Valid! Google Confirms Merger Of Waze Teams And Google Maps Teams

Valid! Google confirms the truth of the merger of the Wave and Geo Google (photo: Unsplash) teams

JAKARTA - Previously, Google reportedly had plans to combine more than 500 Waze employees with the GeoGoogle organization, which oversees Maps, Earth, and Street View products.

The report came from a spokesman who revealed directly to the Wall Street Journal, some time ago. In response to this news, Google finally issued a statement.

"Google remains committed to the uniqueness of the Waze application brand which is also enjoyed by the volunteers community and its users," said Feliciana Wienathan, Communication Manager for Google Indonesia to VOI when confirmed via email.

Feli added, by bringing the Waze team to the Geo portfolio, Google hopes the team can later improve technical collaboration to provide users with a better experience.

"By bringing the Waze team to the Geo portfolio of real-world mapping products such as Google Maps, Google Earth, and Street View, the team benefits from increasing technical collaboration while providing users with experiences they know and enjoy," he concluded.

Waze is a free navigation software for mobile phone devices and PC tablets that have GPS. In 2013, Google acquired Waze for $1.1 billion.

Despite the team's merger, Google plans to keep Waze as an independent service, with sources of information on trips such as speed cameras, police cars, and roadkills.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai said he hopes to make Google 20% more productive by running fewer resources. Launching a TechCrunch note at the Code Conference last September, Pichai said the company's work was getting slower due to excessive recruitment.