Home Extract Locations: Geodict and Yahoo! Placemaker

Extract Locations: Geodict and Yahoo! Placemaker

Have you ever just wanted to point your app at a service and get immediate gratification for the location of a string of text? How about for an entire website? The good news is there is more than one way to get there.

Let’s take a look at a couple of ways to accomplish this goal.

Read Write Where?

Geodict is an open source project that allows you to extract locations from text using a database of just around 2 million locations. In fact, you can apply this to RWH with the following results below for the RWW “about” page.

There is a bit of repetition but the effect should be clear if the text isn’t a reference to inhabitants. Sorry Richard… New Zealand just didn’t make it past the filtering. 😉

Barring the concerns about exacting clarity (which you could easily extend with your own regex), the benefit here is that you get a local database copy to work with on your own terms. If you don’t want to rely on the third party API services that are out there today in the cloud that might be appealing. Or, perhaps you want to create your own API for the cloud.

The Youngest One In cURL

Another way to approach this goal is by using Yahoo! Placemaker. If you have an appid already you can simply open a terminal and use curl to try this example for my hometown of Beaufort, NC.

The output you’ll get back should be similar to the gist below.

If we take the centroid values for Lat and Lon these can be pasted into Google Maps to verify how accurate this was visually.

What are you using to get location information from text input today? Let us know in the comments below!

About ReadWrite’s Editorial Process

The ReadWrite Editorial policy involves closely monitoring the tech industry for major developments, new product launches, AI breakthroughs, video game releases and other newsworthy events. Editors assign relevant stories to staff writers or freelance contributors with expertise in each particular topic area. Before publication, articles go through a rigorous round of editing for accuracy, clarity, and to ensure adherence to ReadWrite's style guidelines.

Get the biggest tech headlines of the day delivered to your inbox

    By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Unsubscribe anytime.

    Tech News

    Explore the latest in tech with our Tech News. We cut through the noise for concise, relevant updates, keeping you informed about the rapidly evolving tech landscape with curated content that separates signal from noise.

    In-Depth Tech Stories

    Explore tech impact in In-Depth Stories. Narrative data journalism offers comprehensive analyses, revealing stories behind data. Understand industry trends for a deeper perspective on tech's intricate relationships with society.

    Expert Reviews

    Empower decisions with Expert Reviews, merging industry expertise and insightful analysis. Delve into tech intricacies, get the best deals, and stay ahead with our trustworthy guide to navigating the ever-changing tech market.