Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution
Google will eliminate several jobs at Waze as the company continues a merger that was long overdue. According to an internal memo that reached the web earlier today, Waze is transitioning from Waze Ads to Google Ads.
By giving up on the Waze Ads monetization system and moving entirely to the Google Ads engine, the search giant plans to create "a better, more seamless long-term experience for Waze advertisers," the company said in a statement.
Leaving the typical PR talk aside, Waze's migration to Google Ads was fully expected, especially as the traffic navigation app is now part of the Geo team at Google. The Geo division is in charge of all mapping products, including Google Maps, Google Earth, and Street View.
The search company did not reveal how many employees would be laid off, but Waze currently has some 500 people working on its navigation platform. It's unclear how many are part of the sales, marketing, operations, and analytics teams that are targeted by this change.
Despite the layoffs, Waze still doesn't merge with Google Maps to become a single navigation app.
While analysts believe Google would eventually combine Waze and Google Maps, the search company claims its long-term strategy is "growing Waze's unique brand." As such, Waze must remain a separate application, independent from Google Maps.
Google Maps is currently Google's all-in-one mapping platform that also includes a navigation component. Waze is focused particularly on the navigation experience without any extra features. Compared to Google Maps, Waze uses a crowdsourcing engine that allows users to report traffic incidents, letting the app warn other motorists about what is happening on the road at any given time.
With about 140 million active users, Waze has a gigantic community that powers this system, eventually making most roads in Europe and the United States more predictable.
Google Maps focuses on several other directions in addition to navigation, including exploration capabilities. At the same time, Google Maps also comes with features that aren’t otherwise available in Waze (and probably wouldn’t even be anytime soon, as Google wants to avoid cannibalization in its product portfolio), such as offline maps. Waze requires an Internet connection to send and receive traffic reports, whereas Google Maps can also navigate in offline mode if the user previously downloaded the necessary maps.
Waze is a unique navigation app, despite attempts at copying its crowdsourcing system. Apple has also integrated a traffic incident reporting engine in Apple Maps, but the feature is yet to gain traction.
Chris Phillips, the Google executive in charge of the company's maps division, says more information will be shared on July 11 at the next Waze Town Hall, with advertisers and partners to be notified of the changes this week.
Leaving the typical PR talk aside, Waze's migration to Google Ads was fully expected, especially as the traffic navigation app is now part of the Geo team at Google. The Geo division is in charge of all mapping products, including Google Maps, Google Earth, and Street View.
The search company did not reveal how many employees would be laid off, but Waze currently has some 500 people working on its navigation platform. It's unclear how many are part of the sales, marketing, operations, and analytics teams that are targeted by this change.
Despite the layoffs, Waze still doesn't merge with Google Maps to become a single navigation app.
While analysts believe Google would eventually combine Waze and Google Maps, the search company claims its long-term strategy is "growing Waze's unique brand." As such, Waze must remain a separate application, independent from Google Maps.
Google Maps is currently Google's all-in-one mapping platform that also includes a navigation component. Waze is focused particularly on the navigation experience without any extra features. Compared to Google Maps, Waze uses a crowdsourcing engine that allows users to report traffic incidents, letting the app warn other motorists about what is happening on the road at any given time.
With about 140 million active users, Waze has a gigantic community that powers this system, eventually making most roads in Europe and the United States more predictable.
Google Maps focuses on several other directions in addition to navigation, including exploration capabilities. At the same time, Google Maps also comes with features that aren’t otherwise available in Waze (and probably wouldn’t even be anytime soon, as Google wants to avoid cannibalization in its product portfolio), such as offline maps. Waze requires an Internet connection to send and receive traffic reports, whereas Google Maps can also navigate in offline mode if the user previously downloaded the necessary maps.
Waze is a unique navigation app, despite attempts at copying its crowdsourcing system. Apple has also integrated a traffic incident reporting engine in Apple Maps, but the feature is yet to gain traction.
Chris Phillips, the Google executive in charge of the company's maps division, says more information will be shared on July 11 at the next Waze Town Hall, with advertisers and partners to be notified of the changes this week.
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