AggData POI Files
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 16 years
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First I want to say that I did a search for "AggData" on this site and nothing was found. If it has been discussed, I appologize in advance.
This morning (22 Aug 09) I was doing a search for a particular gas station that I knew existed, but none of the search methods could provide information on it. I still haven't found it, but one of the hits caught my eye in that it said that I could get the locations of all of a particular gas station "WITH COORDINATES". I went to the site and found out that I could supposedly get all of the locations of several gas stations complete with coordinates as well as many other subjects. It didn't take long to find out that to get that information, I would have to shell out "BIG BUCKS".
I read the FAQ's and they state that the information is readily available on the internet and that they can't stop anyone from using the information any way they see fit. There is no way that I believe the companies have provided the information and it looks like everything is geocoded. To pay that kind of money for a file that couldn't be any better than what you can get from "POI Factory" for free would be the epitome of stupidity, or POI Factory could be making considerable money.
I wonder if any of the POI Factory files are being used in this effort.
Curt
The only way to prove the
The only way to prove the data from here was being used would be to insert deliberate mistakes in the POI files.
Map cartographers do this all the time to ensure that their maps are not just being reproduced and rebranded without paying the royalties.
Frank DriveSmart55 37.322760, -79.511267
Source of our data
Hey Curt,
This is Chris from Aggdata.com. I just wanted to chime in and give you a little insight to how we collect our data. First, I want to make it very clear that we do not take and resell lists from POI Factory or any other third-party website or resource. In fact, that is what we consider our greatest advantage - all of our data comes from primary sources. Now, you are correct in assuming that the companies are not just going to hand over the data (although a couple actually have, unsolicited). But we have several technologies and techniques in place that allow us to collect directly from the websites of the companies described in our lists. For example, our Walmart list comes straight from the data at walmart.com's store locater, and our Starbucks data is from starbucks.com. While we can't guarantee the absolute accuracy and completeness of the data, we feel these companies do their best to keep their own data up to date, so we have found this primary source to be the best way to get good location data.
We do not currently limit the way data is used after we sell it, and we encourage creative and unique applications (such as this one: http://www.weathersealed.com/2009/09/22/where-the-buffalo-ro...). But we hope that no one will just turn around and give our product away or try and resell it in its current form.
I hope this clears up any confusion and answers your questions. Feel free to contact us with any other questions at info at aggdata dot com.
AggData LLC | http://www.aggdata.com