Waze always baffled me. No one I know uses it and most never heard of it. Google had pretty sophisticated data/algo of their own when they paid $1+B for this thing. ELI5 - why should any one care about Waze?
Waze's primary innovation was to crowdsource near-realtime traffic information. They weren't the first[1], but they were the first to do it on a large scale. Some of it is automatic (e.g. speed, which usually reflects traffic conditions) and some of it is interactive, encouraging users with "points" to fumble with their phones in order to report police sightings, road obstructions, etc.
> No one I know uses it and most never heard of it.
Intersting — everyone uses it in California, to the point that it strongly affects traffic patterns[2]. Where are you?
I'm in Palo Alto and actually had seen their small office on Hamilton. I do know how it works and tried to myself but found it really cumbersome. The only explanation I can see is iPhone users who didn't have the benefit of Google maps a few years back that propelled Waze's use. As for the valuation - if they had even 10M active users, Google paid $100 for each of them, knowing that it was inevitable that they'll eventually get the iPhone users anyways.
Waze is great for commutes or other local driving you don't normally need nav for because the traffic routing is top notch (I've had experiences where it has told me to exit highway immediately and easily saved me an hour because of a terrible wreck that just happened). Also great for identifying speed traps on the highway which is why it's really popular with truckers.
It has international appeal as well, the map editing feature has made it a hit in places with less than perfect map data:
My kids played with it a few times on long drive to tell me where he spotted the police car(s), accidents, etc.
Kind of fun thing for your kids to do on a long drive. That might be why the cartoon like interface.
Like Pokemon Go, the constant network traffic + GUI interaction makes it huge battery drain. I deleted the app from my phone.
Google map's traffic info is very good. I suspect Google paid that much likely because potentially FB, MSFT or Amazon "might" get it and use it is a beach head to enter the Mobile Map App market. If that's the case, it is a very good play on Waze's part to get the high valuation.
>My kids played with it a few times on long drive to tell me where he spotted the police car(s)
There's something seriously wrong with society when both kids and their parents are working together to evade the police, and obviously have no respect for the police. And the problem isn't with the kids or their parents. Average citizens should not see their police as an enemy group generally working against their best interests.
