Friday, February 13, 2009

Google Maps Set To Pass MapQuest


Without doubt MapQuest is still the front runner in the online map world but it's future may not be so bright. Google Maps has been creeping up on MapQuest for some time now and it's poised to leap ahead. Over a year ago in January 2008, Google Maps had just over 20% of market share while MapQuest was some way ahead with a huge 50% share.

However a lot can happen in a year, and as of February 7 of 2009, Google has managed to nearly double it's market share to 36%, while at the same time MapQuest has dropped to 39%.

With the two services now basically side-by-side, what does the future hold? MapQuest seem to have adopted a strategy of adding "features" to the site that allow you to easily search for hotels, restaraunts and other aminities. At the same time Google have expanded the channels through which Google Maps can be accessed and have further developed the integration of Google Maps and Google Search. In truth I think the two approaches are exactly the same - introduce ad streams to increase revenue. Unfortunately it only seems to be working for Google.

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