Alright kids,

I know next to nothing about PHP but I'm interested in geolocation scripts. A couple of months ago, I got a presentation from a company that can target content down to the zip code level (and much more, but that's beside the point). However, what they charge a month is just too much for our campaign's budget and I'd like to see if I could replicate something similar. Everything I've read leads me to believe I'd need PHP. This company, however, gives their clients a simple javascipt code to plop on their site after the user uploads the various images in the database and sets parameters for each one (ie show this image for this zip).

Couple of questions
1. I keep hearing geolocation can be a headache and is often wildly inaccurate. True?
2. Is it possible to replicate something like this? I would purchase the IP database from maxmind...they have zip code data for Ips.
3. Last - would the easiest solution be to have visitors enter their zip code before the website loads and just customize the content that way? Or would that be a pain for the visitor (this is a political website).

Thanks!