Yahoo Maps and Driving Directions: A Comprehensive Guide

Yahoo News published an article with the headline “Yahoo to Shut Down Its Map Site” on June 5, 2015. 

This was the announcement of putting an end to a mapping service that enjoyed immense popularity in the 10 years since it was launched in 2005. 

Nevertheless, this void was soon filled with several route planner apps that were relatively newer but soon grew into giants. 

This blog will discuss the history of Yahoo Maps, the features it had, and the best 

Yahoo Maps alternatives that you can consider for route planning.

So, stay tuned.

History of Yahoo Maps

Yahoo Maps was created and launched in 1998. It was a free online tool that provided current location, driving directions, and various other features, including: 

• Weather maps, 
• Live traffic maps
•  A route planner with multiple stops
• A satellite map view
• Points of interest like gas stations, hotels, yelp destinations, and much more. 

Overall, it was a comprehensive tool that offered a world of experiences to users. In 2006, Yahoo Maps released local maps, and in 2007, it released a new style of maps.

At its height, it was considered the premier mapping experience that had the best technology and user interface. Not just that, it also included some pioneering features like “distance,” local business listings, local search on a map, and ads. 

Now that you know the history of Yahoo Maps, let’s find out how the functionalities of Yahoo Maps in detail in the next section.

Features of Yahoo Maps

Yahoo Maps, a popular mapping service, provides the following features to help you find directions to your desired directions.

Below are the main features it provides.

1. Turn-by-turn directions

Yahoo Maps lets you enter start and end points, press ‘GO’, and find directions between them. It also shows turn-by-turn directions so you can get an idea of the path you can follow. In case you are going to a far-off location with poor cellular data coverage, you can download and print them on a sheet of paper to navigate your routes there. 

2. Multi-stop routing 

In case you want to find directions to reach multiple addresses, Yahoo Maps allows you to do that. For that, you can click ‘Add Another Location’ and continue this process till you are done with adding the desired number of stops. 

3. Reverse directions

Once you have created a route between your current start and end points, you can also click ‘Reverse Directions’ to view directions on swapping your start point with your endpoint.

4. Local search 

If you want to search for a business name or category, you can type it into the “Find On The Map” box to locate it on your map. You can also click on the different points of interest and refine them based on user ratings. 

5. Draggable routes

In case you want to change your current route, click the line representing and drag it to your desired position. To revert the change, you can click ‘Go Back to Your Original Route’.

6. Zoom in / Zoom out & Filter

If you want, you can click on the slider on the top-left and drag its pointer to zoom in or zoom out your map view. You can also choose from predefined options, including ‘Country’, ‘State’, ‘City’, and ‘Street’, to get the desired view. 

7. Satellite imagery

Yahoo Maps provides labeled (hybrid) and unlabeled satellite imagery to get a realistic view of your destination’s surroundings. 

8. Live traffic integration

Yahoo allows you to view local traffic conditions in major cities US, including current road or highway conditions and traffic jams.

5 Free Yahoo Maps Alternatives

The competition has overtaken the once-dominant giant. 

Below are the new dominant players.

1. Upper Route Planner

Upper Route Planner has a comprehensive range of offerings that can cater to different types of users, including those who want to avail of free route planning and optimization functionality. 

Let’s dive into the two main solutions it provides.

For Google Maps’ Users Seeking Basic Routing 

To begin with, Upper provides a Chrome Extension for Upper for those who wish to use Google Maps but plan routes for over 10 stops, as this extension enables you to add up to 20 stops. However, it doesn’t provide mobile support and won’t be suitable for you in case you want to add more than 20 stops along a route. 

Upper Route Planner for Solo Drivers Looking for Route Optimization

If you are a solo driver who has to deliver hundreds of orders daily and want to manage your routes remotely, the Upper Route Planner for Solo app is your best bet. It takes route management to the next level for delivery drivers and professionals by integrating with popular navigation apps.

Here are the highlight features Upper provides. 

• Easy Import: It helps transfer routes from spreadsheets with a single click.
• Address Validation: Upper helps eliminate delivery errors with automated address-checking.
• Route Optimization: Upper lets you plan the most optimal routes for up to 500 stops automatically.
• Time Management: This app allows for handling time-sensitive deliveries with precision by letting you optimize routes based on time windows.
• Navigation Choice: It enables you to use your preferred navigation app for familiar driving.
• Mobile Support: Unlike the free Chrome extension, this route planner app offers both a web app and a mobile app, making it suitable for those on the field to access and use it to view and edit routes on the fly. 
• Proof of delivery: This lets you capture photos of products delivered, send them to customers, and collect their e-signatures to document deliveries digitally. 

For professionals who need more than basic directions, it provides a comprehensive route planning and management solution.

Note: If you have a fleet of drivers to manage daily, Upper provides Upper for Teams (Crew), a solution that allows you to add up to 500 addresses and even beyond and optimize their sequence based on multiple routing constraints.

