Google cost cutters are coming for Waze and will lose independent status

Enlarge / Waze user icons. We feel for you, small blue icon Waze above the "W. Waze

Does Waze have issues with Google? The Wall Street Journal reported last night that Google is merging the 500-person Waze team into Google's "Geo" division, aka Google Maps. Current Waze CEO Neha Parikh, who has only been in charge since 2021 after longtime CEO Noam Bardin left Google, will step down after a transition period. Under Maps, Waze will not have a CEO.

The Waze merger is part of Google CEO Sundar Pichai's cost-cutting mission over the past few months, which has so far killed off Google Stadia, Project Loon, half of the 120 area and Pixel laptop division and might even happen for the (poorly monetized) Google Assistant. The report states that "Google expects the restructuring to reduce overlapping mapping work between the Waze and Maps products."

Waze is a mapping app that has miles of overlap with Google Maps. You can view a world map, navigate to places, search for points of interest, and view traffic data. The defining feature of Waze is the creation of crowdsourced road hazard reports - things like traffic, speed cameras, construction - that will instantly appear for other Waze users. Google bought Waze in 2013, and while it was quick to integrate traffic reports, it doesn't show all Waze reports or prompt users to report road hazards like Waze does.

Google PR told the Wall Street Journal that "all is well", stating, "Google remains deeply committed to Waze's unique brand, beloved app, and thriving community of volunteers and users. " The report also states that "Google said it plans to keep Waze as a standalone service." It's hard to take this too seriously given that Google said Stadia "won't shut down" two months before announcing Stadia's shutdown.

According to the axiom "actions speak louder than words", it's hard to see this as a good decision for Waze. It's a major reorganization, following on from Waze's 12-year-old CEO, Bardin, who left Google last year. The report says Google wants to reduce duplicate work, so why would you stop at just mapping data? With that logic, why is there a separate Waze app? Google doesn't ask this question publicly yet, but it's hard to imagine it won't in the future.

Waze's trajectory at Google is a lot like Nest. Google bought Nest, and after a few years of operating independently within Google, longtime pre-acquisition CEO Tony Fadell left the company. With the company's internal protector gone, two years later, Nest lost its independence and merged with Google Hardware. Once you're part of Google, all the questions "why is it different?" questions begin to arise, and the company is