The Microsoft Azure Maps visual in Microsoft Power BI enables all Power BI users to visualize and analyze their data on maps to uncover patterns and trends. In a recent blog post, we shared a few of the most popular mapping capabilities—geocoding, reference layers, heats maps, range selection, and more. Today, we’re excited to announce three new features that have been added to the Azure Maps visual in Power BI: Publish to web, Data-bound reference layers, and Path layer.
Share your custom maps on a website with Publish to web
The Azure Maps visual now supports the Power BI Publish to web capability, allowing you to seamlessly integrate your map visuals directly into websites and public portals. This update makes it easier for Power BI users to share geospatial insights with a broader audience without requiring authentication, and to explore location-based data in an intuitive and interactive way.
Learn how to publish your Azure Maps visual to the web with this demo video.
Whether it’s tracking assets in real time, visualizing geographic trends, or enhancing public dashboards, this feature empowers businesses, researchers, and developers to bring spatial analytics to life on the web. Examples that we’ve seen include:
- Government agencies publish open data for public consumption, such as public health dashboards with maps that display real-time information on disease outbreaks, vaccination rates, or hospital capacities, often with interactive features to filter by location or date range.
- Real estate platforms embed maps on their websites to help users explore property listings. Users can view properties on a map, search for homes based on geographic locations, or filter by neighborhood and proximity to schools, parks, and other amenities.
- Public transportation organizations share public data on traffic patterns, public transit performance, and infrastructure planning on maps. A city’s transportation department might publish a dashboard showing traffic flow, public transit ridership, and service delays.
Create more interactive maps with Data-bound reference layers
The new Data-bound reference layer capability enables Power BI users to easily link their business data with reference layer data. Reference layers are additional layers of information that provide context to the main map features. Examples of reference layers include road networks that show streets and highways or political boundaries showing districts and zones on a map. Up until now, Power BI users could add reference layers on top of base maps, but the layer of information was static. Connecting your business data with reference layers data enables users to create interactive maps that update as the data changes in real-time. Additionally, with conditional formatting, colors, shapes, and sizes of the map visuals can be tailored to specific data thresholds, making it easier for users to spot trends, outliers, and areas that need immediate attention.
Imagine a retailer evaluating new store locations. By overlaying demographic and income data as reference layers, the retailer can quickly assess regions with high potential. With conditional formatting, income levels above a certain threshold could be displayed in one color, while lower income areas are displayed in another, making it easy to spot regions with high purchasing power. This data-driven approach allows the retailer to pinpoint the most promising sites for expansion, maximizing investment in the right areas.
Learn more about how to use this capability.
Visualize geographic connections between multiple points with the Path layer
The Path layer in the Azure Maps visual for Power BI enables users to plot and analyze connected routes, logistics flows, and movement patterns on an interactive map. Whether tracking global supply chains, flight routes, or delivery networks, this feature provides a powerful way to understand spatial relationships in data.
As an example, the image below showcases a Path layer visualization of global logistics data, with routes originating from the United States and connecting to various international locations. Each path is colored based on a metric value (such as cost or emissions), while bar charts on the right provide summarized insights by travel mode and route type. The Path layer makes it easier for businesses to optimize logistics, analyze transportation trends, and enhance decision-making with geospatial insights.
Learn more about how to use this capability.
Upcoming updates to Azure Maps Visual
We’re continuously enhancing the Azure Maps visual to bring even more powerful location intelligence capabilities to Power BI. Here’s a look at a few of the upcoming improvements:
- Customizable base map layers: Report authors will soon be able to control the visibility of specific base map layers, including country borders, building footprints, road details and administrative district boundaries. This added flexibility helps tailor the map visual to better fit the design and storytelling needs of your report or dashboard.
- Enhanced reference layer experience: Azure Maps visual will soon offer an auto-zoom feature that allows users to automatically zoom into areas where reference layers are plotted. This enhancement helps users quickly focus on relevant geospatial data and improve efficiency.
Get started with Azure Maps visual
With the introduction of the latest features, the Azure Maps visual is now supported across all Power BI services and applications. This expansion ensures that users can seamlessly integrate and share Azure Maps visuals across different platforms, enhancing accessibility and collaboration.
| Service/App | Availability |
| Power BI Desktop | Yes |
| Power BI service (app.powerbi.com) | Yes |
| Power BI mobile applications | Yes |
| Power BI Publish to web | Yes |
| Power BI Embedded | Yes |
| Power BI service embedding (PowerBI.com) | Yes |
Using Azure Maps visual in Power BI is simple. Enable the Azure Maps Power BI visual, select the Azure Maps icon from the visualizations pane in Power BI, and then dive in to enhance your dashboard with location intelligence.
To learn more about the Azure Maps visual, visit the documentation page.