The problem geo-targeted messaging solves
Effective messaging has always required geographic precision. A Senate race in a competitive suburban county demands different framing than outreach in a rural district or an urban core. Traditional digital advertising achieves geographic targeting at the ad-server layer — but the destination URL carries no geographic signal. The domain a voter lands on is the same regardless of where they live.
Ballot Yard changes that. By routing visitors to geo-specific content via the same domain, campaigns and organizations can deliver messaging architecturally tuned to a visitor’s location.
How geo-IP routing works
When a visitor clicks a link pointing to a Ballot Yard inventory domain, the request passes through a routing layer powered by MaxMind GeoIP2. The visitor’s IP address is resolved to a geographic location — country, US state, DMA, or ZIP cluster depending on lease configuration. The routing layer then identifies the active lessee for that geographic slot and serves their configured content.
Geographic accuracy is a function of IP database quality. Ballot Yard uses GeoIP2, which achieves approximately 99.5% accuracy at the country level, 95% at the US state level, and 80% at the city/DMA level. VPN users, mobile carrier IPs, and corporate proxies may be misidentified. Lessees should factor accuracy rates into their targeting strategy.
The lease lifecycle
- Browse available geo-slots. After access approval, lessees view slot availability across all five inventory domains and supported geographies.
- Reserve and configure. Select a domain, geography, and lease term. Execute the lease agreement for your slot.
- Submit content for review. Upload destination content. Ballot Yard performs a basic AUP review — checking for obvious policy violations and required disclaimer presence. This is not a legal compliance review. All legal compliance obligations are yours.
- Activation. Content goes live. Geo-routing activates for your slot.
- Expiry or renewal. At term end, the slot returns to the pool unless renewed.
Single-entity exclusivity guarantee
No two lessees share a domain in the same geographic slot at the same time. This is an architectural constraint enforced at the routing layer — not a contractual promise that can be accidentally violated. The platform cannot simultaneously serve two different content payloads to the same geographic slot.
Content review — what it is and is not
Every content submission is reviewed before activation. Our review checks for: presence of required legal disclaimers (we check for presence, not legal sufficiency), obvious AUP violations, and basic technical compliance (URL is accessible, content renders).
Our review does not constitute legal clearance. We are a small team with no legal expertise. We can miss things. You are solely responsible for the legality of your content in your target jurisdictions. Do not use our review as a substitute for legal counsel.
Edge cases — VPNs, mobile, and corporate IPs
IP-based geolocation is probabilistic. VPN users appear to be in the VPN’s exit node location. Mobile carriers sometimes route traffic through centralized data centers in unexpected locations. Corporate networks often egress through a single IP regardless of employee location. A small but non-trivial percentage of visitors will be misidentified. Design your content and disclaimer strategy accordingly.
Questions
Email hello@ballotyard.com with any questions about the platform or process.