MapQuest, the mapping service that many people last used in the dial-up era, is suddenly the most downloaded navigation app in the United States. The reason has nothing to do with better directions. The company refused to rename Lake Ontario "Lake America" on its maps, and users responded by downloading the app in large numbers.
A stand over a lake's name
President Donald Trump's executive order, issued amid the U.S.-Canada trade dispute, directed the Interior Department to update the lake's name in federal geographic records. Google Maps said it would comply: people using the app in the United States now see "Lake America," while users in Canada still see "Lake Ontario." MapQuest chose the other path. The 30-year-old company said it would keep the original name, calling itself the "OG of online mapping."
Downloads jump to the top of the charts
Users rewarded the decision. By early this week, MapQuest was the No. 1 free app on Apple's App Store in the United States, ahead of ChatGPT and ESPN Fantasy Sports, and No. 8 among free apps on Google Play. It also reached No. 2 overall in Canada's App Store. The company said it received hundreds of thousands of new downloads, including more than 100,000 on Sunday alone, its best day in a decade. App usage climbed to roughly 50 times normal levels.
A comeback built on a name
Industry watchers note that many of those users may open the app once and then leave. But the episode shows how quickly a political dispute can reshape a consumer market, and it hands MapQuest a chance to win back an audience it lost to Google Maps years ago. Whether the service can hold onto the new users is another question, one that will be answered only when the lake's name stops making headlines.