Google makes acquisition of Waze Official

The rumor mill has been full of buzz that Google was in the process of picking up Waze for a cool $1.3 billion. Earlier this morning we reported that Google was supposedly close to sealing the deal. Later this morning Google announced that they have indeed picked up Waze and that it will be part of Google maps.

This is some pretty stellar news actually. Waze has a reported user base of 47 million members and uses satellite data from users to generate maps and real-time traffic info. The Waze app by its self is a pretty cool and powerful user-generated system. Google picking it up can only make Google Maps and Waze even better for consumers.

For now product development team will remain in Israel and operate separately.

We’ll also work closely with the vibrant Waze community, who are the DNA of this app, to ensure they have what’s needed to grow and prosper.

The Waze community and its dedicated team have created a great source of timely road corrections and updates. We welcome them to Google and look forward to working with them in our ongoing effort to make a comprehensive, accurate and useful map of the world.

Sounds like things for Waze are looking up. Have you tried Waze yourself? If not you can pick up the free app below and take a look at why Google picked it up.

Waze – Play Store link

Via Google blog