Why the MapQuest map changeover?

[+NW_history_buff]

Did Groundspeak forget to pay the Google Maps bill and now we have to suffer with MapQuest?

 

MapQuest views sure makes it more difficult to approve waymarks since local landmarks and businesses don't even show up and there's no 3D mode to switch to.

 

Sigh.

 

I hope this is short-lived?

 

[+Manville Possum]

Did Groundspeak forget to pay the Google Maps bill and now we have to suffer with MapQuest?

 

MapQuest views sure makes it more difficult to approve waymarks since local landmarks and businesses don't even show up and there's no 3D mode to switch to.

 

Sigh.

 

I hope this is short-lived?

 

 

Same thing happened on the geocaching site during the last update, but we can reset our map preferences back to google. I'm not sure why it took this long to take effect on the Waymarking site, but it did downgrade the service here.

 

I still have my google earth program that I use when reviewing or searching for Waymarks.

[+NW_history_buff]

I read another thread and Bruces posted that you can still access Google Maps in the lower left corner of the page when viewing a Waymark. It's inconvenient but at least it pops up a new Google Maps window for officers to check proper coordinates of Waymark submissions before accepting/denying them.

[+The A-Team]

Same thing happened on the geocaching site during the last update, but we can reset our map preferences back to google. I'm not sure why it took this long to take effect on the Waymarking site, but it did downgrade the service here.

It wasn't the same thing. Nothing changed with the maps over on geocaching.com, it was just that everyone's preferences reset to the Leaflet (OSM-based maps) setting. The same maps were available both before and after that update.

 

The MapQuest map change over here is something different entirely, and I suspect it has something to do with the number of Google Map hits Groundspeak was creating. With an uptick in geocaching.com map usage due to increasing membership over there, they probably viewed the Waymarking maps as an easy way to reduce their Google Map usage. That's just a guess, though.

 

Personally, the OSM data is more than detailed enough in my area to be sufficient for my needs, and the map links are always available for any special cases.