MapQuest was once the unquestioned leader among online mapping services. And while others like Google Maps or Microsoft’s Live Search Maps offer a more modern interface and far more features than MapQuest, the latest data from Hitwise show that MapQuest still commands almost 40 percent of the market.
One thing’s for certain: The collapse of the Yahoo-Microsoft deal could be the best thing to happen to Time Warner’s Jeff Bewkes for a good long time.
Yahoo reportedly has a deal teed up to buy AOL for about $10 billion. We suspect that the newly dumped Microsoft may have something to say about that.
AOL wouldn’t give Microsoft what Yahoo would have, but it would help the company strengthen its Web-based communication business (AIM, AOL Mail, etc.). MapQuest could be a nice fit with Microsoft’s mapping products.
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