A Web more Geospatial: Insights into the Location Inside

The Web today is considered to be a sheer unlimited resource of interlinked information which can be explored following links or can be found employing keyword-based search engines. A feature that becomes more and more relevant for our search and use of the Web is the geospatial reference of information. In this paper, we understand the Web as a vast geospatial information space in which most of the location information is still hidden inside the Web’s content. We discuss the processes of uncovering hidden spatial information on the Web to realize a multitude of geospatial user scenarios. To explore the spatial character of the Web, location information needs to be discovered, understood, and augmented. By providing location insights into the existing Web, its content becomes accessible to spatial applications and thus allow users exploring the geospatial Web.