As Business Insider notes, AOL (AOL) yesterday unveiled an upgraded version of MapQuest.
In a blog post, Mapquest senior VP and general manage Christian Dwyer wrote that the site has been redesigned to be “more helpful, intuitive and engaging” with the entire experience within view at all times. Dwyer notes that “one of the most obvious changes” is the one box search design, for entering addresses or other location information. There’s also a “my maps” feature to save searches, and integrated local information from other AOL properties, among other upgrades.
In any case, the Business Insider theory is that AOL is effectively gussying the property up for sale, perhaps to Microsoft (MSFT); and, indeed, there have been reports that MapQuest is for sale since late last year. Would Microsoft want to buy MapQuest? Maybe; the company already had a maps service on Bing, relying on Navteq for maps, as does MapQuest. Adding MapQuest would certainly make Microsoft more competitive with Google in the maps sector. So it could happen; stay tuned.
AOL today is up 53 cents, or 2.6%, to $21.15.
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