Naver challenges Google Maps in Saudi Arabia... Launch of ‘Baladi Plus’

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Oh Ji-eun = Team Naver is launching a local customized map service in Saudi Arabia and is entering the local market in earnest.

Naver announced on the 29th at 10 am (local time) that it had launched the beta service of its new map app 'Balady+' through 'Naver Innovation', a joint venture with the Saudi National Housing Corporation (NHC).

Baladi Plus is a platform that inherited the name of Saudi Arabia's representative map and government service app, and supports both Arabic and English throughout Saudi Arabia.

The core competitiveness of this service is the latestness and accuracy of data.

Considering the local characteristics of a high proportion of vehicle movement and frequent road environment changes and controls, Team Naver personally drove on local roads and collected and investigated road network and major points of interest (POI) information.

Based on this, we attempted to differentiate ourselves from existing competing apps such as Google Maps and HudHud by regularly updating road control timings and store change information.

User convenience features have also been strengthened. The navigation function provides guidance on the location of enforcement cameras and speed bumps, an enlarged view of intersections, and real-time accident information.

The route finding service provides not only car and walking travel, but also public transportation route information such as subways and buses, all in one app. The goal is to provide local users with a differentiated travel experience by implanting precise route guidance technology proven in Korea.

This launch is significant in that Team Naver's Saudi business has expanded from the existing B2G (business-to-government) digital twin-centered service to a B2C life-friendly service.

After winning the contract to build the NHC digital twin platform in October 2023, Team Naver completed the construction of digital twins in major cities such as Mecca, Medina, and Jeddah in 2025.

Then, last August, the platform was officially adopted as a national standard by the Saudi government, securing local technological reliability.

Naver plans to gradually evolve Baladi Plus into a ‘map-based super app’ in the future.

We plan to introduce restaurant and beauty shop reservation functions in conjunction with Smart Place, a business platform, and sequentially install conversational AI agent technology along with daily convenience services such as delivery orders and ticket reservations.