If you are willing to test out Upper’s features and see how they work for your multi-stop routing without committing to it, Upper provides a free route planner that enables you to add up to 20 stops and create the most optimal route to reach them.

Feature
Turn-by-Turn Navigation
Route Optimization
Number of stops	10	500 and beyond
Multi-Stop Planning
Offline Access
Customizable Routes
Driver Performance Tracking
Proof of Delivery
ETA Adjustments
User-Friendly Mobile App
Delivery Analytics

• Feature Yahoo Maps Upper

• Turn-by-Turn Navigation

  

  

• Route Optimization

  

  

• Number of stops

  10

  500 and beyond

• Multi-Stop Planning

  

  

• Offline Access

  

  

• Customizable Routes

  

  

• Driver Performance Tracking

  

  

• Proof of Delivery

  

  

• ETA Adjustments

  

  

• User-Friendly Mobile App

  

  

• Delivery Analytics

  

  

• Try Upper for FREE No credit card required

2. Google Maps 

Google Maps has become the dominant mapping tool; it provides driving directions, is a route planner, and has excellent map and location tools. Google Maps has worked towards asserting its dominance and usefulness. It continually uses its data and tech lead to improve driving directions and other features it offers. 

It also keeps adding new and user-friendly features and announced the ‘Immersive View of Routes’ at I/O 2023. This feature relies on computer vision and AI to allow you to visualize each route segment. 

Google Maps also integrates with Google Assistant to provide voice-enabled turn-by-turn directions for hands-free navigation, increasing drivers’ focus and safety on the road.

Hitting the walls using Google Maps? Click here to learn about Google Maps alternatives.

3. Apple Maps

Apple Maps is behind Google Maps and is working to catch up. Apple started creating its map infrastructure due to Google Maps’ privacy concerns. It provides mobile and desktop driving directions. 

With each new release of iOS and MacOS, the driving directions are even more precise and useful. Of course, the Mac has an unparalleled design.

There is a ‘Look Around’ feature that gives you a high-resolution 3-D experience to view major cities. If you are a cyclist, Apple Maps gives you cycling directions to your destination alongside bike lanes and paths while accounting for busy streets and elevation.

Looking for alternative route planners for iOS? Read our exhaustive blog on the Best Route Planner Apps for iPhone in 2024 to help you out.

4. MapQuest

MapQuest’s tool is the story of another tech giant that faltered in the mid-days of the internet. This service started a comeback recently and is looking to become a significant player in mapping, driving directions, and transportation again. It’s particularly useful to find access to a fun place, restaurants, and services. 

The other features worth considering are a speedometer to show your vehicle’s actual speed against the recommended limit and traffic updates to inform your routing decisions.

However, you can add only up to 26 stops and create only a single route at a time. Moreover, the routing algorithms this route planner uses are outdated, which increases the chances of route planning inaccuracies. 

Read our detailed guide on MapQuest alternatives.

5. Waze

Waze, formerly FreeMap Israel, was founded in 2006. It focuses on community-driven updates from those who have driven on the same to help assess real-time traffic updates, road conditions, toll roads, and closures and navigate accordingly. 

It prioritizes speed and hence, suggests the fastest path for you so you can complete your journey in minimum time. Another feature that people find interesting is playful icons representing points of interest, like other Wazers, construction zones, and stopped cars.

Recently, it developed the feature of emergency vehicle alerts, including ambulances stopped along your route to help you adjust your driving speech and prevent accidents.

Read Google Maps vs Waze to know more about how they differ.

What is The Best Alternative to Yahoo?

If you are a solo delivery driver delivering to multiple addresses and requiring continuous mobile support and extensive features, including proof of delivery, you can go for Upper Route Planner. It coincides with multiple factors, including your working shifts, traffic, customers’ preferences, and priority to optimize routes accordingly. 

If you have a fleet of drivers, you can go for Upper Crew for teams. It lets you create and manage schedules and routes for multiple drivers at the same time and make changes to adapt to real-time factors, such as priority changes, last-minute orders or cancellations, or delays.

Yahoo Maps: The Forgotten Hero of the Past

Yahoo Maps’ journey from industry pioneer to its discontinuation clearly shows how technological advancements and mismanagement can change a company’s fate.  

Once a prominent name in the field of online mapping and navigation that replaced paper maps during the 1990s, Yahoo Maps fell behind. 

The reasons are multi-faceted, which include:

• Failure to commit to the enhancement of mapping services
• Mismanagement and lack of strategic vision
• Absence of access to mapping services on smartphones

Today’s users have moved on to alternatives like Google Maps and Apple Maps, but professionals often need more sophisticated solutions. Upper Route Planner fills this gap by offering advanced features like 500-stop route optimization, automated address validation, and seamless integration with popular navigation apps—making it an ideal choice for businesses that require more than basic mapping capabilities.