Best of Breed
You did get feeling streetmap & various other mapping sites got left behind as mapping started to include more added value features
Lack of (free for small amount of use API (AFAIK), if there was one it was not well publicised) a major feature IMHO, that was available with google (& MS and Yahoo maps too at that time). With a free API, devs more likely to play around with the tools & more likely to use that tool in webpages.
Google API was particularly js friendly so allowed people to do impressive looking maps stuff on their sites very quickly & easily, again increasing the visibility of google maps to detriment of streetmap & others.
Ironically, before it died I had done lots of web site mapping functionality using yahoo maps (before it was canned) APIs (as no key, limitless use) however several customers expressly asked for google maps instead as (even back then in the relatively early days) it offered a far smoother / pleasing UI which was what people wanted for their idea of what a "professional" mapping service was like.
Streetmap looked very clunky compared to Google and MS maps - as the article implied, it lacked the "slippy" maps look that users seem to appreciate.
Had streetmap being obviously "Best of Breed" then it could have thrived (its UK maps better than Google maps), but online mapping is about so much more than just how accurate / clear your map is, and Streetmap fell way short on the added value side
Biting the hand that feeds IT
