Nokia Here Is Now Powering Facebook Mobile Maps

TechCrunch has reported the news that Facebook is now using Nokia’s Here maps for its mobile Web version, as well as running a test for Here to power location in native apps such as Instagram and Messenger.

Last month, Nokia confirmed that it is considering a sale of Here, with Facebook being one of the potential buyers, as well as many others, including Apple, a car consortium, Samsung, Uber, Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent and Yahoo. The product has an estimated value of $2 billion, although some think that the sale price will be as much as double that amount due to the company’s current data set.

“The Board of Directors of Nokia believes this is the right moment to assess the position of Here within the proposed new Nokia business,” the company said in a statement last month, while adding that the review may or may not result in a deal.

Although news of the mapping partnership between Facebook and Nokia has not been announced by either company, both confirmed the information with TechCrunch when they were asked to comment.

“We are testing Nokia HERE maps across Facebook to give us more control and flexibility in delivering a consistent maps experience,” a Facebook representative told TechCrunch. “I can confirm that we’re testing HERE maps in Android versions of some of our standalone apps like Instagram and Messenger as well.”

TechCrunch confirms that it can see that there are Here maps appearing in the apps at this point. Additionally, according to TechCruch sources, Facebook is also using Here geocoding, which provides specific place data to both Facebook and users when tagging a location in Instagram, Messenger or in the main Facebook app.

The report further explains that users will now see a diagonal “Here” logo in the bottom left-hand corner when they visit Facebook’s mobile site through their browser and view a map of the location of a user or a venue.

“We’re excited that our maps can be enjoyed by Facebook users,” a Here representative told TechCrunch.

By improving its location technology, Facebook will be able to provide a richer service for users. Mobile is a massive aspect of the social media network’s usage, and users will be able to tag specific locations more accurately with Nokia Here’s large set of geolocation data. For dealerships and other businesses who use Facebook for marketing campaigns, the enhanced ability to accurately offer ads based on specific locations will increase the value of the social media network as an effective advertising tool.

Facebook has been working on improving its location services in recent times, and utilizing Nokia’s Here maps could be a big step in this direction for the company. It’s not yet clear if this partnership indicates that Facebook is in the process of finalizing a buyout, or if the company is instead choosing to license Here in the long term instead of making the purchase.

TechCrunch’s report explains that this is not the first time that Facebook and Nokia have collaborated.

“Facebook is one of several social companies that feeds data into the Here maps,” wrote TechCrunch. “And years ago, well before Nokia sold its handset division to Microsoft and was still the world’s biggest handset maker, the two talked about collaborating on devices.”