{"id":1833230,"date":"2024-07-25T21:22:50","date_gmt":"2024-07-26T01:22:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=1833230"},"modified":"2024-07-25T21:22:52","modified_gmt":"2024-07-26T01:22:52","slug":"remembering-mapquest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2024\/07\/remembering-mapquest\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering MapQuest"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The tenth installment<\/a> of James Killick\u2019s \u201c12 Map Happenings that Rocked our World\u201d series focuses on a company James actually worked at: MapQuest<\/a>, which grew very, very rapidly between its launch in 1996 (James outlines its antecedents) to its IPO<\/abbr> and acquisition by AOL<\/abbr> a few years later. And then:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The new management seemed to have very little interest in anything to do with MapQuest, particularly as it related to product road map and strategy. And with the layoffs and hiring freeze there weren\u2019t enough resources to do anything substantial even if there was a good plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I tried to make matters clear and pleaded with the powers that be: MapQuest was a site built on map data but it didn\u2019t make maps. In fact 98% of the map data was licensed from third parties.\u00a0I knew MapQuest had to build a moat around the product otherwise someone else could swoop in, license the same data and build a better product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And you won\u2019t win any prizes for guessing who did.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Previously: Remember MapQuest?<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The tenth installment of James Killick\u2019s \u201c12 Map Happenings that Rocked our World\u201d series focuses on a company James actually worked at: MapQuest, which grew very, very rapidly between its launch in 1996 (James outlines… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[121,752,114],"tags":[81],"class_list":["post-1833230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-industry","category-navigation","category-web-mapping","tag-mapquest","post_format-post-format-link"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1787893,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/10\/remember-mapquest\/","url_meta":{"origin":1833230,"position":0},"title":"Remember MapQuest?","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"7 October 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"Search Engine Land: \u201cEarlier this week Mapquest was sold by corporate parent Verizon to System1, an ad-tech company you\u2019ve probably never heard of for an undisclosed amount, which was \u2018not material enough for Verizon to file paperwork.\u2019 That\u2019s a metaphor for how far Mapquest has fallen since its heyday as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Industry"","block_context":{"text":"Industry","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/industry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1791587,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2021\/08\/mapquest-to-the-rescue\/","url_meta":{"origin":1833230,"position":1},"title":"MapQuest to the Rescue?","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"17 August 2021","format":"link","excerpt":"Adam Engst of TidBITS\u00a0had a specific routing problem that only one map app could solve. The answer, as they say, will surprise you:\u00a0\u201cWhen faced with needing to visit 43 different addresses, what was the most efficient route? It\u2019s easy enough to enter an address into Apple\u2019s Maps or Google Maps,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mobile"","block_context":{"text":"Mobile","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/mobile\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":199,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/01\/sending-driving-directions-to-your-phone\/","url_meta":{"origin":1833230,"position":2},"title":"Sending Driving Directions to Your Phone","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"11 January 2016","format":"link","excerpt":"Time\u2019s\u00a0John Patrick Pullen\u00a0compares how easy or difficult it is to send driving directions to your phone using maps from Apple, Google and Microsoft before coming up with a surprise winner:\u00a0\"I pulled up MapQuest for a punchline on this story, but the joke\u2019s on all of us. MapQuest is, by far,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mobile"","block_context":{"text":"Mobile","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/mobile\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1836778,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2025\/02\/gulf-of-america-compliance-and-resistance\/","url_meta":{"origin":1833230,"position":3},"title":"‘Gulf of America’: Compliance and Resistance","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"17 February 2025","format":"link","excerpt":"Apple Maps (screenshot) Compliance While it was reported that Apple would comply with the \u201cGulf of America\u201d renaming, I wasn\u2019t sure what Apple would do outside the U.S.; now it appears that it will follow Google\u2019s lead and show both names. Above is what I see in Canada; I wonder\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Censorship"","block_context":{"text":"Censorship","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/censorship\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gulf-of-compliance-in-advance.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gulf-of-compliance-in-advance.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gulf-of-compliance-in-advance.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gulf-of-compliance-in-advance.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1810189,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2022\/12\/geospatial-data-is-stuck-in-the-year-1955\/","url_meta":{"origin":1833230,"position":4},"title":"‘Geospatial Data Is Stuck in the Year 1955’","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"2 December 2022","format":"link","excerpt":"James Killick\u2019s blog, Map Happenings, looks very much like one worth following. Killick\u2019s been around the block more than a few times, working at Mapquest, Esri and most recently at Apple\u2019s Maps division. He\u2019s seen things, in other words. 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