Mapquest and Yahoo Maps were the dominant mapping platforms until Google Maps removed competitor links in the search results. [1] Google during this time was pu

Mapquest and Yahoo Maps were the dominant mapping platforms until Google Maps removed competitor links in the search results. [1] Google during this time was pushing for "universal search," which would break away from vertical search paradigms into a single blended set of results. This was also when traffic spiked to Google Maps and away from MapQuest / other competitors. And when you look at the data, the change in traffic is not due to users searching for "Google Maps" in the query more - but rather Google just linking to its own results more. [2] It was when I knew the whole "Don't be evil" motto was bullshit. [1] https://searchengineland.com/google-no-longer-linking-to-yahoo-mapquest-maps-10267 https://searchengineland.com/google-no-longer-linking-to-yah... [2] https://searchengineland.com/comscore-to-report-google-maps-now-number-1-16570 https://searchengineland.com/comscore-to-report-google-maps-...