MapQuest Updated To v3.0 With Improved Maps, Multi-Stop Route Optimizations, And More
Okay, MapQuest still exists. I know, now that I've completely blown your mind, I can also tell you the MapQuest Android app has been updated to v3.0, and there are some substantial improvements. Tweets: @mathewi Tweets: Mathew Ingram / @mathewi : MapQuest adds improvements — in other news, MapQuest still exists: http://www.techmeme.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
This v3.0 release is the visible payoff of AOL-owned MapQuest's attempt to arrest a long slide from its once-dominant position in online mapping. The rebuild rests on the UI integration deal with Mapbox struck in May 2015, which supplied the map rendering for the 'improved maps' shipping now.
The timing is defensive as much as anything: two days earlier, Google Maps shipped its own multi-destination routing and gas-price features on Android. Mathew Ingram's wry framing — surprise that MapQuest still exists — captures how far the brand has fallen from being the default name in web directions.
First-order effects
- MapQuest Android users get multi-stop route optimization and refreshed cartography, closing a gap that Google Maps opened days ago on the same platform.
Second-order effects
- The update locks MapQuest into a feature-parity chase with Google, where every flagship Maps capability must be matched by a much smaller team — a race INRIX also entered with its revamped turn-by-turn apps in 2016, crowding the second tier of navigation further.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, legacy mapping brands survive only as fast followers renting core map infrastructure (here, Mapbox) while Google sets the category agenda — an instance of platform infrastructure dependency deciding who can compete at all in consumer navigation.
The trend: Consumer navigation is consolidating around Google's cadence, with once-dominant incumbents like MapQuest reduced to parity-chasing challengers built on rented map infrastructure.