Is Microsoft Partnering With Nokia On Bing Maps?

Posted 05/16/2011 at 12:53pm | by Brad Chacos

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Google Maps is awesome. With it, not only can you figure out which pizza place is closest to your house, you can also get the joint's phone number and even see what the place looks like (as long as that pizza joint is not also a nuclear power plant or ammo depot). Bing Maps? Not quite as cool, but that may change shortly if a recent Search Engine Land report is any indication.

In an article on May 15th, Search Engine Lander writer Greg Sterling cited an anonymous source claiming that Microsoft and Nokia are in talks to replace Bing Maps' engine with Nokia's Navteq mapping software. Nokia would supply the guts powering Bing Maps, while Microsoft would focus solely on outward appearances.

Sterling tapped representatives from both companies to try and pry out a juicy quote. Unfortunately, he didn't get very far – nobody on either side would say anything concrete, leaving the impression that nothing was set in stone. Navteq already supplies Yahoo! with its maps. If Nokia manages to nab Bing, it may rouse the Google into action – a healthy competition that could only make things better for us end-users.