Have you ever noticed that when you log into the Internet from another location in the world that things just look different? Sometimes, you’ll get sent to a localized site where the language has been set to something other than English by default, but it’s even more likely that you’ve noticed the different ads that are displayed. What if you could get these different perspectives without leaving the comfort of your home or office?
That’s essentially the concept behind GeoEdge, which bills itself as offering “global visibility solutions.” They’re not targeting average Joe Internet users as much as they are looking at publishers, advertisers, and other web-based professionals who want to see more of the world wide web without having to actually travel to different places around the globe.
The Globally Local Viewpoint
At its core, that’s what GeoEdge is bringing to the table. They have a vast network of proxy servers that have been set up at various locations across the country and around the world. In doing this and by giving you access to this network, you gain international visibility while being able to stay in the same physical place.
Watch the demo video to get a better sense of what you can expect from GeoEdge. As it stands, there are over 100 global locations that are a part of the GeoEdge network. There are two main products available: GeoEdge Search and GeoEdge Pro. The former only gives you access to SERPs, so you’ll want the latter to really tap into what this can do.
Shown above is an example using the Google Chrome extension from GeoEdge. Since Google only allows for direct installations from the Chrome Web Store directly, you’ll need to download the extension, go into the extensions menu in your Chrome browser, and install the extension manually that way. As you can see, the ads are different (I set it to view Dot Com Pho as if I were in Taiwan) and even the YouTube controls are in a different language.
There is also a Firefox toolbar, GoVPN client, M-Pro for Android 4.0+, and GeoProxy. These give you additional functionality, like being able to use the VPN for web-enabled apps that aren’t Chrome or Firefox.
Emulating Mobile Devices Too
Yes, getting the “local perspective” from an international location can be very important for an Internet marketer. Perhaps you are physically in Thailand, but you need to check up on your ad campaign in Texas. But what about checking on what you’re doing in the mobile sphere?
The GeoEdge extension (and toolbar) also comes with browser emulation, including the ability to emulate a number of mobile browsers. This is a much more convenient way to test the mobile theme on your blog, as I’ve done here with Beyond the Rhetoric for example, than whipping out your phone or tablet. What’s more, there are multiple mobile browsers available, including different iOS versions on the iPhone and iPad, as well as Android, Windows Phone 7, and BlackBerry.
Even though it is listed under mobile emulation, the same menu reveals emulators for different desktop browsers, as well as spiders and bots. Want to see what the Googlebot sees? You can do that too.
Multiple Views with Snap-It!
Going further, GeoEdge has a feature called Snap-It!
This saves you significant time when you just want to catch a glimpse of the different views around the world using the GeoEdge proxy network. When you use Snap-It!, you can select multiple locations and have them all displayed at the same time in thumbnailed form. This process takes a few seconds and I found that it could “hang” on occasion, but it’s certainly handy when it works.
How Much Does It Cost?
That depends. If you’re going to use just the GeoEdge Search product described earlier, that’s free for a single user, but it does mean that you are restricted to SERPs. The GeoEdge Pro product comes with three different packages, plus the ability to build your own customized package. The plans and pricing start at $59 a month for the Start option, which includes 3 locations, mobile emulation and 200MB of usage. These go up to $99 and $169 a month for more locations and more data usage.
All plans come with a 30-day free trial, so give it a try and see how much value GeoEdge can bring to your publishing, advertising or media buying business.
