Reuters: Technology News: Google close to buying Israeli mapping start-up Waze: report

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Google close to buying Israeli mapping start-up Waze: report Jun 9th 2013, 16:46 Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Analysis: As Facebook grows up, grand ambitions get reality check Wed, Jun 5 2013 Google eyes Waze as Facebook circles hot Web maps property Fri, May 24 2013 RPT-FEATURE-Amid frenzy over map apps, new focus on 16th century world view Sat, May 18 2013 Google launches streaming music service ahead of Apple Wed, May 15 2013 Analysis & Opinion The road to smart technology Tech, prosperity and peace on West Bank A Google sign is seen at a Best Buy electronics store in this photo illustration in Encinitas, California April 11, 2013. Credit: Reuters/Mike Blake JERUSALEM | Sun Jun 9, 2013 12:46pm EDT JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Google is close to buying Waze for $1.3 billion, an Israeli newspaper reported on Sunday, potentially trumping rival offers for the Israeli mapping start-up. The report on the website of financial newspaper Globes did not cite sources or provide further details. Last month sources told Reuters the Internet search giant was in talks to acquire Waze, while a second Israeli newspaper reported Facebook was willing to pay up to $1 billion for the firm. Facebook is delving deeper into mobile technology as it tries to expand its user base. Waze is a crowd-sourced, mobile-oriented navigation device for drivers that relies on information provided by its 47 million members to populate its maps. Mapping services are among the five most-used applications on smartphones and are crucial to engaging and retaining mobile users. The key advantage of owning, rather than licensing, a mapping service is that it allows the product to be personalized for users. Officials at Waze were not reachable for immediate comment. (Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by John Stonestreet) Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above.

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