Waze

What Waze does

Waze is a Google/Alphabet-owned mobile navigation platform founded in 2006 in Israel (now headquartered in Palo Alto) that serves hundreds of millions of consumer drivers globally through iOS, Android, Android Auto, and Apple CarPlay. Its core product is a free GPS navigation app differentiated by a crowdsourced real-time traffic reporting model in which users submit incident, hazard, police, and road-closure alerts that feed automatic rerouting and route optimization for the broader community. The underlying technology stack combines community-driven reports with map data, integration with Google Gemini AI for voice-based hazard reporting and conversational trip Q&A, and a partnership with Waymo for autonomous-vehicle sensor feeds (cameras, lidar, radar) that surface pothole detections through the Waze for Cities municipal data platform.

Waze's revenue model is primarily advertising-driven, with Waze Ads sold directly and increasingly through Google Performance Max campaigns targeting store-goal conversions (U.S. in 2025, global rollout planned 2026). Adjacent products include Waze Carpool for commuter ride-matching, Waze for Cities as a free data-sharing platform for municipal transportation departments, and B2B integrations such as the Towbook towing-management partnership. Customer segments are dominated by long-tail individual drivers with secondary exposure to municipal DOTs (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Austin, Atlanta, Hampton Roads) and fleet operators; municipal and Towbook partners access the platform free or through integration, meaning ad revenue is the meaningful monetization channel. Waze operates with a lean 51–100 employee footprint and is wholly owned by Alphabet since the 2013 acquisition for approximately $966 million.

Name

Waze

Legal name

Waze

Website

http://waze.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Waze is a Google-owned crowdsourced GPS navigation app serving hundreds of millions of global drivers with real-time traffic, community-reported road conditions, Gemini AI voice reporting, and a municipal data platform via Waymo partnerships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

GPS Navigation & Real-Time Traffic

NAICS

Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (519290)

SIC

Transportation Services (4700)

akta.pro primary industry

Transit, Traffic & Mobility Data Platforms (BPAMANAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Work Zone Intelligent Transportation Systems (WZ-ITS) & Temporary Signal Systems (TLAJACAN)

Keywords

• GPS navigation app
• Real-time traffic updates
• Crowdsourced road conditions
• Driver navigation service
• Turn-by-turn directions

Headquarters

HQ city

Palo Alto

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Advertising: Waze generates revenue through advertising within the app. Google has integrated Waze ads into Performance Max campaigns targeting store goals, allowing advertisers to reach drivers based on location proximity to physical stores.
2. Data Licensing (Waze for Cities): While the Waze for Cities platform is free for municipalities to access road condition data and pothole detection information, the data collection and platform provision creates value through city partnerships and goodwill as Waze expands its autonomous vehicle sensor partnerships.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Waze is a consumer GPS navigation mobile application that delivers real-time turn-by-turn driving directions, live traffic updates, and crowdsourced road condition alerts through an active community of drivers. The platform generates revenue through in-app advertising and offers a free data-sharing platform (Waze for Cities) to municipal transportation departments for road infrastructure monitoring, including pothole detection via Waymo sensor integration.

Product overview

Waze is a consumer GPS navigation application owned by Google (Alphabet), offering real-time driving directions, live traffic updates, and crowdsourced road condition reporting. The core product is the Waze Navigation App, which excels at real-time rerouting and driver alerts through its large community user base. The product portfolio includes Waze Carpool for ride-sharing matching, Waze for Cities as a data-sharing platform for municipalities (partnered with Waymo for pothole detection), and Waze Ads for location-based advertising. The platform integrates with Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, Google Gemini AI, and third-party services like Towbook.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Waze for Cities: A crowdsourced reporting platform that shares infrastructure data with city and state Departments of Transportation for road maintenance purposes.

Products and services

• Waze Navigation App
• Waze Carpool
• Waze for Cities
• Waze Ads

Quantifiable outcome

• 500 potholes identified in pilot cities within initial deployment phase
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability9 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• WaymocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 April 2026Waymo and Waze launched a joint pilot program where Waymo's autonomous vehicle sensors detect potholes and share the data with cities through Waze's crowdsourced infrastructure platform. The program initially covers five U.S. metro areas (San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Austin, and Atlanta), with Waymo reporting it has already identified approximately 500 potholes. The initiative helps cities improve road maintenance while building goodwill for Waymo's expansion to more than 20 cities.
• Hampton Roads Planning District CommissionminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 February 2026The Hampton Roads Planning District Commission deployed 45 flood sensors across 15 Virginia localities, expanding on a prior Waze pilot program. Data is shared via Waze and Google Maps to alert drivers of flooded roads, helping residents plan commutes and providing data for long-term flood mitigation investments.
• Google (Parent Company)coreOthers · 25 September 2025Waze has been owned by Google (Alphabet) since 2013. The relationship enables integration with Google's AI capabilities (Gemini), advertising ecosystem (Performance Max), and data sharing between Waze and Google Maps platforms.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Google Maps: Alphabet's other flagship navigation product. Directly competes with Waze for the same consumer driver audience on Android Auto and iOS, and increasingly overlaps on crowdsourced traffic, hazard reporting, and traffic-light features.
• Apple Maps: Apple's default navigation app and the primary alternative to Waze on iOS and CarPlay. Competes head-to-head for in-vehicle navigation on Apple devices, especially relevant given Waze's reported CarPlay stability issues.
• TomTom (GO Navigation): Independent navigation app from TomTom, offering offline maps and turn-by-turn navigation. Comparable consumer product with similar core functionality, though lacks Waze's crowdsourced reporting scale.
• HERE WeGo: HERE Technologies' consumer navigation app, leveraging its enterprise-grade map and traffic data. Directly comparable product offering turn-by-turn navigation and traffic-aware routing across global markets.
• Sygic GPS Navigation: Premium offline navigation app competing in the same consumer GPS category. Comparable feature set (offline maps, traffic, lane guidance) with a freemium subscription model.
• Inrix: Specializes in real-time traffic intelligence and road analytics. Directly comparable in traffic-data capabilities and municipal/government customer base (competes with Waze for Cities).

Broad incumbents

• Mapbox: Developer-focused maps and location platform powering many third-party navigation apps. Comparable mapping/location infrastructure and traffic capabilities, though primarily B2B rather than direct consumer competition.

Emerging players

• Moovit: Urban mobility and transit navigation app, also owned by Intel/Mobileye. Comparable navigation experience focused on public transit, complementing Waze's driving focus with adjacent mobility data.

Others

• Waymo: Alphabet's autonomous-vehicle subsidiary and Waze's pothole-detection partner. Comparable in capturing road-condition telemetry via sensors and shares the same parent ecosystem for cross-pollination of mobility data.

Regional players

• Be-Mobile (Be-Flow): Belgium-based mobility data and traffic management provider. Comparable traffic-data and government-customer offering to Waze for Cities, primarily serving European municipal markets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/waze
• Facebookfacebook.com/waze
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/379681
• Instagraminstagram.com/waze

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors8 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Waze