Waze will no longer serve Ads starting September 1, 2023.

We will wind down the current Waze Ads product and advertisers will have the opportunity to keep existing campaigns running through August 31, 2023.

We are already working to transition Waze Ads to Google Ads technology and look forward to helping advance your business objectives through our new Waze Ads product soon.

During this transition, we have an alternative solution you may already be familiar with: Performance Max for Store Goals (PMax). This Google campaign uses AI to maximize your in-store visits and sales by bringing geo formats across Search, Display, GMail, Google Maps, and YouTube into a single product. For questions on PMax, you can contact your existing Google channel of support or reach out to Google Support home page. You can also check out our Waze Support Hub if you have any Waze Ads questions.

Case study

How Petrobras reached drivers efficiently during the holidays

BR Distribuidora was founded 50 years ago with the objective of supplying Petrobras' fuel to consumers. Today, its focus is to offer diverse services and to take customer satisfaction to the next level. In line with this strategy, the company's Communication Department has already been working with Waze to be in the passenger’s seat with more than two million drivers through advertisements on the platform. However, the increase in fuel demand before the holidays dictated a differentiated strategy.

Traffic in prime time

The day before holidays is the moment when drivers prepare to travel. Waze data shows an increase of 36% in directions to gas stations before holidays. BR Distribuidora decided to take advantage of the national holiday, Republic Day on November 15, 2019, to test the First Look tool for the first time. First Look promotes brands during peak traffic hours, impacting drivers at strategic moments of travel, increasing reach and obtaining a greater return.

Interaction when most needed — the brand can make a difference

In this case, an action was created to impact drivers during their first drive of the day, reminding them to fill up for a safe journey. This action alone was responsible for reaching two million users with a 50% lower CPM cost compared to the historic average. According to Phillippe Blower, BR Distribuidora Communication Manager, “this is the most important moment for us to interact with the consumer.”

One of the cool things about interacting with Waze’s tools during this time is that we are able to test, to see what works well, to improve and harvest the results
Phillippe Blower, BR Distribuidora Communication Manager

Converting drivers into customers

Based on the success of the first campaign, the company repeated the initiative on the following holiday and did more. According to Phillippe, the strategy was “to impact drivers before the holiday with messages that meet their fueling needs in a sensible context.” For the holiday of November 19, the button “Drive There” was included. As a result, besides the impressions from more than two million consumers, there was a 21% engagement increase above average in the category.

These results made BR Distribuidora decide to use First Look as part of its digital communication strategy. “One of the cool things about interacting with Waze’s tools during this time is that we are able to test, to see what works well, to improve and harvest the results.”