In 2013, which company acquired Waze for $1.15 billion?

In 2013, Google acquired Waze for a reported price of about $1.15 billion.

Waze began as a community-powered navigation service in Israel, using drivers’ reports to update maps and flag accidents, congestion, road closures, and other hazards. Its crowdsourced model produced highly current local traffic information, complementing Google’s established mapping technology.

Google announced the acquisition in June 2013 and said Waze’s product-development team would remain in Israel and operate separately at first. The deal was widely reported at roughly $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion; Google’s later financial filings reported approximately $969 million in cash consideration. Those differing figures reflect reporting and accounting conventions, but they do not change the acquiring company: Google.

A common mix-up is with Facebook and Apple, which were also reportedly interested in Waze. Google’s interest centered on real-time traffic data, mapping expertise, and Waze’s active contributor community. Waze continued as a distinct consumer app while sharing some capabilities and data-related advantages with Google’s broader mapping ecosystem.