PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Completes Annual Audit of Quova IP Geolocation Data

IP Geolocation Leader’s Data 99.9 Percent Accurate

London, UK. – 14th April, 2009 – Quova, Inc., the leading provider of IP geolocation data services, today announced the results of a 2008 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) audit of Quova’s processes for mapping IP addresses and measuring accuracy and coverage rates. Quova states that their IP geolocation data is 99.9% accurate at the country level and up to 98.2% accurate at the US state level. In the report, PwC attests to the completeness and accuracy of the methodology and procedures Quova uses to calculate their coverage and accuracy metrics. While some IP geolocation providers self-report data accuracy, Quova is the only IP geolocation vendor that annually submits their data collection processes for benchmarking by a Big Four auditing firm.

Quova helps online businesses determine the geographic location of their Web visitors, often down to a city level. Armed with this data, companies can make real-time, geography-based Web decisions, such as which ad or landing page to serve, or if a user can legally download a movie or place an online bet.

Accuracy metrics represent the percentage of time Quova will correctly identify the country where the IP address is located. Inaccurate data can be costly, even enabling the illegal downloading of digital media, or, if ads are served to the wrong city, often leading to site abandonment.

In addition to accuracy, another important metric is coverage. Coverage metrics represent the percentage of time Quova will have an answer as to where the IP address is located. Quova states their coverage is 99.9% for worldwide country and US state level geolocation assignments. Coverage is impacted by what data is available and, in some parts of the world, data is more difficult to obtain due to challenges with local documentation, language barriers and government restrictions.

This is the fourth year that Quova has submitted their processes and data to PwC for independent third party review and, over the years, Quova’s measured data accuracy has continually improved. For example, Quova’s stated accuracy at the US state level has improved from up to 94% in 2004 to up to 98.2% in 2008. Quova’s accuracy and coverage metrics at the country level have consistently maxed out at 99.9%. Quova attributes the continued accuracy and quality improvements to their stringent internal procedures and controls.

“At Quova, we believe that the quality of IP geolocation data should be measured by the integrity of the data collection process, not just the perceived accuracy or confidence in the data,” said Marie Alexander, president and CEO of Quova. “Unlike any of our competitors, we commission yearly audits for an independent analysis of not only our data’s accuracy, but also the quality of our processes. With PwC’s findings, our customers can have confidence in the quality and accuracy of Quova’s IP geolocation data.”

In the report, released 23rd October 2008, PwC verified the internal control and processes supporting Quova’s data collection methodology. PwC also validated Quova’s calculations for coverage and accuracy using three specific data sets. The processes examined included the manual analysis performed by Network Geography Analysts, closed-loop methodology and reporting processes. The examination was conducted in accordance with attestation standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

For a full copy of the latest report go to http://www.quova.com/pwc

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About Quova
Quova, Inc. enables online businesses to instantly identify where a visitor to their Web site is geographically located. Online companies including broadcasters, e-retailers, ad networks, banks, and government agencies integrate Quova’s IP geolocation data into their Web applications to geotarget their advertising and content, detect card-not-present fraud, manage distribution of digital content, comply with local laws, and more. Quova delivers detailed demographic and network characteristic data about an IP address and the data is 99.9% accurate at the country level and up to 98.2% accurate at the US state level (attested to by PricewaterhouseCoopers). Quova, founded in 2000, is based in Mountain View, California, and is privately owned. www.quova.com

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