Nokia’s Navteq buys mobile ad firm Acuity

Nokia-owned mapping firm Navteq has acquired location based advertising firm Acuity Mobile for an undisclosed sum.

Navteq and Acuity are long-term partners with a jointly developed interactive advertising platform deployed by the mapping firm. Navteq launched its LocationPoint advertising platform earlier this year, using Acuity’s precise location targeted advertising.

“The acquisition of Acuity Mobile further strengthens our eight plus years in location-based advertising and interactive advertising,” said Chris Rothey, vice president of advertising, at Navteq. “Our research indicates that the more finely we target advertising, the higher value it brings to consumers and advertisers alike.”

Finnish handset vendor Nokia closed its monster $8.1bn acquisition of Navteq in 2008, marking the firm’s largest purchase to date, but it was its 2007 purchase of mobile advertising specialist Enpocket that makes Navteq’s recent news more interesting.

Nokia has been positioning itself as a competitor to Google, rather than a straight handset vendor, drawing on the limited success of its internet services portal, Ovi.