Google Waze

Main article: Global Positioning System - GPS

Waze is a free social navigation application for mobile devices that allows you to track the situation on the roads in real time, lay optimal routes, learn about the location of speed radars, receive information and warn other users about changes in road conditions, obstacles, police, and communicate with other users on the map. Maps in Waze are created by the users themselves.

2023: Employee termination

On June 27, 2023, Google announced its intention to change the operating model of its navigation and mapping service Waze, bought for $1.3 billion. As a result of the reorganization, hundreds of employees will be cut.

The upcoming changes were announced in an email by Chris Phillips, head of Google Geo. Instead of using its own advertising system, Waze will be transferred to the general advertising platform Google. And that means Waze's sales and marketing staff are no longer needed. The layoffs are expected to affect approximately 500 people.

Google announced its intention to change the model of operation of its navigation and mapping service Waze

We decided to change the Waze ad management scheme. Unfortunately, this will lead to a reduction in positions involved in sales, marketing, operations and analytics. Decisions like these are incredibly difficult. Each of the affected employees contributed to the success and culture of Waze, and I want to express my gratitude and respect for what they have achieved, "Phillips wrote.

Since December 2022, Google has been integrating Waze with Geo's own division, which oversees maps. It is assumed that the transfer of the service to the advertising platform Google Ads will help create a "more convenient product for advertisers." It is emphasized that Google is still deeply committed to the development of the unique Waze brand.

Google has begun notifying partners and advertisers of changes. Reduced employees, in addition to cash payments, will be provided with various support options. The Waze service, with approximately 140 million active users globally, will continue to operate as usual. About what costs Google expects to incur in connection with the change in the advertising model Waze, nothing is reported.^[1]

2020: Fix a vulnerability to keep an eye on users

Security researcher Peter Gasper from the company DevOps discovered a vulnerability navigation application in Waze from. Google This became known on October 21, 2020. The problem allows you to accurately track the movement of nearby drivers in real time and them. to identify

Waze uses crowdsourced information designed to warn drivers about obstacles that can prevent them from easily getting to work, such as traffic congestion, construction work, accidents, etc., and then offers alternative and faster routes to bypass these obstacles. The app also displays the location of other drivers in close proximity via GPS.

Gasper found that Waze not only sends the coordinates of other nearby drivers to the user, but also does not change the identification numbers associated with other users' icons over time. By creating a code editor and developing an extension for Chromium to collect JSON responses from the API, the expert was able to visualize the movement of users between city districts and even cities themselves.

The specialist announced his find to Google in December 2019, and the company has fixed the problem^[2].

2013: Purchase by Google Corporation

Waze was created in Israel. In June 2013, Google bought Waze for $1.1 billion.

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