In the event you had been born after 1990, you’ll have to think about this (the remainder of us truly lived it)… Prior to now, in case you needed to drive to an unfamiliar location, you’d must get a bodily map, use a mixture of prior information and customary sense to find out what could be the simplest means there, both memorize it or write it down.
At this time, you may merely sort the identify of a vacation spot and immediately obtain a map exhibiting the quickest route together with turn-by-turn directions to get there. These developments, which predated the fashionable smartphone, had been made doable due to a service known as MapQuest.
In 1994, the GeoSystems World Company was created out of the cartographic division of publishing firm R.R. Donnelley, which included Barry Glick, Chris Heivly and Perry Evans.
Two years later, the corporate tailored its code for on-line use and launched MapQuest. Knowledge equivalent to the standard speeds of roads was bought from third-party corporations like Navigation Applied sciences (NavTeq), and up to date a number of instances a yr.
At the moment, the maps generated needed to be printed on paper to be transportable. The driving directions may be downloaded to “superior cell telephones” (which had been heavy and unusual on the time) and private digital assistants.
Picture credit score: Reddit
Many organizations used to hyperlink to MapQuest on their web sites to assist prospects get to their shops or places of work. GeoSystems generated roughly $20 million per yr from adverts and collaboration agreements this fashion. In 1999, the corporate rebranded as MapQuest and went public.
The next yr, MapQuest was acquired by America On-line (AOL) for $1.1 billion in inventory. With the sources of its new proprietor, the service was capable of develop into Europe, launching native websites in a number of languages.
When BlackBerry Was the Future
Within the new millennium, competitors was rising with companies like MSN MapPoint, Yahoo! Native Maps, and Google Maps, which used applied sciences such because the .NET Framework, Adobe Flash, and JavaScript. These applied sciences enabled extra interactive maps that allowed customers to see search solutions, zoom out and in, transfer round, and even charge companies with out reloading the web page.
MapQuest did not wish to alienate its present person base, a big portion of which was nonetheless utilizing outdated software program like Web Explorer 5 or Mac OS 9. Certainly, MapQuest remained the preferred mapping service within the U.S., with greater than 50 million month-to-month customers and a 50% market share.
MapQuest signed a take care of Analysis in Movement (BlackBerry) in 2005 to launch the Discover Me app, which used the telephone’s GPS to point out customers their location and the situation of their associates. Lastly, this meant {that a} single improper flip wouldn’t render the remainder of the instructions ineffective.
Lastly, this meant {that a} single improper flip wouldn’t render the remainder of the instructions ineffective.
The service was priced at $4 per 30 days, an economical different to buying a separate GPS gadget for the automotive, which was costlier and required set up.
The next yr, MapQuest launched Navigator for cell phones for $10 per 30 days, which included voice instructions and a visible presentation. Solely in 2006, MapQuest offered its print publishing division.
In early 2007, weeks earlier than the iPhone was launched, CEO Steve Jobs and workforce determined on the final minute to incorporate a maps app for the gadget utilizing knowledge from shut ally, Google (how issues change and keep the identical). Jobs thought that the Maps app would make for a very good demonstration of the iPhone’s multitouch know-how, although it clearly did way more than that.
Later that yr, Google stopped linking to MapQuest and Yahoo! Maps when customers looked for names of locations, holding solely Google Maps. That gave Google an enormous benefit with new customers who did not have a most well-liked web site but.
When Google stopped linking to different map suppliers. Supply: Google Blogoscoped
AOL did not leverage its capabilities in the identical method: for most individuals, it was little greater than a information web site that supplied companies like e-mail and instantaneous messaging, which misplaced reputation by remaining unique to AOL’s declining web service for too lengthy. Nevertheless, by the top of the yr, AOL launched a beta for its new, trendy web site, in addition to a devoted cellular web site that includes dwell visitors and gasoline value updates.
In 2008, MapQuest 4 Cell was launched for BlackBerry, combining the performance of the cellular web site and the earlier Discover Me app, and a brand new iPhone web site was launched. That yr additionally noticed the introduction of the primary Android telephones, which after all launched with Google Maps.
In early 2009, a brand new MapQuest web site was launched from beta, that includes the power to tug routes to change them and combine social media. The map used all the display screen’s width, which was good for older shows with a 4:3 side ratio, however required scrolling all the way down to see the map. Round that point, Google Maps surpassed MapQuest in variety of customers.
Later that yr, MapQuest launched a devoted Android web site, and each MapQuest 4 Cell and MapQuest Navigator for the iPhone. MapQuest 360 View was launched to compete with Google Road View. With BlackBerry remaining the preferred smartphone within the U.S., it regarded like MapQuest was there to remain, not less than as a competitor.
In No Map’s Land
The yr 2010 marked a shift within the cellular market from BlackBerry to Android. MapQuest tried to distinguish itself on the iPhone by providing primary voice narration on the free MapQuest 4 app. It additionally turned the primary main model to characteristic websites primarily based on OpenStreetMap, known as the “Wikipedia of maps,” beginning within the UK, India and the U.S. and shortly increasing all over the world.
Towards the top of the yr, MapQuest launched a brand new web site with a distinct emblem and a design just like Google Maps, which annoyed long-time MapQuest customers who felt that in the event that they wanted to study a brand new interface, they may as effectively swap to a distinct service. In 2011, MapQuest launched an Android app. The next yr, the corporate started using nonetheless cameras to let drivers see visitors situations for themselves.
In 2012, each the MapQuest and Apple cellular apps switched to utilizing TomTom for his or her map knowledge. The brand new Apple Maps was launched in an incomplete state with the iPhone 5, resulting in an official apology from CEO Tim Cook dinner and making MapQuest probably the most downloaded iPhone navigation app. It is truthful to query why the 2 corporations didn’t collaborate, which might have led to Apple buying MapQuest a number of years later.
MapQuest tried to create a social community with MapQuest Vibe/Native, primarily based round person evaluations; MapQuest Uncover, which let customers share pictures and lists of favourite places; and MapQuest Journey Blogs, however with out success. The marketplace for social networks might have been saturated by then, or maybe the outdated customers that MapQuest beforehand tried to retain weren’t the appropriate viewers.
In 2013, MapQuest launched an app for Home windows Telephone, which was a small however quickly rising platform on the time, however slowed down quickly after. Google acquired the promising competitor Waze, which let customers warn others of visitors difficulties, for $1.3 billion. No different app got here near difficult Apple and Google since.
Burned Out or Light Away?
In 2015, AOL was offered to Verizon, and two years later merged with Yahoo! In 2019, MapQuest was offered to ad-tech firm System1, which operates it to today.
The MapQuest apps are restricted to the U.S. and Canada (the positioning additionally works for the UK), and like Apple, they incorporate TripAdvisor and Yelp enterprise evaluations. The mapping knowledge is offered by Right here, which was created out of NavTeq and Nokia.
In 2022, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, and TomTom based the Overture Maps Basis, counting on OpenStreetMap and different sources to create maps which can be free to make use of by builders and different map creators.
Not like Flickr or GeoCities, MapQuest wasn’t a basically mismanaged service. It suffered from the failings of AOL and BlackBerry, from Google changing into ubiquitous, and possibly from a number of missed alternatives. MapQuest performed a giant half within the improvement of the web, and does not want to stay fashionable to be remembered.
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