Quova lets websites know where you are

Geolocation software developer Quova launched its new On-Demand service today, providing websites with the ability to pinpoint their users’ locations, and use this data to customize their content and applications.

The Mountain View, Calif. company gives businesses the tools they need to help their users find local information (weather and nearby stores, for example) on their websites. Quova says the technology could also come in handy in checking out potential fraud by giving e-commerce sites the ability to check billing addresses against purchase IP locations. It will obviously be used to geotarget advertisements to particular consumers, as well.

In the past, Quova’s clients had to install actual software on their servers to access this same data. The On-Demand service will let them access data through a continuously-updated feed, and even through a pay-per-query system if they just want to find out bits and pieces. This lowers the cost for companies just planning to experiment with geolocation data.

In the race to offer the best location-based solutions to businesses, Quova is competing with some heavy hitters including DoubleClick, Akamai and Digital Envoy. Many of these names have adopted the strategy of partnering with Internet service providers, which are privy to local routing information. Quova has gone a different way — using scattered computers in a number of cities to bounce signals off of users’ IP addresses and triangulate their locations. The company says this method is faster and about 99 percent accurate on the country level.

Quova has raised about $38 million in funding to date from Fidelity Ventures, IDG Ventures, Mobius Venture Capital and Schoffstal Ventures.