deCarta Introduces L2 Geospatial Search Engine

- Customers Can Geocode and Index Custom Geospatial Content and Make it Available in Single Line Local Search

SAN JOSE, California, April 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- deCarta, Inc., the leading independent, global LBS technology company today introduced its 3rd generation local search technology, the L2 Geospatial Search Engine. L2 is a high performance, scalable local search engine with single line input and a simpler, more intuitive user interface. deCarta sources and indexes premium map and POI (Points of Interest) content but also enables customers to index and control their own content using the L2 Index tools. Customers can host the search engine either on-premise or in a cloud service such as Amazon's AWS.

The ability to integrate, merge and search on multiple types of map and POI content – globally – is difficult to do well. deCarta leverages its deep geospatial experience to make this data integration possible in L2. The engine can be used as a pure geocoder for address search, or for POI search…. or simultaneously as a combination of the two. This gives developers maximum flexibility and creativity in producing their mobile and desktop applications.

deCarta offers a "house blend" of premium map and POI content with L2. It works closely with worldwide and regional map data providers including TomTom, Nokia, OpenStreetMap, AND, Sensis, Nav2 and eMapgo; as well as leading POI providers and content sources such as Localeze and Geonames. deCarta integrates and de-duplicates multiple content sources for optimum search results.

deCarta uniquely provides the tools to let companies index their own content for maximum control and commercial advantage. This content can stand alone or be merged with industry map and POI content. Customers can "boost" content and control rankings to suit their needs. These capabilities provide a huge advantage for local search companies, vertical market search sites (e.g. restaurant or daily deal services), or directory publishers – all of whom are trying to maintain their differentiation over large generic search sites such as Google Maps.

L2 enables Local Search sites, Internet Yellow Pages (IYPs), or specific vertical content sites to close the competitive gap. L2 combines powerful geospatial search algorithms with optimized geo-data into a fast, highly accurate local search engine with features to enhance the user experience including:

• Single line entry
• Fast typeahead feature - ideal for mobile devices and HTML5 interfaces
• High tolerance for misspellings and random ordering of address parameters
• Search for a POI near a POI, such as:
  • "Coffee near XYZ company"
  • "Restaurants on Main Street"
  • "Parking near AMC Theater"

"Many companies have valuable local content but don't have the technology or tools to deliver that content to their customers in a sophisticated local search service. As such, they are at a competitive disadvantage to the large map search portals," said J. Kim Fennell, CEO of deCarta. "L2 levels that playing field and makes it easy for those companies to compete effectively and at the same time, safeguard their content. A better user experience directly translates to satisfied users who will visit to that site again."

"The product being offered by deCarta might be described as 'local search in a box,'" said Greg Sterling, Senior Analyst for Opus Research. "It makes state-of-the-art local search and mapping capabilities immediately accessible to any developer or publisher."

L2 is available today for North America and South Africa with Western Europe starting in June and additional countries in the near future. For more information on L2, including a demonstration L2 app, please visit deCarta's web site at http://www.decarta.com. Developers can alternatively go to the deCarta DevZone at http://developer.decarta.com/

CONTACT: pr@decarta.com