Why Mapquest Was Taken Off the Map
In the early 2000’s any road trip started with Mapquest. Before jumping in the car, you’d jump online and print out your entire trip. For many families, including my own, we relied heavily on Mapquest. Long gone were the giant maps that were crammed into your glove compartment. Mapquest provided an amazingly innovative way to view maps. They quickly determined the fastest destination, they took into account the traffic conditions and they estimated your arrival time with precision. Mapquest led the charge in GPS companies. So why is it that only 10 years later Mapquest has had to greatly reduce their company size and struggle to remain relevant in today’s environment?
If someone were to look at Mapquest from the outside looking in, it may be likely that they would see the calm before the storm. Mapquest was at the top of their game. They led the charge but without any for-sight, they missed the imposing forces that were to come. They likely had the assumption that many failed dot-coms had. That they were always going to be on top. However, the early 2000’s represented a dot-com boom. Companies were being created left and right. Although Mapquest was on top for a while, it was far from a permanent seat as the lead. One competitor came and quickly rose to prominence. Google released Google Maps in 2005. Google Maps quickly began churning out features that Mapquest just couldn’t compete with. Their resources were much more limited and Googles Maps took charge very quickly.
One major distinction between the two was the availability of the products. Early on Google Maps made it their goal to reach the world. They were available in many different countries, while Mapquest only reached the United States. This was an untapped market that Google was able to quickly jump on. On top of these large difference, Google was able to pull their vast resources to provide much greater features. They provided the 3D view, dynamic search results and three additional map types that Mapquest was unable to provide.
Google also provided a much more simple approach to their mapping system. Mapquest became very cluttered in their design. Where Mapquest required four different user entries before searching a location, Google only required one entry. The visual design of both maps had a stark difference. While Google Maps kept their layout simple and easy to read Mapquest became too focused on providing too much information. Traffic lines and personal routes all became meshed into one and it was difficult to tell the difference. The overlays were too wide and unclear, the colors of the road quickly merged together.
Mapquest was just unable to provide the proper resources to remain as a key competitor. They couldn’t properly funnel in enough money to compete with Google or even Apple. With the new tech boom of the 2010’s even more competitors like Wayz came out and made the gap for Mapquest even larger.
Google and Apple Maps became integrated into all smartphones and with several attempts at rebranding and innovation, Mapquest just couldn’t strike gold a second time. They were slow to innovate in the early 2000’s and then by the time competitors came out, the competition had greater tech, design, and resources to outshine Mapquest in all areas. It seems as if Mapquest made the assumption that they would always be on top. Unfortunately, the tech boom took everybody by surprise and game-changing developments knocked out the would-be leaders. This one assumption is so great, it causes so many businesses to fail. One should never assume that they will always be at the top. New technologies are being created at a break-neck speed. If you are unwilling to adapt like Mapquest then you will cling to any life to just try to stay afloat.