It's a done deal.

I don't think the editing function will ever go away; in fact have you guys signed up for Google's new map editing feature? Sure, the points scheme and things may change but it can only be good.

If anything it makes perfect sense for Google to buy Waze for so many reasons. Traffic update was abandoned by Google awhile back but now it'll be back and integrated. More data from Google means Waze will be accurate in finding various locations. Perhaps features of adding landmarks will probably go away in that sense as Google would have much bigger data already. That's only a guess though. Who knows how these two maps will be integrated.

I'm just thankful it didn't get bought out by Facebook...too early to speculate but I'm pretty optimistic with G buying W.

All I can think is:

+ Thank God it's not Apple!
+ Hopefully it causes more of my fellow Germans to notice and use Waze!

- I switched to Windows Phone 8 just now, and Google isn't exactly known to have much love for that.
- I don't get any of the money, i'm still poor, haha.

I think I liked it better when Facebook was rumored to be buying Waze. At least with Facebook you mostly know what you're dealing with. Google, though... forget all the NSA stuff, Google alone is already well on the way to being Big Brother and knowing what you do every moment of the day. Sorry, guys... enjoy your money but I'm outta here.

dont sell! geez, these giants are annoying.

Yay no more rollbacks plus daily map updates?

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/ ... g.html?m=1

jeffcarp wrote:So it seems like we know that Google Maps will get some of the social traffic intelligence from Waze and Waze will get Google search. Those seem like two things that can be implemented fairly quickly and benefit both communities. Beyond that, I don't think we know much of anything at this point.

The tone of the Waze announcement was much more "nothing will change" then the Google announcement was in my opinion.

Long term, it doesn't seem to be in either community's best interest to continue to fragment the editing community between two different map editors. But obviously consolidating these two services into one unified app and editor is a much longer term proposition. I don't think they can publicly say that is what is going to happen yet without risking alienating thousands of editors that they really need to continue what they are doing.

Think about it though, is there really any practical purpose in an editing community spending time editing a change in one mapping platform when the other mapping platform already contains the change? How they reconcile the current status of both mapping databases though seems like a technical challenge way beyond my comprehension.

That is what I was wondering

This really is a bummer for me. The three best things about Waze:

1. Ability to edit maps. New road closure in my area? Make the map change, mobile client is routing around it the next day. Awesome. I hope this is one of the far superior features that Google is planning to integrate with this acquisition. I have not used Map Maker, so I'm not sure how quickly user map edits are integrated into the mobile nav client. Anyone have experience with this?

2. Real-time road speed & incident data. Waze has routed me better than Google, hands down. Part of this can be attributed to point #1 and the quick response to road closures. If I'm in a major metropolitan area, and a nav client tries to route me through a road that has been closed for 2 months, that's a deal breaker. (Unless I can make a map change and have it go live within days!)

3. The friendly competition of the points system. It's fun to make map improvements that benefit users and see yourself climbing the ranks.

So overall I'm worried about the future of Waze. And I feel less excited to continue with the cleanup of my neighborhood, with the possibility it's all for nothing.

How's everybody else feeling?

davipt wrote:But it seems there's a promise of no changes until 2016, whatever that means. On the Internet everything happens too fast.

Thanks, I had not noticed that part of the deal was for Waze to remain independent for 3 years. I do agree that the future for Waze beyond 2016 looks bleak. Let's hope that in 3 years, Google will have incorporated the app's strengths into Google Maps.

Is anyone else concerned with having all of their recorded drives living in a NSA datacenter in Utah? I was wondering if that would drive any loyal Wazers away.

I don't believe that this is official yet. In any case if this goes through there are two things for sure:

* Google is paying a HUGE, HUGE premium for Waze
* The Waze investors and private shareholders are making a HUGE return on their investment

Looks at this, supposedly Ehud's stake in Waze is valued at $78 million USD if this acquisition closed at $1.3 billion USD.

http://www.jpost.com/Business/Business- ... 13b-315941

By the way, to those of you thinking that you own the map edits you have contributed, think again. You are making the Waze investors rich, not yourself.

jeffcarp wrote:Waze wasn't profiting from your data? I'd say that customer data was worth about 99% of the $1B+ windfall they are about to receive.

Waze is a for profit company, not a non-profit helping the world avoid traffic. It's all about them and their free labor pool aka. the Waze Map Editors and Waze Community.

Sorry, I almost forgot. Waze does pay the IGN editors for their excellent contributions to the map!