Imagine your business information seamlessly integrated into maps and location services used by billions of people worldwide. This isn’t a future vision; it’s the reality Overture Maps is creating today, powered by collaborative, open data.
Major platforms like Meta (across Facebook and Instagram maps), TomTom (in their Orbis Maps), and Esri (through their new ArcGIS Open Basemap) are already leveraging Overture’s datasets, demonstrating the immense reach available.
For data contributors like krick.com, an Online Marketing Technology Provider in Europe’s DACH region, partnering with Overture means their customers’ up-to-date location information now flows directly into these widely used applications and many more.
PinMeTo, a leading player within the local search and marketing technology industry, is among the first to directly contribute brand-sourced Point of Interest (POI) data to the Overture Maps Foundation. This strengthens both PinMeTo’s commitment to accurate online representation for multi-location brands and the development of reliable global open map data.
The Evolving Landscape of Places Data
Businesses constantly strive to promote their online presence and keep their data accurate, managing their location profiles on platforms like Google Business Profile and Apple Business Connect, often with help from listing management services. These services are vital for ensuring local business information reaches customers. Now, Overture Maps offers an open distribution model that significantly amplifies the reach of Places data.
Open, Standardized Data for Seamless Integration
Overture welcomes contributions from all Places data owners and managers. Data from companies like krick.com and PinMeTo now increases the coverage of the Overture Places data theme alongside contributions from founding members Meta and Microsoft. Overture processes, deduplicates, and attaches unique, persistent IDs to this data using its Global Entity Reference System (GERS).
Overture focuses on foundational Places data that indicates the existence of a Place — such as place name, address, geolocation, and category — while enabling the ecosystem to focus on rich, differentiated data built on top of this foundation.
This creates a standardized, reliable dataset that developers can easily integrate into a vast range of applications. The data is open and permissively licensed (Places data uses CDLA Permissive 2.0), making it easy for developers to use the latest information and bring it to their users.
The Power of the Overture Ecosystem: Where Data Meets Users
Contributing data to Overture means plugging into a massive, growing distribution network. Overture developers are already incorporating this data into applications reaching over 1 billion consumers. When you contribute your clients’ up-to-date business information to Overture’s Places dataset, here’s how it gets in front of end-users:
- Direct reach to billions of consumers:
Meta integrates Overture data, including the Places layer, directly into the map experiences on Facebook and Instagram. This means when your client’s business details (e.g., name, address, category, hours) are in Overture, they appear when billions of users search for businesses, explore local areas on maps, or tag locations in their posts and stories. It’s a direct channel to one of the largest consumer audiences on the planet. - Powering the developer ecosystem:
TomTom utilizes Overture Places data within its Orbis Maps platform. Developers building applications on Orbis, ranging from in-car navigation systems to logistics planning tools and mobile apps, can seamlessly incorporate this POI data. Contributing your data ensures its availability to these developers, meaning your clients’ information populates the search results and map displays within the wide array of end-user applications powered by TomTom technology. - Visibility in geospatial tools:
Esri, a leader in geographic information systems (GIS), is incorporating Overture Places data into its ArcGIS platform, notably within the new ArcGIS Open Basemap. This puts your contributed business listings directly onto the maps used daily by countless businesses, government agencies, and organizations for planning, market analysis, site selection, and operational awareness. It provides crucial visibility within the professional and B2B/B2G sectors.
Krick’s Strategic Collaboration
For Klaus Emrich, product leader at Krick, the decision to contribute data was clear: “Integrating our listings with Overture’s distribution network enables us to extend our reach far beyond conventional channels. It’s a strategic move that opens up opportunities for us to connect our clients with customers in ways that weren’t possible before.”
Krick’s motivation wasn’t just about broader distribution for their clients; it was also about collaboration. They sought to join the group actively shaping how open Places data is managed and shared. Klaus adds: “We chose to become an Overture member to be closer to the evolving discussions on Places data. This membership allows us to not only contribute our data but also influence the direction of the standards and innovations that matter to our industry.”
PinMeTo
By providing data to Overture, PinMeTo becomes part of a global, collaborative movement, helping make high-quality map data more accessible and accurate for everyone.
“We are proud to be one of the first in our field to contribute data sets to Overture,” said Daniel Merkelsson, Co-Founder & CSO at PinMeTo. “Our data will contribute to Overture’s mission to develop reliable and easy-to-use open map data, ensuring that brands are accurately represented across the digital landscape. By providing direct POI data from business owners, we’re setting a new standard for data reliability and helping to shape the future of open map data.”
Why Contribute and Collaborate?
Joining and contributing to Overture offers significant advantages:
- Unparalleled Reach: Your data is positioned within a vast network reaching billions through major consumer apps and developer tools.
- Influence and Collaboration: Members get a seat at the table, influencing data quality standards, conflation processes, schema updates, and technical priorities. You collaborate with industry leaders and gain early access to releases and insights.
- Expanding the Market: Open data licenses allow broad use, including building commercial mapping services, navigation, local search, ride-sharing apps, spatial analysis, data enrichment, and internal tool development. Integrating with Overture ensures that your data is being leveraged by the latest innovations in the geospatial industry, including app developers working on cutting-edge applications who rely on Overture data.
Join the Overture Community
Overture Maps is building an interoperable open data ecosystem for map data. We invite business listings managers, Places data syndicators, and all map data holders to contribute their datasets. Help create a definitive open resource that becomes the foundation of local search, navigation, and countless other location-based applications. Email us at info@overturemaps.org if you’re interested in contributing.
The future of mapping is open, collaborative, and built together. Join us in making it happen. Visit our website to learn more about our work and become a member.
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