Geolocation Apps on the rise in 2012

Where are you? Oh, and where are your friends, and where is that bar they’re meeting up at tonight? In recent years, more and more apps are answering these questions, which means more and more developers are looking for geolocation APIs.  Of course, geolocation has long been available on the likes of Facebook and Twitter. But with new apps are delivering better integrated and more intelligent takes on geolocation, yesterday’s Fierce Mobile article begged the question, “Is 2012 the year for geolocation apps?”

APIs let developers offer geolocation functionality without having to build it themselves. Already, several geolocation APIs are available:

Neustar IP Intelligence (formerly Quova) provides the geographic location, network, and contextual data for any IP address in the public address space.

For years, deCarta has provided software and services that add mapping, routing and local search to its customers’ services. deCarta’s DevZone lets customers integrate the company’s client-server location-based services (LBS) platform. The Sensus API (SAPI) provides a valuable service for developers seeking a business search API solution for Yellow Pages and White Pages business listings and advertising content.

Yellow Pages Group (YellowAPI, http://www.yellowapi.com) lets apps perform searches and pull up info on over 1.5 million Canadian businesses, all based on location. (All of these are also Mashery customers. To see the full list of Mashery geolocation customers, go here. As end-user demand for geolocation ramps up, look for more APIs that provide innovative geolocation services.