Google took the idea of a route-finding service with driving directions and expanded it to include a searchable database of locations. The acquisition would later become the foundation for Google Maps, released in 2005. The beginning of MapQuest’s decline can be traced back to the Google acquisition of a little-known Australian navigation company called Where 2 Technologies. So what happened to this once pioneering service? Read on to find out. In October 2019, the service was sold by corporate parent Verizon to System1 in a deal not material enough for Verizon to bother filing paperwork. MapQuest then became an important addition to AOL’s increasingly dominant search and advertising portfolio. In 1999, the company went public and was acquired in an all-stock deal by AOL for $1.1 billion the following year. The company initially generated roadmaps for driving enthusiasts and then reimagined itself for the digital age, launching the first online route-finding service in February 1996. The history of MapQuest predates mass uptake of the internet by decades, with its origins traced back to the founding of Cartographic Services in 1967. MapQuest is an American web mapping service and was the first such commercial service of its kind.

Both Google Maps and Apple Maps were also factory installed on smartphones, increasing their uptake. MapQuest’s list of static driving directions paled in comparison to a smartphone with global positioning technology.For whatever reason, AOL was not willing to devote the same amount of time and money to developing MapQuest. MapQuest faced intense competitive pressure from Google and its large and consistent investment in Google Maps.Despite the first-mover advantage and the acquisition by market leader AOL, MapQuest was sold off for an undisclosed sum in 2007. MapQuest is an American web mapping service and was the first route-finding service to be launched online in 1996.Digital Business Models Podcast by FourWeekMBA.Business Strategy Book Bundle By FourWeekMBA.An Entire MBA In Four Weeks By FourWeekMBA.100+ Business Models Book By FourWeekMBA.

Mapquest street view