MapQuest, the No. 2 Internet-mapping service after Google’s (GOOG), is taking the first steps toward a Wikipedia-like model — in which users would generate the maps themselves and combine the results for everyone to use.
The company, a subsidiary of AOL, plans to announce Friday morning that it is launching a site in the U.K. based on a project called OpenStreetMap, which is dedicated to user-created mapping. The OpenStreetMap project has caught on most quickly in Europe, which is why MapQuest is starting there, but AOL also will devote $1 million to support the growth of open-source mapping in the U.S. The site has a U.K. address — http://open.mapquest.co.uk — but users can navigate to user-created maps from any country.
