Google has officially acquired Waze, or announced they have agreed to acquire them. Waze is a social mobile app GPS, mapping, directions application with a very dedicated and loving user base.
The company is Israeli based, thus very popular in Israel but it is used throughout the world. How it differs is that Waze users contribute to the maps by noting accidents, cop traps, traffic and more. It works incredibly well and they have a huge user base.
Google acquired them after rumors of Facebook looking to pay $1.2 billion for them. The rumor is that Google offered $1.3 billion.
Will the deal go through? I think so.
Will the company stay independent? I doubt it. Short term yes, but eventually I see it being fully integrated into Google Maps. Or maybe I am wrong and they will treat it like they treated YouTube? There are hints that it may go either way.
Are you happy Google acquired Waze?
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
