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Waze Sending Out Alerts for Local Jobs, Be Ready for More Ads

Waze is first and foremost a traffic navigation app that allows drivers to go from point A to point B not only much faster but also more convenient and safer.
Waze police report 7 photos
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But the ad program that’s bundled with Waze allows the app to be transformed into so much more, and the authorities in St. Lucie County decided its next goal should be the conversion to a job portal.

More specifically, the local economic development council noticed that many people in the region travel to another county as part of their daily commutes. Their first idea was to provide residents with local job opportunities so they would no longer have to cover a long travel distance every day.

To provide job ads with some extra visibility, the authorities decided to go specifically after the drivers that are targeted by the openings. And to do this, they turned to Waze to buy ads and therefore send alerts to drivers whenever they travel on certain roads.

The job ads are technically alerts that are sent to Waze users when they’re detected on Citrous Boulevard or Becker Roading between 6-9 am and 4-7.30 pm. The local media reveals more than 6,000 ads have already been shown to drivers since the partnership started earlier this year.

The program will continue until the next of April, with the local authorities to then look into statistics and figure out if Waze indeed helps people find new jobs and therefore give up on a daily long commute.

In the meantime, not everybody is likely to be a big fan of these notifications displayed on Waze. Given they’re sponsored ads, they can’t even be blocked, which means they are shown in the app no matter if users want them or not. Obviously, the warnings only show up for people in the area, but don’t be too surprised if other authorities copy the idea and sign similar deals with Waze.
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About the author: Bogdan Popa
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Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kid’s toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones.
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