New 42-day free trial
Smarty

    • Celebrate World Wide Web Day

    Celebrate World Wide Web Day
    Andrew Townsend
    Andrew Townsend
     • 
    August 1, 2023
    link-icon
    Tags
    Address data blog tagAddress dataSpecial days blog tagSpecial days

    World Wide Web Day on August 1 celebrates the birth of the World Wide Web and its significant impact on modern society.

    While the Internet and the World Wide Web are not the same (the Web refers to a web of linked pages via hypertext links while the Internet refers to the exchange of information by people on their own computers), the World Wide Web played a crucial role in making the internet accessible and user-friendly to the general public.

    Let's explore how the advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web have improved address validation and geocoding.

    History

    My kids might not understand how different the world is now that we have the Web. But it's really not that old.

    Birth of the internet (Arpanet)

    The internet's roots can be traced back to the late 1960s with the creation of Arpanet, a network developed by the United States Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA).

    Arpanet was designed to be a decentralized network where multiple computers could share and exchange data by breaking information into small packets and routing them independently to their destination. This packet-switching method allowed for robust and resilient communication even in the event of partial network failures.

    Arpanet was the first network to use the TCP/IP protocol suite, which is the foundation of today's internet.

    World Wide Web (WWW)

    British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee proposed the World Wide Web in 1989 and later released it to the public on August 6, 1991. It provided a user-friendly interface to access information over the internet and enabled the creation of websites interconnected by hyperlinks.

    This laid the foundation for democratizing information and revolutionized how we access and share knowledge. 

    Internet and ecommerce boom

    With the advent of the World Wide Web, the internet became more accessible to the general public, leading to an eCommerce boom. Businesses started establishing their online presence through websites, allowing them to reach a global audience.

    Newspaper clipping announcing the internet

    Influence on address data

    So how has the World Wide Web influenced how we use and understand address data?

    Address validation APIs

    Accurate address data validation became essential as eCommerce and online services grew. Address validation APIs emerged to ensure that user-provided addresses are correct and complete. These APIs use various data sources and algorithms to verify and standardize addresses, reducing shipping errors and improving customer experience.

    Geocoding APIs

    Geocoding converts addresses into geographical coordinates (latitude and longitude). Geocoding APIs enable developers to integrate location-based services into their applications. This has many applications, such as location-based marketing, real-time tracking, and map-based services.

    Logistical efficiency

    Address validation and geocoding APIs have significantly improved logistical efficiency for businesses that rely on shipping and delivery services. By validating addresses and converting them into precise geographic coordinates, companies can optimize delivery routes, reduce delivery times, and minimize errors in the delivery process.

    Location-based services

    Integrating geocoding APIs into mobile applications has revolutionized location-based services. From ride-share apps like Uber and Lyft to food delivery services, geocoding APIs enable accurate real-time tracking and efficient navigation.

    Where it's headed

    Address validation and geocoding APIs provide a seamless user experience by delivering auto-suggestions for addresses, ensuring accurate deliveries, and offering location-specific content and services. Offering this enhanced user experience is becoming essential to companies working in the eCommerce space.

    Companies that aren't utilizing cutting-edge address technologies will find themselves floundering, similar to those who refused the internet in the first place.

    The advent of the internet, particularly the World Wide Web, paved the way for significant advancements in technology and services. As eCommerce and online services flourish, the demand for accurate address validation and geocoding APIs grows. 

    These APIs have since been vital in improving logistical efficiency, enhancing user experiences, and enabling a wide range of location-based services in our increasingly connected world.

    Subscribe to our blog!
    Learn more about RSS feeds here.
    rss feed icon
    Subscribe Now
    Read our 5 address validation use cases ebook nowDownload now
    Read our recent posts
    Ecommerce shipping efficiency tools you need: Address autocomplete and verification
    Arrow Icon
    We know it’s not New Year's anymore, but we can still push for improvement and efficiency in our lives. Maybe you’ve lapsed on that goal to be healthier or slightly slipped on your new reading and writing regimen. No worries. Not only are we here to remind you to KEEP GOING on whatever goals you have, but we’re also here to give you an easy-to-implement solution that will create shipping efficiency and stop sending packages into the void. I mean, we’re assuming you don’t like wasting money. If you do… that’s how we’re different.
    Patient form optimization: The $17.4 million problem
    Arrow Icon
    Let's start with a number that should make every hospital administrator do a double take: $17. 4 million. That’s how much the average hospital loses annually—just from denied claims due to patient misidentification. This isn’t from equipment costs, not from staffing shortages, and not even from insurance negotiations—just from keeping bad patient data. Surely, our forms aren’t that bad. (Yes, they are, and stop calling me Shirley. )But here’s the reality: According to the 2016 Ponemon Misidentification Report, 30% of hospital claims get denied, and over a third of those denials are caused by inaccurate or incomplete patient information.
    The GPS adventures of a distracted developer
    Arrow Icon
    My name is Jeffrey Duncan, and at the pestering of Smarty’s editor, I’m writing a blog about the many adventures I’ve had in life and how address data has played a big part in them. I met my wife about eight years ago on a dating website. At the time, I lived in Provo, Utah, while she lived in Palmwoods, Australia, on the east coast of Queensland. On this dating app, I entered the area where I was interested in finding someone, about a 25-mile radius of Provo, Utah. I had no intention of leaving the valley, definitely not the state, and certainly not the country.
    Previous Post
    Next Post

    Ready to get started?

    Schedule Demo
    42-day Free Trial