Google recently confirmed its acquisition of the navigation application Waze. This deal is rumored to be worth upwards of $1 billion which would make Waze Google's fourth-largest acquisition in its history. The huge price tag on this operation displays the increasing importance of location-based services for the consumer technology industry.
This move demonstrates that Google is aware that more and more of its consumers are turning to their smartphones and mobile devices for directions and information. Waze is a free Israeli application that allows its 50 million+ users to help update and even edit its online maps in real time. While Google is the frontrunner in mapping and navigation services, Waze has the capability to enhance Google's services by adding this eyes-on-the-street details that satellites alone can't always provide. Currently, the two companies assure consumers that Google plans to operate Waze as a stand-alone service, however it is likely that in the future Google will look to use some of Waze's services to enhance its Google Maps feature which should theoretically increase its accuracy.
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