Google Maps Is Merging With Another Insanely Popular Navigation App
Google Maps and Waze are two of the most popular apps we use to navigate the world these days. Now, Google has announced that it is merging teams that are working on Waze and their group of real-world mapping products. Google already acquired Waze in 2013 for $1 billion, and it will remain a standalone app despite being integrated into the Google platform.
The merge is Google’s way of consolidating the various app processes. Waze will join Google Geo’s portfolio which includes Google Maps, Google Earth and Street View, a spokesperson told CNN Business. “By bringing the Waze team into Geo’s portfolio of real-world mapping products, the teams will benefit from further increased technical collaboration,” the Google representative said.
Google Geo and Waze are owned by Alphabet Inc. The company’s chief executive officer, Sundar Pichai, was quoted in a letter saying the company would be able to streamline processes with the merger. He also said it was a way to consolidate investments where they overlap.
Although Waze will remain a standalone app, current CEO Neha Parikh will begin a transition period and eventually exit the company. Waze’s former top executive Noam Bardin said in February 2021 that the company had struggled since being bought by Google Maps. He estimated that Waze could have “probably grown faster and much more efficiently had we stayed independent.”
Whether that’s true or not, Google Maps is hoping that merging all its Geo products will mean success for the brand. Waze currently reports having about 151 million monthly active users worldwide. EnterpriseAppsToday reports that Google Maps has slightly more, at 154.4 million monthly active users.
Like everything else in daily life, the COVID-19 pandemic changed our travel habits. That resulted in traffic patterns changing. It also meant that the way we used Google Maps, Waze and other navigational apps changed as well.
According to EnterpriseAppsToday’s data, Google Maps is the most widely used navigation app in the United States. Around 54% of all smartphone customers used it in 2021. The year before, around 23 million people downloaded the Google Maps app while 11.2 million downloaded Waze and 5.9 million downloaded the Android Auto navigation app.
Google Maps consumes an average of 5MB of data every hour while navigating. That’s something to keep in mind if your phone plan doesn’t include unlimited data. Running out halfway to a destination could spell trouble, but you can avoid this by downloading map areas to use offline.
One fun fact about Google Maps is that businesses don’t magically appear on the route. Companies choose to list their businesses on the app, but doing so doesn’t necessarily make it easier for customers to find them. Companies must use SEO tools and techniques to place high on Google Search if they want to appear more frequently when users search for a particular type of business.
If you’ve wondered how Google Maps manages to accurately determine how long it will take you to reach your destination, they use machine learning to forecast the time. The app examines past traffic trends, typical driver speeds, current road conditions and other factors. Speed limits and other local information are also worked into the travel time calculations.
