Overtaking MapQuest a Challenge for Yahoo

The Internet giant is using the might of its vast online network and several innovative features in a bid to dethrone the king of Internet-based maps and driving directions, America Online Inc.'s MapQuest.

That will require overcoming stubborn brand loyalties among those who look for maps on the Web. Yahoo hopes to do it by overlaying information on its maps such as real-time traffic data -- a service it introduced last month -- and local business listings.

Perhaps more important, Yahoo also hopes to cash in on local advertising.

Websites that link local businesses to maps have an advantage over traditional media, such as newspapers and the Yellow Pages, when it comes to finding banks, restaurants and other services in a particular place. And users who create maps are telling Yahoo exactly where they're going, which is attractive to marketers.

"It's targeting, both by geography and by intent," said Paul Levine, Yahoo's general manager of local services. "Maps are a critical part of our local strategy."

Maps and driving directions have become one of the most heavily used services on the Internet since MapQuest.com burst onto the scene in 1996. Acquired for about $1 billion in 2000 by America Online, now part of Time Warner Inc., MapQuest remains at the top of the heap. But it has plenty of competition: Microsoft Corp. offers an online mapping service, and Yahoo dumped MapQuest's technology in favor of its own three years ago.

The basic services had changed little until the last few years, when the big online-mapping players began incorporating local business listings to help Web surfers find services near their destinations.

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo changed the game in March when it introduced SmartView, a free feature that lets users look up addresses, then select categories of services to appear as yellow icons on the map. Clicking on them brings up more information about the business, including the address, phone number and a link to results of a Yahoo Search query on the name.

Someone planning a date can not only find driving directions to a movie theater but also see the closest parking lot, nearby restaurants (organized by cuisine) and florists, and even an ATM to pay for the meal -- all overlaid on the map.