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Screenshot  Screenshot of MapQuest in use | |
Type of site | Web mapping |
|---|---|
| Available in | Multilingual |
| Parent | AOL (2000–2015) Verizon Media (2016–2019) System1 (2019–present) |
| URL | mapquest |
| Registration | Optional |
| Launched | February 6, 1996; 29 years ago (1996-02-06) |
| Current status | Active |
MapQuest (formerly stylized asmapquest) is an American free onlineweb mapping service. It was launched in 1996 as the first commercial web mapping service.[1] MapQuest's competitors includeApple Maps,Here (aDutch mapping service company), andGoogle Maps.[2][3]
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MapQuest's origins date to 1967 with the founding of Cartographic Services, a division ofR.R. Donnelley & Sons inChicago, which moved toLancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1969. In the mid-1980s, R.R. Donnelley & Sons began generating maps and routes for customers, with cooperation by Barry Glick, aUniversity at Buffalo. Glick had a PhD degree.[4] In 1994, it was spun off as GeoSystems Global Corporation. Much of the code was adapted for use on the internet to create the MapQuest web service in 1996. MapQuest's original services were mapping (referred to as "Interactive Atlas") and driving directions (called "TripQuest").[5]
Sensing the emerging demand for spatial applications on the Internet, and with crippling network latency in Lancaster, the executive team of Glick and Perry Evans moved MapQuest to the up-and-comingLoDo area ofDenver.
The initial Denver team consisted of Evans, Simon Greenman, Chris Fanjoy, and Harry Grout. To make MapQuest a serious contender in the online spatial application market, a robust set of geographical tools was developed under Greenman's direction. Grout, who had spent time atRand McNally;Etak, a now defunct mapping company; andNavigation Technologies Corporation (Navteq) building digital map data, was tasked with acquiring data and licensing arrangements. The initial team experienced rapid growth in the Denver office, and in a short time MapQuest became a well-known brand.
On 25 February 1999, MapQuestwent public, trading onNasdaq.[6] In December 1999,America Online (AOL) announced that it would acquire MapQuest for $1.1 billion. The deal closed in 2000.[1] COO / CFOJim Thomas managed the transactions.[7] For a time (until 2004),[8] MapQuest includedsatellite images through a licensing deal withGlobeXplorer, but later removed them because of the unorthodox business mechanics[clarification needed] of the arrangement brokered by AOL. In September 2006, the website again began serving satellite imagery in a new beta program.
In 2004, MapQuest,uLocate,Research in Motion, andNextel launched MapQuest Find Me, a buddy-finder service which worked onGPS-enabled mobile phones. MapQuest Find Me let users automatically find their location, access maps and directions and locate nearby points of interest, including airports, hotels, restaurants, banks and ATMs. Users also had the ability to set up alerts to be notified when network members arrive at or depart from a designated area. In 2005, the service became available onSprint (as a result of their merger with Nextel), and onBoost Mobile in 2006.
In July 2006, MapQuest created a beta version of a new feature with which users could build customized routes by adding additional stops, reordering stops along the way and avoiding any undesired turns or roads. Users could also write out the starting address.[9] In October 2006, MapQuest sold its publishing division to concentrate on its online andmobile services.[10] In April 2007, MapQuest announced a partnership withGeneral Motors'OnStar to allow OnStar subscribers to plan their driving routes on MapQuest.com and send their destination to OnStar'sturn-by-turn navigation service. The OnStar Web Destination Entry pilot program began in the summer of 2007 with a select group of OnStar subscribers.[11]
Around 2008, the general public made a significant shift away from MapQuest to the much youngerGoogle Maps service.[12][13] In July 2010, MapQuest announced[14][15] plans to become the first major mapping site to embraceopen-source mapping data, launching a new site[16] separate from its main site, entirely using data from theOpenStreetMap project.[17] On 14 July 2010, MapQuest launched a simplified user interface and made the site more compact. MapQuest also introduced "My Maps" personalization, which enables the user topersonalize the interface.
In July 2012, Brian McMahon became the CEO and GM of MapQuest. In May 2015, with the purchase of AOL byVerizon Communications, MapQuest came under the ownership of Verizon.[18] On 11 July 2016, MapQuest discontinued its open tile API,[19][20] and users such asGNOME Maps were switched to a temporarily free tier of theMapbox tileserver,[21] while considering alternatives.[22] In 2019, Verizon Media sold Mapquest toSystem1.[23][24]
In early 2025, after anexecutive order by President Donald Trump renaming theGulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America," MapQuest gained attention for its satirical response. Through its officialBluesky account, MapQuest announced that they would not change the name of the gulf on their map. They later announced"Name Your Own Gulf," a website allowing someone to generate an image of a map saying "Gulf of" something, which received attention on social media and was featured on several news outlets.[25]
From 2014, MapQuest uses some ofTomTom's services for its mapping system.[26] MapQuest provides some extent of street-level detail or driving directions for a variety of countries. Users can check if their country is available using a dropdown menu on the MapQuest home page.
The company offers a freemobile app for Android and iOS that featuresPOI search, voice-guided navigation,real-time traffic and other features. MapQuest also offers a mobile-friendly website. MapQuest has several travel products and also includes a feature to let users compare nearby gas prices, similar to the service offered byGasBuddy. However, this feature is only available in the United States. MapQuest'sPOI data helps the service differentiate itself from other wayfinding software by guiding users directly to the entrances of businesses and destinations, rather than to general street addresses.
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