Zooming in on Mapquest

Databases accessible via the Web are an important new form of content. Some of the most successful have been the telephone directories, Yellow Pages, the SEC's Edgar, and all manner of listing services for employment, real estate, and dating.

Unique among these, and increasingly popular, is MapQuest, an online interactive mapping service covering the U.S., Canada, and much of Europe, providing door-to-door driving instructions and zoomable maps.

Launched in early 1996, it now receives over three million hits and generates up to 500,000 page views per day, placing it among the top sites worldwide for daily traffic.

I found MapQuest when I needed driving directions to a meeting in another state. I entered the address of my office and my destination, and within seconds it presented me with detailed driving instructions, maps of the entire route with blow ups of the starting and end points, and even the estimated driving time. I was astonished by how accurate the site was.

Utilizing both Java and ActiveX, MapQuest allows users to interactively zoom and browse their way to over three million locations worldwide. Users can locate businesses, places of interest, entertainment or event locations, and travel resources.

MapQuest Publishing Group is a consumer products business unit of GeoSystems Global Corp., a leading supplier of geographic information products and services. It has long worked behind the scenes, creating the AAA Tryptichs and many other popular cartographic products.

MapQuest is an aggregator of geographic data and relies on partners to supply the database for its maps and directions. The partners include AND Mapping B.V., Compusearch Micromarketing Data & Systems, Geographic Data Technology, Navigation Technologies, and Tele Atlas.

The latest information about roadways comes from Navigation Technologies, the premier builder and supplier of continuously updated navigable map databases for North America and Europe. The company puts hundreds of employees on the road gathering detailed information about turn restrictions, address ranges, road signage, and thousands of points of interest, including restaurants, shopping centers, and ATMs.

MapQuest employs a combination of GeoSystems' proprietary technologies and indexing techniques to access various data sets and make them all come together seamlessly and intuitively for the consumer.

Expanding into other types of geography-related services, MapQuest Publishing Group recently unveiled MoveQuest, a comprehensive relocation resource that guides consumers through all of the intricacies of researching, planning, and completing a successful move.

A first on the Internet, MoveQuest brings together content from the Web's top real estate sources, such as CyberHomes, Rent.net, Allstate Insurance, and Countrywide Home Loans, as well as Inman News Features for tips on home buying and selling, SchoolMatch for data on all U.S. public schools and accredited private schools around the world, and DataQuick for reports on community demographics and home pricing comparisons.

MapQuest also recently launched ShopQuest, an online store designed to meet the needs of travel enthusiasts and more than 1.5 million registered MapQuest members. Visitors can now purchase nearly two dozen travel-related products over the Internet, ranging from accessories, travel guides, and maps to MapQuest logowear.

Revenue is obtained from the licensing of the Mapquest service to other sites like Travelocity and from the sale of banner advertising on the Mapquest site itself at rates comparable to popular Web news magazines.

Mapquest offers advertisers "Geocentric advertising"--the unique ability to deliver banners based on the destination the user is examining. For example, one of its advertisers is Radisson Hotels. If you type in Chicago as a destination and express an interest in lodging, you will be served lodging info with the Radisson banner at the top of the page, and that banner will take you to info about the Radisson Hotel in Chicago.

Mapquest can also serve banners based on where a user clicks on a map. What a great way to target ads for one-of-a-kind local attractions like, "While you're in Mystic, CT, why not visit the Mystic Seaport Museum?" Pretty remarkable stuff.