Metacarta launches new automatic geotagging tool

Posted by Martin Stabe on 7 February 2008 at 13:24
Tags: geotagging, localisation, mapping

As Press Gazette noted last week, US-based firm MetaCarta says a “rather large news provider in the UK” will soon be launching a website that uses its automatic geotagging software.

The site is expected to use the company’s LocalAlerts tool, which lets news organisations automatically send readers customised e-mail alerts whenever they publish stories that occurred near places that interest a reader.

The e-mail alerts software is already used by several US newspaper web sites: The San Antonio News-Express’s MySanAntonio.com, The Lowell Sun, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

This week, the company launched another service that allows online publishers to automatically identify places mentioned in their copy and attach geographic metadata that can be used to personalise local news web sites.

The US local news aggregation YourStreet.com is already using the tool, known as Geotagger OnDemand. In November, YourStreet

The site uses the tool to add geographic data to links from more than 10,000 online publications, displays them on a map, and allows registered users to discuss stories happening in their area.

Tags: geotagging, localisation, mapping