WOEb

WOEb, short for "Where On Earth Binary," is a geolocation data format developed by Google to represent geographic coordinates in a compact binary format. It is designed to efficiently encode latitude and longitude values, enabling precise location tracking and storage with minimal space usage. WOEb is particularly useful in applications requiring high-performance geospatial data processing, such as mobile apps, web services, and location-based analytics.

The format converts geographic coordinates into a 64-bit integer, combining latitude and longitude into a single value. This binary representation allows for faster parsing and comparison of location data compared to traditional text-based formats like decimal degrees. WOEb is widely used internally by Google services, including Google Maps and other location-dependent platforms, though it is not officially documented for public use.

WOEb operates by dividing the Earth into a grid of cells, where each cell represents a specific region. The binary encoding maps these cells to a unique numerical identifier, enabling efficient spatial indexing. While WOEb is highly optimized for performance, it lacks some flexibility compared to other geospatial formats, such as GeoJSON or WGS84, which may be more suitable for open or standardized applications.

Developers and researchers often rely on third-party tools or reverse-engineered implementations to work with WOEb data. Its use remains largely proprietary, though its influence extends to various geospatial technologies that benefit from compact and efficient location encoding. Understanding WOEb can be valuable for those involved in location-based systems, particularly when optimizing for speed and storage efficiency.