The basics of location tech for marketers

Ever wondered why your phone knows you're at the mall but suddenly thinks you're in the middle of the ocean when you step into a basement? It's honestly kind of funny how we rely on this tech for everything from tracking delivery drivers to targeting retail ads, yet it feels like magic when it actually works.

Basically, gps (Global Positioning System) is the king of the outdoors. It needs a clear line of sight to satellites to function effectively. But once you hit a dense urban area or go inside a hospital or a big bank, those signals get blocked by concrete and steel.

• GNSS is the bigger picture: While we usually just say "gps", gnss (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) actually includes other networks like Europe’s Galileo. Using gnss gives you way better accuracy because your device can "see" more satellites at once.
• Wi-Fi Triangulation fills the gaps: When you're inside, your phone looks for nearby routers. It doesn't even need to connect to them; it just measures signal strength from known access points to figure out you're standing near the pharmacy section of a store.
• The Browser Handshake: Mobile browsers pass this lat/long data to your analytics tools via the Geolocation api. Note: This api only works over a secure context (HTTPS) and requires an explicit user opt-in prompt before it can grab any data.

As shown in Diagram 1, the hybrid approach combines satellite signals with local network data to maintain accuracy when moving from outdoors to indoors.

It's all about "hybrid positioning" nowadays. If you're a performance marketer, you need to know which signal is driving your data, especially if you're trying to trigger a push notification when someone enters a specific geofence.

Next up, we’ll look at how these signals actually get turned into "events" in your tracking setup.

Improving click tracking with geographic precision

Ever tried looking at ga4 and wondered why half your "local" traffic seems to be coming from a data center three states away? It’s honestly a pain when you're trying to figure out if a local ad actually drove someone into a specific clinic or branch.

Standard web analytics usually relies on IP addresses, which are famously messy. If someone is on a vpn or a mobile gateway, your data is basically guess-work. To get real precision, you gotta bridge that gap by tying click events to actual coordinates.

• Coordinates over Cities: Instead of just "Chicago," you can capture the exact lat/long via the browser's geolocation api. This lets you see if a click happened inside a specific geofence, like a competitor's parking lot or a high-traffic retail zone.
• Filtering the Noise: VPNs and proxies mess everything up. You can use ai-driven scripts to flag clicks where the IP location and the gps data don't match up, which is a huge red flag for bot traffic or just low-quality data.
• Custom Dimensions in gtm: You don't need a PhD to set this up. Creating custom variables in Google Tag Manager to store latitude and longitude as event parameters makes your click tracking way more granular.

In healthcare or finance, knowing exactly where a lead comes from helps with "near me" optimization. If a user clicks "Book Appointment" while standing in a specific neighborhood, that’s a high-intent signal you can't get from a city-level report.

According to a 2024 report by Market.us, the location-based services market is expected to reach $354.7 billion by 2033, mostly because businesses are desperate for this kind of "hyper-local" accuracy.

Here is a quick way to grab that data in a script:

navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition((position) => {
  const lat = position.coords.latitude;
  const lon = position.coords.longitude;
  // Send this to your analytics event
  gtag('event', 'precise_click', {
    'latitude': lat,
    'longitude': lon
  });
});

Just remember—privacy is huge here. Always make sure you're asking for permission and staying compliant with gdpr or ccpa. You shouldn't just grab this data without a clear "opt-in" from the user.

Wi-Fi Triangulation for indoor attribution

So, you finally got someone to click your ad and walk into the store, but how do you actually prove it was that specific ad that did it? GPS is great for the parking lot, but once they’re inside browsing the aisles, wi-fi triangulation is your best friend for closing that "offline-to-online" attribution loop.

It all comes down to RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator). It's important to note that standard web browsers cannot see nearby Wi-Fi signal strengths. To access RSSI data, you typically need a native mobile app installed on the user's phone or specialized in-store hardware that detects devices.

