Google Acquires Waze for $1.3 Billion
Probably the biggest news this week with the exception of the unveiling of iOS7 from Apple. Waze, which was founded in 2007 has recently been quite a topic in the press as it had previously attracted other potential ‘buyers’ such as Apple, and Facebook.
The company which has only raised $67 million in funding, has 110 employees with the majority of its staff in Israel and 10 or so in Palo Alto, including CEO Noam Bardin.
Bardin revealed some of the motivations for going with Google in a Blog Post yesterday, specifically that of working with CEO Larry Page and Google GEO VP Brian McClendor:
“We are excited about the prospect of working with the Google Maps team to enhance our search capabilities and to join them in their ongoing efforts to build the best map of the world,”
adding,
“nothing practical will change” after the acquisition, and that Waze “will maintain [its] community, brand, service and organization.”
Needles to say, it will be interesting to see how Google goes about integrating the many features that Waze currently has in their own apps, particularly those that are more social. The localized advertising potential could also be a big one for Google, which I would imagine had a large part in its reason for acquiring Waze to begin with.
The deal closed at around 1.3 billion in cash, and will again, allow Waze to enhance Google Maps with traffic updates and route adjustments, using information provided by its 50 million users.
I’m sure we’ll notice a thing or two different in the next Google Maps update, whether it will be the very next one, or the one after iOS 7 rolls out will be the question.
Kevin is an Online and Mobile Marketing Strategist who has worked with companies of all sizes over the last 6 years. You can follow Kevin on any of the social platforms below.
