Larry Page, Brian McClendon and the Google Maps teams have been following our progress closely and are excited about what we’ve accomplished. They share our vision of a global mapping service, updated in real time by local communities, and wish to help us accelerate. We are excited about the prospect of working with the Google Maps team to enhance our search capabilities and to join them in their ongoing efforts to build the best map of the world.
Nothing practical will change here at Waze. Waze will maintain our community, brand, service and organization – the community hierarchy, responsibilities and processes will not change. The same Waze people will continue to collaborate with you, and we will continue to innovate our product and services, making them more social, functional and helpful for everyday drivers. Our employees, managers, founders and I are all committed to our vision for many years to come.
Why not stay completely independent? We asked ourselves: “Will Waze still be a fun project to participate in, and a fun place to work at, as a stand-alone public company?” Choosing the path of an IPO often shifts attention to bankers, lawyers and the happiness of Wall Street, and we decided we’d rather spend our time with you, the Waze community. Google is committed to help us achieve our common goal and provide us with the independence and resources we need to succeed. We evaluated many options and believe Google is the best partner for Waze, our map editors, area managers, champs and nearly 50 million Wazers globally.
Together, we can accelerate our mission to outsmart traffic. We will continue to make a real impact on drivers globally, helping them save time and money while making everyone’s daily commute a bit more efficient and fun.
So, it’s back to work for us with some great new colleagues and resources to enhance our project. Thank you for your participation in shaping Waze to what it is today, and we look forward to continuing to build out Waze together with you.
What a crock of crap. the Waze of today is so much worse and different then when I joined last August, I have been ashamed to tell people about it for the last 5 months. You are Cowards that have Sold Us Wazers Out, by joining facebook and google. If you had added a paid option, your money problems if any, would have been solved. I would have gladly paid a couple bucks for a lifetime membership that included more voice commands. What good is a Waze program that never connects to the network or server. The only thing it is good for, is to see street names nearby and cameras that have actually made it to being listed. Why have you forced us to include facebook info, to have friends instead of using the Waze app as intended. I/we have no need of google or facebook to use this app which used to work fine until insects were added.
Bamablond