Based on open industry standards, the Site Advantage web service is designed for organizations that want to quickly and easily deploy web-based locators.

 DENVER, CO, -- September 30, 2004 – MapQuest® Services, a leading provider of software and platforms that empower organizations to location enable web, wireless and speech applications, today announced the availability of MapQuest® Site AdvantageTM, an easy to deploy web service that allows businesses to incorporate premium interactive maps, door-to-door driving directions and location-search functionality into their Web sites. Site Advantage provides an XML interface enabling true platform independence and easy integration into almost any IT environment.  Customers can use the bundled set of sample web applications in ASP, JSP, PHP and XSLT to help shorten the application’s time to market while maintaining the ‘look and feel’ of their company’s branded Web site.

The Site Advantage web service represents the final piece of a complete redesign of the MapQuest Services offering – the AdvantageTM product line.  MapQuest offers a comprehensive product line built on a unified product architecture, allowing Advantage™ customers to easily migrate to higher end Advantage products as their business requirements grow.  Site Advantage replaces the current MapQuest Connect products and is built on the same powerful technology platform that drives MapQuest.com, which serves more than 25 million maps and driving directions each day. 

 In addition to ease of deployment and platform independence, Site Advantage includes the following key features:

·        High Resolution Maps - Anti-aliased maps offer enhanced clarity and new style files further enhance the appearance of maps.

·        Modular Design – Site Advantage consists of several modules, which customers can license a la carte, or bundle to suit their specific needs, ensuring that they can add functionality as their business grows and only pay for the functionality that they need.

·        Comprehensive Geographic Data - MapQuest offers some of the most complete and up-to-date geographic data available.  MapQuest partners with the leading data vendors to provide expansive street-level coverage of North America, Latin America and Europe.

 sign·search™, Inc., the search engine of the sign and graphics industry, realized the benefits of deploying Site Advantage immediately.  "With its XML interface and sample Web applications, the Site Advantage web service fit easily into our existing IT environment, allowing us to quickly deploy our vendor locator,” said Darrin Bonikowsky, Director of Software Development at sign·search™.  “Its modular design let us purchase only the functionality we needed up front and will allow us to phase in additional features over time.”

 “Businesses need the ability to deploy store locators quickly, without wasting time and money waiting for developers to sort out integration issues stemming from proprietary technologies,” said Walt Doyle, Vice President and General Manager of MapQuest Services.  “The Site Advantage web service helps solve these all-too-common problems and empowers companies to quickly location-enable their Web sites, providing an extremely efficient way of getting customers to their front door.”

 MapQuest Services is a leading provider of software and platforms that empower organizations to location-enable web, wireless and speech applications.  Our products and services drive business to more than 1,400 global enterprise customers across key verticals including retail, healthcare, financial services, real estate, travel and hospitality.  For more information about MapQuest Services and the Advantage products, visit our web site at www.mapquestservices.com.

 About MapQuest.com, Inc.
MapQuest, a wholly owned subsidiary of America Online, Inc. with offices in Denver, CO and Mountville, PA, is a leading location based services company.  It is comprised of three business segments: MapQuest.com, MapQuest Services and MapQuest Mapping Services.  Currently ranked within the top 10 most powerful U.S. consumer brands on the Internet by NetRatings and as the number one mapping site and number one directories site by comScore Networks, MapQuest.com served more than 35 million visitors in August 2004. MapQuest Services is the preferred provider of a full range of mapping, routing, and location-enabled software solutions to more than 1,400 leading businesses across key categories including retail, healthcare, financial, real estate, travel, and automotive. MapQuest Mapping Services is a leading global provider of custom-mapping content and map-product development for publishers and corporations, producing more than 1.5 billion pages of printed maps every year.