LIVE: Google vs. Facebook in Waze Bidding War – The Power of User-Generated Communities
On today’s SiliconANGLE Live NewsDesk Show, (see live feed below or visit youtube.com/siliconangle to watch on-demand), we discuss the crowd-sourced mapping app Waze, and the who’s who of web giants, including Google Now, interested in buying it.
Its being reported that Google is interesting in buying map-software provider Waze Inc., setting up a potential bidding war between it and Facebook. Apple is not said to be in the courting process right now. However, with Google and its Android operating system kicking Waze’s tires, I would assume that Apple has to at least entertain the notion. Waze has over 40 million users and it uses information from online communities to improve driving directions. With our web moving to the mobile web, the success of Waze reflects the widening importance of maps on smartphones, tablets, etc.
Joining us now to tell us more about Waze’s potential sale and Google’s interest level is SiliconANGLE Contributing Editor John Casaretto. (See the live broadcast, embed below ~ if you missed today’s topic, check our YouTube channel for archived clips.)
Some of the things we’ll be discussing with Casaretto include whether or not this is a two-horse bidding war between Google and Facebook, the palpable importance of Waze’s ability to mature a community, and the importance of the mapping capabilities of Waze’s user-generated community.
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