Can an Upstart Mapmaker Beat Google and Microsoft at Their Own Game?

Glenn Fleishman profiles MapBox, whose 30 employees are taking on the big boys in the development of interactive street and satellite maps. The company is working with Charlie Loyd to develop "the most beautiful, clean map ever made."

1 minute read

April 4, 2013, 2:00 PM PDT

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


Fleishman outlines the company's two-fold approach, which allows the upstart to compete with the major mapmaking players. "For street-level information, the most expensive part of mapping, MapBox relies on data gathered and distributed for free by OpenStreetMap (OSM), a crowdsourced mapping project managed by the not-for-profit OpenStreetMap Foundation, run entirely by volunteers." 

"The only products that MapBox offers exclusively to its paying customers is its composite satellite imagery, on which Mr Loyd is working." Loyd's Cloudless Atlas provides the template for "cloud-free mosaics from open satellite imagery" that "will result in MapBox Satellite being the most beautiful, cloud-free global imagery basemap available."

According to Fleishman, "[MapBox co-founder Eric] Gunderson's bet is that his company's transformation of freely available data and open-source projects allow it to compete with companies hundreds of times its size on price, quality and technical support."

Thursday, April 4, 2013 in The Economist

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 16, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Green vintage Chicago streetcar from the 1940s parked at the Illinois Railroad Museum in 1988.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails

Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

July 13, 2025 - WTTV

Blue and silver Amtrak train with vibrant green and yellow foliage in background.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail

The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

July 14, 2025 - Smart Cities Dive

Worker in yellow safety vest and hard hat looks up at servers in data center.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power

Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

July 18 - Inside Climate News

Former MARTA CEO Collie Greenwood standing in front of MARTA HQ with blurred MARTA sign visible in background.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns

MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

July 18 - WABE

Rendering of proposed protected bikeway in Santa Clara, California.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant

A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.

July 17 - San José Spotlight