MapQuest’s unlikely comeback just got even bigger. On Tuesday, the “OG” mapping application (and one that many thought no longer existed!) became the No. 1 overall app on the U.S. App Store, up from No. 8 on Monday.
The surge in new downloads was inspired by MapQuest’s refusal to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America,” after President Trump’s executive order directed the U.S. geographic naming service to adopt the new name amid his ongoing trade push.
After the August 27 order, MapQuest announced on X that it would not change the lake’s name, while both Google Maps and, later, Apple Maps, capitulated. As a result, MapQuest’s U.S. App Store ranking steadily climbed, as consumers downloaded the app to show their support for the company’s stance.
MapQuest’s rank climbed from No. 128 on August 28 to No. 92 the following day, and then hit No. 3 this Monday, August 31, when it was also No. 1 in the Navigation category. By Tuesday of this week, MapQuest had reached the No. 1 spot across both apps and games on the U.S. App Store.
Since the executive order was issued, the app has been downloaded an estimated 632,000 times in the U.S., according to data from market intelligence provider Sensor Tower. Reached for comment, MapQuest said the app had actually seen over 1.5 million installs across the U.S. and Canada combined.
MapQuest also said many of these new users aren’t just casual downloaders; they’re actively engaging with the app.
“What’s been incredible is that people aren’t just installing our app — they care enough to communicate directly with us — making feature requests and submitting bug reports on social, and in our app reviews,” MapQuest GM Doug Berger told TechCrunch via email. “Our small team has been working around the clock to build features people are asking for. We are aiming for everyone to have a great experience with the app,” he said.
The surge has come quickly for the company. More than half of MapQuest’s year-to-date U.S. downloads —56% — have occurred from August 27 through September 1, Sensor Tower’s estimates show. During this time period, the app’s U.S. downloads increased by 123% day-over-day and were up more than 50 times compared to the same period last year, its data indicates.
Part of what made MapQuest’s stance resonate with consumers was its contrast with its much larger Big Tech rivals.
Google last week explained its decision to rename the lake, saying that it updates names to reflect changes in official government sources such as the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) in the U.S. Apple didn’t provide a comment, but likely follows the same guidelines.
As a much smaller player, MapQuest has more freedom to take a stand and buck the typical conventions.
This isn’t the first time it’s done so, either. It still calls the Gulf of Mexico by its original name, instead of Gulf of America. It even released a fun online tool that lets you jokingly rename Lake Ontario to whatever you want it to be, then share the results on social media.
Though it was once the original mapping application, MapQuest ceded its crown to Google Maps over the years. It’s now owned by the internet advertising company System1, which acquired the property from Verizon in 2019. The telco had bought MapQuest’s initial acquirer, AOL, in 2015.
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