MapQuest’s app surges to No. 1 in Navigation after refusing to rename Lake Ontario

MapQuest stood up to President Donald Trump, and present its app is reaping the rewards.

The “OG of online mapping,” arsenic the institution calls itself, announced connected Thursday that it would not alteration the sanction of Lake Ontario connected its maps to Lake America, contempt Trump’s executive bid directing the U.S. Department of the Interior to update the lake’s sanction successful the U.S. geographic naming service. As a result, MapQuest’s mobile app downloads soared, sending the iOS app to the No. 4 presumption connected the U.S. App Store’s Top Charts for apps (not including games) arsenic of Monday greeting connected the U.S. eastbound coast.

MapQuest besides reached the No. 8 presumption wide successful the U.S. App Store crossed some apps and games, and it became the No. 1 Navigation app successful the United States.

In Canada’s App Store, the app reached No. 2 wide arsenic of Sunday evening.

The 30-year-old institution remarked that it received “hundreds of thousands” of caller downloads since its determination to support the sanction Lake Ontario successful place, and saw its app’s usage ascent to 50 times supra its mean levels.

“We took the aforesaid attack we did with the Gulf of Mexico: beryllium portion of the conversation, and springiness radical an app that keeps the names they’re acquainted with,” said Doug Berger, General Manager of MapQuest, successful a statement. “Hundreds of thousands of radical signaled to america this play that we got it close by downloading our app.”

MapQuest besides released an online instrumentality that lets you jokingly rename Lake Ontario to immoderate you privation it to be, past stock the results connected societal media. The institution had offered a akin instrumentality past year, aft Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

Trump’s determination to rename the assemblage of h2o bordering the U.S and Canada comes arsenic commercialized talks broke down, starring the U.S. to enforce caller 50% tariffs connected $20 cardinal worthy of Canadian goods, with Canada poised to retaliate.

On Saturday, Google Maps announced it was complying with Trump’s decision, explaining that it updates Google Maps to bespeak the sanction changes successful authoritative authorities sources. In the U.S., that’s the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). The updated representation volition lone beryllium shown to users successful the U.S., portion those successful Canada volition spot Lake Ontario, and those extracurricular of the 2 countries volition spot some names.

Both Apple Maps and Google Maps antecedently changed the sanction of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America past year, aft Trump issued a akin name-changing enforcement order.

As of Monday morning, Apple Maps has yet to rename the Great Lake to Lake America and has not issued a connection astir its plans.

MapQuest has changed hands respective times implicit the years, having been acquired by AOL soon aft going public. It past ended up with Verizon for a time, arsenic a effect of Verizon’s acquisition of AOL. In 2019, Verizon sold MapQuest to net advertizing institution System1.