geolocation API giving strange data

I've definitely run into this exact issue when working with various IP geolocation data providers for geo-targeting accuracy. First off, regarding your "known ips" (should be "IPs" – small capitalization detail, but good for consistency!), the latitude and longitude returning 0.0000 is a common symptom when an API either lacks specific granular data for an IP or, more frequently, when dealing with anycast IPs like 8.8.8.8. Anycast IPs, such as Google's DNS server, don't have a single physical location; they route traffic to the nearest server, so a fixed coordinate is often meaningless or unavailable. Some APIs default to 0.0000 (which is the intersection of the equator and the prime meridian, off the coast of West Africa) when they can't determine a precise location or if the IP is designated as an anycast address.

To troubleshoot, first check the API's documentation on how it handles reserved or anycast IPs; many will explicitly state this behavior. Test your IP lookup tool with a standard residential IP address, not just well-known infrastructure IPs, to see if the problem persists. If it does, the API itself might have significant gaps in its database. For more reliable results, especially if you need commercial-grade accuracy, I typically recommend providers like MaxMind (their GeoLite2 database is widely used and can be self-hosted or accessed via API), IPinfo.io, or IP-API.com. These services often have more robust datasets and clearer handling of edge cases. What kind of volume are you anticipating for this tool?

Oh nice! Yeah, that makes total sense about the anycast IPs. I checked my docs and then tested with some random residential IPs, and they're all coming back perfectly fine now, so def solved that initial problem. But now I'm kinda wondering, for those of you using MaxMind or IPinfo.io, how good are their rate limits for a growing tool tho? I'm anticipating some decent volume soon.