy. Our hope is to use these findings to design methods for delivering content with higher localization accuracy and lower latency. Hence, we are looking for Internet users like you to participate in a quick 1-minute survey. In this survey, we will ask for permission to geolocate your device through the browser (much like how services like Hulu request your location) followed by a few questions to validate the results. Please note that participation in this study is entirely voluntary. You must be at least 18 years of age to take part, and there will be no compensation for participation.
If you are interested in participating in the research study or would like more information, please visit https://whereareyouproject.org or email isabel@cmu.edu.
isalink•2w ago
Or maybe you’ve tried to stream local sports online and couldn’t access the game?
Many services use “IP geolocation” to determine where users, like you, are located, in order to deliver the right content from the right servers. But they don’t always work perfectly. The goal of this project is to explore questions about the accuracy of these approaches in order to do better in the future.
The details: Today, there are several approaches to IP geolocation such as timing-based methods that use active probing, databases that are updated using public and private network data, and even operator-published geofeeds. However, given the ever growing complexity of the Internet with increasing use of technologies such as proxies, VPNs, satellite networks, and carrier grade NATs, it is unclear whether these geolocation methods are able to still accurately locate users. Further, it is unclear whether client geolocation is even the right solution for all applications in the first place.
Who and what: I am a PhD student at Carnegie Mellon University, and we are working on building a crowd-sourced dataset to explore some of these questions around geolocation accuracy. Our hope is to use these findings to design methods for delivering content with higher localization accuracy and lower latency. Hence, we are looking for Internet users like you to participate in a quick 1-minute survey. In this survey, we will ask for permission to geolocate your device through the browser (much like how services like Hulu request your location) followed by a few questions to validate the results. Please note that participation in this study is entirely voluntary. You must be at least 18 years of age to take part, and there will be no compensation for participation.
If you are interested in participating in the research study or would like more information, please visit https://whereareyouproject.org or email isabel@cmu.edu.