Google Reportedly Plans to Merge Waze and Maps Teams

JAKARTA - Alphabet Inc., or Google is reportedly planning to merge the team working on the Waze service with Google's Maps group.

TechCrunch reports that Google successfully acquired Waze in 2013 for $1.1 billion.

Now, the reason for joining the team is that the search giant is facing pressure to streamline operations and cut costs.

The WSJ reports a Google spokesperson said it plans to merge more than 500 Waze employees with Google's Geo organization, which oversees the Maps, Earth, and Street View products, starting Friday. Neha Parikh, the current CEO of Waze, will be leaving the role.

Google notified the WSJ that it plans to maintain Waze as a standalone service, with on-the-go information resources such as speed camera locations, police cars, and roadkills.

Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai said he hopes to make Google 20% more productive by running on fewer resources.

According to his notes at the Code Conference last September, Pichai revealed, the company's work has been slower due to excessive hiring.

Apparently, hinting that combining teams working on overlapping products will help the company stay at its optimum.