Google bought an Israeli mapping app (and company) for about $1.1 billion in June. Now we're starting to see why.
Google just announced on Tuesday that it would begin incorporating real-time traffic information from Waze users into its popular Maps app, along with infusing the Waze app with some Google power.
On its Maps blog, the Mountain View giant said that users of Google Maps for mobile - that's iOS and Android - will now get real-time information about traffic, incidents, accidents, road closures, construction and other updates that users of Waze provide. Not only will the updates appear in the U.S., but also in several Latin American countries and some European states as well: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, France, Germany, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Switzerland and the U.K.
The Waze app has about 40 million users, according to the Atlantic Wire, which provide updated road information based on crowdsourcing. The company was created in 2008 and has been successful in its own right, winning millions of subscribers in 190 countries and garnering the Mobile World Congress's "Best Overall Mobile App" this year. The 40 million Waze users update the information on their little piece of the road - including other information that Google isn't incorporating yet, like speed traps, stalled cars, and gas prices - and in aggregate, you get more accurate and faster updates than you would from using automated systems, like TomTom's traffic data (which Google also uses to keep its Maps information up to date).
But the update is not all one sided - the Waze app is getting some Google power. Waze, for Android and iOS, has been updated with Google Search, making it easier for Wazers to find businesses and addresses. Additionally, the Waze Map Editor now includes the vast collection of images known as Google Street View, along with Google's satellite imagery, so Waze users can more easily correct map errors that are reported by the community.
According to the Waze Blog, the feedback on incorrect maps can sometimes be extremely detailed, and sometimes not at all - like only getting feedback saying "wrong way," or "no." "At times like these, more visual tools like Street View and aerial imagery will be invaluable to not only fix the problem, but to identify what the issue was in the first place," said Waze's blog. "It can also help to fill in house numbers, street names, turn restrictions and other missing data."
Google Maps and Waze are going to stay separate apps - at least for now - but they're both definitely benefiting from each others' features. Now it will be interesting to see how much Google Maps opens its real-time updated traffic information to user input. Will Google eventually have a real-time updated Google Maps layer dedicated to police speed traps or historically common pull-over areas?
Don't bet on it, but expect Google Maps to continue to lean on the Waze community to make its real-time traffic information even better.