SOTM US 2010 AOL Local Participation

AOL and OSM David Cole MapQuest, Inc. Inc. Delivered at State of the Map U.S. August 14, 2010

What is… City’s Best

First popular dynamic web application
#2 in Online Mapping in the U.S.
50 million unique visitors per month
Lack of investment in recent years
But that is changing!
Recently launched major redesign at http://new.mapquest.com/

Hyperlocal news and information site
Full-time journalist in each community
High quality data collection for business listings
Currently live in ~100 towns in US
Scaling to hundreds by the end of this year

AOL’s best-of city guide, recently dormant
September relaunch in 25 US cities
Focus on quality business listing data for cities
Tools for users to vote on & share favorite restaurants, bars, etc .
City’s Best

AOL Local and OSM
Patch is using already OSM
Launched in 2009
Available in 100 towns with rapid expansion
MapQuest UK launched at SOTM in Girona
http://open.mapquest.co.uk/
UK Site is first of MQ European sites launch with OSM

Patch and OSM
Patch is focused on small communities
Local editors concerned about missing parks
We read “Take Control of Your Maps” by Paul Smith of EveryBlock
Created custom map stack
Mapnik
TileCache
OpenLayers
a custom style from Stamen Design
OSM
Our editors and engineers contribute back

MapQuest on OSM
Launched a beta version of MapQuest UK on OSM in July
http://open.mapquest.co.uk
MapQuest Germany launch pending, other EU sites next
Entirely new technology stack
Mapnik
TileCache
Nominatim
MapQuest Routing
OSM Data
Engaging developers to contribute to open source projects
Please use our beta tiles!
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/MapQuest

Why UK, Not US?
European data quality is excellent
OSM US data needs improvement
Addressing
Navigation Attributes
MapQuest known for accurate directions
We have a large, engaged user base across multiple local properties in the US
License is acceptable and we had the resources

How can AOL help OSM?

Reach
Potential exposure to 50 million users a month
MapQuest and Patch contributing
Infrastructure
Tiles
Map Styles
Scalability
Tools
MapQuest Routing API
Improve key components like Mapnik and Nominatim
Data Collection contributions are planned

We’re Hiring!
We need your help & expertise
We want to engage and support the open-source mapping community
Full-time roles in
London
New York City
Lancaster PA
Denver CO
Palo Alto CA
Contractor positions available elsewhere

Questions and Suggestions Contact us: [email_address] David Cole [email_address] 303-486-4015

SOTM US 2010 AOL Local Participation

by David Cole

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SOTM US 2010 AOL Local Participation Presentation Transcript