• Proximity as a Conversion: You can trigger a "store visit" event when a user stays in a specific zone—like the shoe department—for more than two minutes.
• The MAC Address Bridge: While privacy is a big deal, you can sometimes use a device's mac address to create a unique ID. However, modern mobile OS (iOS and Android) use MAC randomization now, which makes this method mostly obsolete for tracking. To make this work, the user usually needs to be connected to your guest Wi-Fi or have your brand app installed.
• Privacy First: Honestly, you gotta be careful here. Between gdpr and apple's privacy updates, you should always rely on "opt-in" data through your brand's app or a guest wi-fi portal to keep things legal.

According to a report by Acumen Research and Consulting, the indoor positioning market is expected to hit $109 billion by 2032, showing just how much brands are betting on this tech to fix their attribution gaps.

Diagram 2 illustrates how RSSI values from multiple access points are used to calculate a user's precise indoor location.

Visualizing Location Data with Heatmaps

Once you start collecting all these coordinates, you need a way to actually see what's happening. This is where heatmaps comes in. Instead of looking at a boring spreadsheet of latitudes and longitudes, a heatmap overlays this data on a map of your store or city.

By aggregating thousands of "pings," you can see exactly where people congregate. In a retail setting, this might show that everyone spends ten minutes in the organic produce aisle but skips the bakery entirely. For digital marketers, this helps you validate if your "near me" ads are actually driving people to the physical locations you're paying to promote. You can use tools like Tableau or even custom Mapbox layers to turn your ga4 coordinate data into these visual stories.

Optimizing CRO based on user movement

Ever wonder why you see an ad for a free coffee exactly when you walk past the cafe? It’s not just a coincidence—it is cro at its most aggressive and, honestly, most effective level.

When we talk about conversion rate optimization, we usually think about button colors or headlines. But movement data lets you change the whole experience based on where someone is standing right now.

Imagine a user browsing a healthcare site. If they're at home, the page shows a "Schedule a Virtual Call" button. But if the gps shows they’re actually in the clinic parking lot, the page swaps that out for a "Check-in Now" button or a map of the building.

• Localized offers: Retailers can push a "10% off in-store" coupon only when the user is within 500 meters of a branch, reducing friction for an immediate sale.
• Predictive ai: Some advanced models look at movement patterns—like how fast someone is moving—to guess if they are driving (don't show ads!) or walking (perfect time for a notification).
• Funnel shortening: In finance, if a lead is at a physical branch, you can auto-fill their "preferred location" in a loan application to save them three clicks.

A 2024 report by Mordor Intelligence suggests that the demand for real-time location analytics is exploding because it bridges the gap between digital browsing and physical action.

// Simple logic for a location-aware offer
if (userDistance < 0.5) { 
  displayOffer("Visit us now for a free gift!");
} else {
  displayOffer("Shop our online collection.");
}

Just don't be creepy about it. If you change the site too much without warning, people get weirded out. Always keep it helpful, not stalker-ish.

Technical hurdles and implementation guide

So, you've got the theory down, but how do you actually stop your analytics from looking like a total mess? Getting this into your tech stack is honestly where most marketers trip up because they ask for location access way too early and scare everyone off.

• Ask at the right time: Don't pop the "allow location" prompt the second the page loads. Wait until they click a "find a branch" button or something similar.
• Handling the "No": Always have a fallback. If the browser blocks the api, use their IP address to at least get the right city so they don't see a blank screen.
• Data Pipeline: Map these coordinates into custom dimensions in ga4 or your cdp so you can actually run those heatmaps we talked about.

Diagram 3 shows the logic flow for requesting user permission and switching to IP-based fallbacks if the request is denied.

When the user denies permission, your script should look something like this to keep the data flowing:

// Fallback logic for when GPS is unavailable
function getLocation() {
  navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition(successCallback, (err) => {
    console.warn("User denied GPS, fetching IP-based location instead...");
    fetch('https://ipapi.co/json/')
      .then(response => response.json())
      .then(data => {
        // Use city/region from IP as a backup
        gtag('event', 'location_fallback', { 'city': data.city });
      });
  });
}

As mentioned earlier, the market for these services is huge, so getting your implementation right now is a total game changer for your conversion rates. Just keep it transparent and don't be a creep with the data. Good luck!

*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from MojoAuth - Advanced Authentication & Identity Solutions authored by MojoAuth - Advanced Authentication & Identity Solutions. Read the original post at: https://mojoauth.com/blog/passkeys-an-overview