JERUSALEM — Driving along the coast road to her son’s home last month for grandparenting duties, Suzanne Bercovici, a Tel Aviv bookkeeper, was suddenly advised by the voice emanating from her navigation device to get off at the next exit because of a traffic jam ahead. She found herself being guided through a rural area unfamiliar to her until she was abruptly deposited in front of her destination.
Bercovici learned from the radio that there had been a major accident on the highway and that traffic was still blocked. Google announced today that it acquired the Israeli-developed system that had guided her, Waze, for what Israeli Television said was the highest amount ever paid for an application.
Neither Google nor the heads of Waze announced a purchase price, but press reports in Israel have put the sum at $1.3 billion. For drivers the application is free.
What makes Waze unique is its real-time, community-based, nature. In the event of accidents, speed traps, obstructions or other unusual circumstances drivers can signal Waze of the problem, a report that is immediately shared with all other drivers heading in that direction.
"It’s saved me several times," Bercovici said. "I never start driving without turning it on, even in Tel Aviv itself."
Waze proved itself last winter when the major roadway in the city, the Ayalon Road, was closed by flooding at rush hour, a circumstance that thousands of drivers with GPS discovered only when trapped in traffic.
Google had to wait until Waze’s negotiations with Facebook collapsed last month, reportedly over the Waze management’s insistence on keeping the firm and its employees in Israel, at least for several years. Google has reportedly accepted these conditions. Waze also conducted talks with Apple.
Waze was founded in Israel in 2006. Although it opened an office in Silicon Valley, most its 100 employees are in Israel. According to Ynet, the firm has been growing rapidly abroad in the past year, tripling its subscribers to almost 50 million users. Ninety percent of drivers use Waze in Israel. In the United States, its present share of navigation apps is 10 percent.
Google’s acquisition of Waze, despite having its own advanced mapping system, is aimed in part at preventing Facebook or Apple from acquiring the technology, analysts said.