Neustar IP Intelligence

Quova is a U.S. corporation that provides an online service that allows a web content supplier to control access by checking the location of the computer's IP address. It is used by Major League Baseball's MLB.tv to black out content from being watched in a team's home city.

External links

Official site

Quova, Inc.

1. History

a. Date of founding and founders - Quova was founded in November 1999 by Rajat Bhargava - [1], Derald Muniz - [2], Dave Naffziger, Sumit Agarwal, Rahul Pathak, Terry Duryea

b. Funding – Quova is privately owned and is venture-backed by Mobius Venture Capital, IDG Ventures, Nexus Group, Fidelity Ventures, VeriSign, Sequel Ventures, and Harbinger Ventures

i. Quova had raised approximately 38mm in multiple rounds - [3]

c. Mission and technology goal – Quova provides IP geolocation data, which detects the location and records the network characteristics of IP addresses, which can be used to determine routing methods, connection types, domains, organizations, ISP and more. Quova sells this data to companies, who can approximate the location of a visitor to their Web sites through Quova’s determination of the geographic location of all routable IP addresses assigned, allocated and in use on the Internet. [4]

d. Acquisitions –

i. April 2001 - Real Mapping - A leading developer of Internet geolocation technology based in Amsterdam.

ii. April 2004 - InfoSplit - A competitive geolocation provider that offered NetLocator technology and OneToOne for targeted Web content and Market Reports for Web site analytics.

iii. November 2006 - Illuminati - Acquisition of technology that bolstered Quova’s ability to see past proxy servers and locate the originating Internet connection.

iv. December 2007 - Verifia, Inc. - A competitive geolocating software technology company and provider of NetGeo, an IP-based Internet intelligence solution. [5]

e. Exit -

i. October 27, 2010 - Quova was acquired by Neustar, Inc. for a total of 21.7mm [6]

2. Organization and leadership

a. Company overview - Quova, Inc. is a company offering IP geolocation data to for use on the Web sites of organizations including broadcasters, e-retailers, ad networks, banks, and government agencies. Quova provides detailed demographic and network characteristic data about an IP address allowing online businesses to identify where a visitor to their Web site is geographically located. This data can be used to geotarget a company’s advertising and content, detect card-not-present fraud and manage distribution of digital content. [7]

b. Leadership team - Marie Alexander is president and Chief Executive Officer of Quova. Marie joined in October of 2000. Prior to Quova, Ms. Alexander was VP of strategic relationships at Telocity, and before that served for six years at Vantive Corporation. Other members of the leadership team include: Jean-Louis Casabonne, Chief Financial Officer, Tim Krozek, Chief Revenue Officer, Jay Webster, Chief Products Officer, Kerry Langstaff, Vice President of Marketing, Gary Conner, Vice President Research and Development and Perry Tancredi, Senior Director of Product Management.

3. Technology overview

a. Research and methodology – Quova uses data collection centers positioned at key points of the Internet worldwide to continually assess and monitor the infrastructure of the Internet. These collection points gather regional network data and can be remotely directed to analyze specific aspects of Web traffic and triangulate specific locations across the Internet to more clearly define the location of a user's access point. Quova combines this data with human analysis, using what they call Network Geography Analysts (NGAs) who help decipher clues to how networks are configured. These geolocation experts review the information from the data collection network and supplement it with manual research. Quova uses Internet traffic patterns and customer responses to identify high-usage networks and concentrate analysis on those networks most frequently affecting their customers. Once all of the data is collected and reviewed, they use a synthesis process where all data is analyzed both mechanically and manually by the Quova team before being released to customers.

b. Quality and qualifications – An IP geolocation accuracy score is a percentage representing how often a correct answer is returned when the database is queried. Quova has two requirements for their published accuracy measurements: an established auditing firm must audit them and their methodologies must be statistically significant and results must be repeatable.

i. PwC verification – Quova’s data process is audited annually by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

c. Products – Quova offers its geolocation data in two ways.

i. GeoDirectory Server – The Quova GeoDirectory Server is designed for a large volume of daily or peak period Web transactions and is adopted by large businesses including Expedia, HP and Oracle.

ii. Quova On-Demand - Quova On-Demand is Quova’s light solution in Software as a Service (SaaS) Web service, which it recommends for businesses with minimal IT resources who want to integrate IP geolocation data directly into their Web applications.

d. Applications – Quova suggests several uses for its IP geolocation data

i. Marketing

1. Localize content - Businesses can localize online marketing efforts using location to:

• Engage with correct (local) language, currency, and cultural custom.

• Carry inventory that meets the demand of the consumers in the region and eliminate irrelevant merchandise.

• Provide local versions of articles and content.

• Implement multichannel marketing that links all print, broadcast, online and in-store communications.

2. Target advertising (geotargeting) - Geotargeting ad messages to specific zip codes can help businesses to target the ideal customer, increase click-through rates, and save money by not wasting impressions. Geotargeting also enables companies to tie keywords into localized Pay per Click landing pages (AdWords) and sell more ads by increasing inventory of localized space.

ii. Fraud

1. Card not present fraud (CNP) - Organizations that do business online struggle with card not present (CNP) transactions and have the liability associated with chargebacks. IP address data such as IP routing type, connection type and the distance between the shipping address and the user’s location can be used to flag fraudulent CNP transactions.

2. Click fraud - Click fraud happens Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising models are taken advantage of by initiating clicks for the sole purpose of generating revenue for the ad. The scams can be as simple as one user clicking on an ad several times and as complex as an automated script recording and replaying legitimate click streams. Businesses use IP geolocation to detect and prevent click fraud.

iii. Analyze traffic - Many businesses want to link their online and offline activities and use IP geolocation data to:

• Measure the effectiveness of an offline campaign by analyzing the locations of visitors.

• Measure local reactions to a national campaign.

• Determine local interest in specific products match inventory levels to the demand.

• Show prospective buyers or investors the breadth customer base.

iv. Comply with regulations - Many industries are regulated by state and country borders, including pharmaceuticals, insurance, financial services, gambling, etc. Courts have ruled that it is the location of the user who is consuming the content that dictates the jurisdiction, meaning companies could be sued even when they have no corporate or physical presence within that country. IP geolocation (USER location via this method) provides the most commonly accepted criteria for determining the location of the Web visitor. Governments around the world have acknowledged and accepted this technique to meet the regulatory requirements.

v. Control use of digital media (DRM) - IP geolocation data is a vital tool in serving content only to those authorized to view it. Some of the uses in place:

• Provide library patrons online access to library resources, but still comply by servicing only tax-paying residents.

• Assure that viewers living outside of licensed regions are blocked from accessing your video streams. The BBC uses this technology to control views of content open only to UK taxpayers.

• Enforce regional and national blackout restrictions of sporting events so you don't infringe on contracts. The MLB uses Quova data to accomplish this.

4. See also
a. Geolocation
b. Geolocation software
c. Geo (marketing)
d. Geo targeting
e. Location-based service
f. Cyril Houri
g. Navizon
h. Internet Protocol
i. IP address
j. Web analytics
k. Competitors

i. Digital Element, [8]

ii. MaxMind, [9]

iii. Geobytes, Geobytes

iv. IP2Location, IP2Location

5. References
a. [10]
b. [11]
c. [12]
d. [13]
e. [14]

6. External links
a. [15]
b. [16]