How Accurate IP Data Powers Scalable Website Personalization
Website visitors expect content, offers, and messaging tailored to their location, delivered instantly, without friction. For businesses building personalization engines, this creates a critical challenge: your entire strategy stands or falls on the accuracy of your IP geolocation data.
When geolocation data is wrong, personalization fails. Visitors see irrelevant content, conversions drop, and support tickets pile up. But when you get it right? Personalization becomes a revenue multiplier.
From Problem Feature to Primary Revenue Driver: The If-So Story
If-So, a WordPress plugin provider serving millions of monthly sessions worldwide, learned this lesson firsthand. Their platform enables website owners to deliver location-specific experiences by automatically detecting visitor locations and adapting content, messaging, and offers in real-time.
When they first introduced geolocation and geotargeting features powered by a third-party IP data provider, customer response was enthusiastic. Then the complaints started rolling in, city-level detection was frequently wrong, turning their breakthrough feature into a liability.
The problem wasn't the concept. It was the data.
"Customers were complaining about locations not being true, especially at the city level. We knew we had something valuable, but the data quality was holding us back."
- Josef Carmeli, Founder and CEO of If-So
The Transformation
If-So benchmarked multiple providers and the results were stark: IPinfo achieved 82% accuracy vs. their previous provider's 50%: a 32 percentage point improvement.
After switching to IPinfo in 2021, the results were immediate:
- Customer complaints dropped to near-zero
- Geolocation became their primary revenue driver, powering 50%+ of sales
- API usage scaled 5-6x, from ~2 million to 12 million requests per month
- 4+ years of partnership has led to continuous growth
"IPinfo gave us the accuracy and reliability we needed to scale geolocation into the core of our platform.
- Josef Carmeli, Founder and CEO of If-So
Read the full case study
If-So + IPinfo: How Accurate IP Geolocation Scaled a Personalization Platform
Today, If-So uses IPinfo to power their entire geolocation WordPress plugin, enabling dynamic content personalization, geo-targeted landing pages, location-aware messaging, timezone-based scheduling, and advanced audience segmentation.
Why IP Geolocation, Not Browser Geolocation?
You might wonder: why pay for IP geolocation when browsers offer free location APIs? The answer reveals why one technology is built for personalization while the other isn't.
The Critical Differences
Why Personalization Platforms Choose IP Geolocation
Friction kills conversion. When users see "This site wants to know your location," 70-90% click "Block." You're left with no data for most traffic.
First impressions matter. IP geolocation personalizes content before the page finishes loading, with no permission, no delay, and no friction.
"Good enough" accuracy is perfect. For showing local weather or currency, city-level precision is sufficient. GPS-level accuracy can feel invasive and unnecessary.
You need control. When browser APIs fall back to IP data, they use the browser internal databases. You can't verify accuracy, switch providers, or access additional insights.
That's why every major personalization platform uses IP-based geolocation. The question isn't whether to use it, it's which provider delivers the accuracy you need.
What Makes IPinfo Different
IPinfo achieves industry-leading accuracy through direct infrastructure measurement rather than geofeeds and self-reported sources. Our ProbeNet network, with over 1,200 global points of presence, continuously measures IP routing and connectivity patterns, combined with device data and geofeeds/self-reported sources.
The result? Data that's accurate enough to build your business on. Data that turns location personalization from a "nice-to-have" into a competitive advantage.
If-So's transformation proves a simple truth: great personalization requires great data. They didn't just reduce complaints by switching to IPinfo, they unlocked an entirely new growth trajectory, with geolocation going from a struggling feature to driving 50%+ of revenue.
Whether you're building a WordPress plugin, an enterprise platform, or a custom digital experience, don't let inaccurate data hold you back.
Ready to see what accurate IP geolocation could do for your platform? Get started with IPinfo or talk to our team to discuss your use case.
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About the author
As the product marketing manager, Fernanda helps customers better understand how IPinfo products can serve their needs.