MapQuest, Leading Online Maps and Directions Service, Launches New Line of Printed Travel Publications
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE), June 2, 2005
Road Atlases, Specialty Guides and Laminated Maps, Extend the MapQuest Service Offline.
MapQuest Inc. today announced the launch of its MapQuest® Publishing product line, a new family of printed travel publications that will include road atlases, specialty guides, and laminated maps. MapQuest, which draws 41 million users each month to its online mapping service, is the leading online directory service.
"We are always looking for ways to extend the popular MapQuest service beyond the desktop with services such as our suite of mobile mapping and directions services, and now a new line of printed maps that will make finding places of interest easier," said Tommy McGloin, senior vice president and general manager for MapQuest, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of America Online, Inc.
"With the addition of these new printed travel products, we continue to capitalize on new market opportunities and expand the reach of our brand and our high-quality maps and directions," said Walter Doyle, Vice President of MapQuest's new publishing unit.
Among the new MapQuest printed travel products:
- Six different versions of MapQuest's classic North American road atlas, including large print/large scale and pocket-sized editions.
- The MapQuest(R) Road Atlas includes an exclusive index of more than 15,000 interesting places.
- Special interest travel guides that focus on the traveler's personal interests, including:
- The MapQuest(R) Right Place Guide to Colleges & Universities combines a directory of 1,500 four-year schools with color maps that pinpoint college locations.
- The MapQuest(R) Auto Racing Track Guide and Atlas, combines a directory of U.S. auto racing with a road atlas that pinpoints the location of over 1,200 race tracks, and includes information on track diagrams, dining, lodging, and local attractions.
- The MapQuest(R) Campground/RV Park Guide and Atlas combines a directory of 3,700 RV parks and campgrounds with location-spotted maps.
- Customized maps
- The MapQuest(R) Find It Maps for 20 cities and 38 states offer handy locator guides to zoos, parks, museums, golf courses, historic sites, spectator venues and more. MapQuest's new publishing program even includes student atlases for the classroom and family reference atlases for the home.
MapQuest has a 38-year heritage of excellence in printed maps. With a staff of in-house cartographers, map editors and research specialists, the MapQuest(R) services are supported by the company's Freile Research Center in Mountville, PA, which includes one of the largest and most up-to-date geographic information libraries in the United States of America.
"Many people may not be aware of the fact that MapQuest's history starts with a group of bona fide cartographers who produced printed maps for consumers across the United States before the Internet even existed - expertise that has remained with the company ever since," said Tommy McGloin.
MapQuest Publishing plans to engage Time/Warner Retail, a division of Time Inc., to distribute the printed publications to mass market retail chains across the country.
MapQuest, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of America Online, Inc.
About MapQuest
MapQuest helps people find places. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado and Mountville, Pennsylvania, MapQuest offers Internet, Mobile, Business Solutions, and Published products worldwide. MapQuest.com, both the top mapping and directories site on the Web according to comScore Media Metrix, served over 41 million users in April 2005. MapQuest also empowers more than 1,400 businesses with software solutions to location-enable Web and wireless applications, and is a leading publisher and provider of mapping content for other publishers and corporations, producing more than 1.5 billion pages of printed maps every year. MapQuest is a wholly owned subsidiary of America Online, Inc.
About America Online, Inc.
America Online, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. Based in Dulles, Virginia, America Online is the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies and e-commerce services.
(1) comScore Media Metrix, April 2005