In July, Google reached out to me to talk about Waze and some very interesting developments. I got on several calls with Google and we reviewed a new way to advertise using Waze. But before I get to that, let’s share some of the backstory about Waze.
Why Did Google Buy Waze for $1.15 Billion?
In 2013, Google made a purchase that surprised a ton of people. As you know, Google has a very robust and popular navigation tool that essentially put the car navigation products industry out of business. Then, a company came along offering an alternative to Google’s GPS navigation system. Google started talking to the company, and they decided to purchase them.
Why would Google buy a tool when they already had the best navigation tool on the market? Were they going to take the best features from Waze and incorporate those features into Google’s tool? Did Google plan on killing their tool and putting all their efforts into Waze?
It surprised most people when Google announced that both GPS systems were going to continue to receive full Google support. Why?
- Google’s navigation system gets drivers to their destination as efficiently as possible
- Waze gets drivers to their destination as fast as possible
- Waze is a Social GPS system where they encourage feedback and input from users
So why did Google call me?
