Bing Maps Platform

Customer Solution Case S

Axel Springer Subsi

Cent on Portal Proce
Solution

Customer: Allesklar.com
Website: www.meinestadt.de
Customer Size: 300
Country or Region: Germany
Industry: Media and entertainment
Customer Profile
Allesklar.com, part of Axel Springer
in Germany, operates a city
information portal called
meinestadt.de. It attracts 2 million
visitors a month and relies on Bing
Maps mapping technology.
Software and Services
Bing Maps

With Bing Maps, we have no need to worry about map

server performance or map quality. That means staff can
focus on managing our data, which has helped us save 30
per cent on our portal processes.
Armin Gellweiler, Senior Product Manager, Allesklar.com

Allesklar.com, part of Axel Springer, wanted a highquality mapping technology to support its city
information portal. It first deployed Bing Maps instead of
Google Maps in 2008 to replace a mapping solution that
was no longer state of the art. It remains loyal to Bing
Maps due to the superior quality of imagesand
components such as Birds Eye view, satellite images,
panning, and zoomingand the consistent 30 per cent
saving achieved in portal processes.
Business Needs

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Axel Springer is one of Europes

leading publishing and integrated
multimedia companies, with a broad
range of print and digital offerings.
The firms long-term strategyto
generate greater revenues that are
evenly balanced between print and
media channelshas been
successful. In 2012, Axel Springer
achieved a revenue split of 60.9 per
cent from print and 35.5 per cent
from digital business. It has around
10,000 employees worldwide with
annual revenue of 3 billion (US$3.9

billion) in 2012. Mapping is a key

delivery model for several digital
publishing
offerings by the Axel Springer Group,
including Allesklar.com, which was
acquired by Axel Springer in October
2012. Armin Gellweiler, Senior
Product Manager at Allesklar.com,
says: Were one of Germanys
leading Internet media companies.
With the city portal meinestadt.de,
we operate the largest portal for all
cities and towns in Germany, and are
leaders in the area of local search.
The content includes information

about jobs, events, and cinemas,

providing users with phone numbers
and addresses as well as
advertisements for motor vehicles,
real estate, and contacts for
everyday life.
Underlying the business strategy for
Allesklar.com is the need for highquality map and routing services for
customers, who make 2 million
visits to the website a month,
sampling 10 to 15 million pages.
Gellweiler says: Our objectives
include increasing page views and
visits, which are the main values for
Internet-based publishing services.
We needed a mapping solution that
would reduce our costs and boost IT
efficiency by using a high-resolution
standardised mapping service.

Solution
In 2008, Allesklar.comthen under
different ownershipchose Bing
Maps over Google Maps as the
mapping technology for the
meinestadt.de city portal. The
company has remained with Bing
Maps because of its confidence in
the Microsoft roadmap to develop
the technology.
Gellweiler says: Price was a factor
in choosing Bing Maps instead of
Google Maps, but the main
consideration was quality. Bing
Maps has dramatically improved the
clarity and accuracy of its aerial
mapping data and we dont have to

pay more for better images. Bing

Maps upgraded images are clearer
and easier to understand. I can see
greater detail on Bing Maps
compared with Google Maps.
Focused on local services, maps
are essential for the meinestadt.de
city portal in Germany. Gellweiler
says: Displaying information on
maps is one of our core features.
But its not just about points of
interest. The background services
such as autocompletion or
geocoding in both directions
getting an address from
coordinates or getting coordinates
from an addressare important to
our product.
The technical challenge in
deploying Bing Maps involved
separating the mapping services
such as zooming and panning
from the companys access and
business logic layers. Gellweiler
says: We use more than 30 million
points of interest located in
Germany in different use cases, so
we had to find a solution to
categorise and arrange all this
data. The second issue was finding
an algorithm for clustering points
of interest, for which a solution is
under review.

Benefits
Performance and availability are
the principal benefits of Bing Maps

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN
THIS SUMMARY.
Document published July 2013

for the meinestadt.de city portal,

resulting in a saving of 30 per cent
in portal processes. The ease of
use and integration with other
Microsoft technologies mean that
Allesklar.com has no need to worry
about map service performance or
quality. The company profits from
the Microsoft commitment to the
roadmap for Bing Maps and costeffective pricing results in
predictable operating expenditure.
Allesklar.com saves 30 per cent on
portal processes with Bing Maps.
Gellweiler says: With Bing Maps, we
have no need to worry about map server
performance or map quality. That means
staff can focus on managing our data,
which has helped us save 30 per cent on
our portal processes.
Microsoft commitment to Bing Maps
results in constant upgrades. Gellweiler
adds: We also benefit from Birds Eye
view or three-dimensional models with
Bing Maps at no extra cost. These
features give a better user experience and
more coverage.
Bing Maps offers value for money for a
competitive mapping solution.
Gellweiler says: We value the costeffective pricing of Bing Maps. With
predictable expenditure, we can more
accurately plan our budget over the next
two years.
Microsoft technologies integrate easily.
Allesklar.com is taking full advantage of
the easy integration between Bing Maps
and other Microsoft technologies.
Gellweiler says: Were benefiting from
maps, satellite images, Birds Eye view,
panning, and zooming in Bing Maps.