Is this the launch of their self-serve advertising platform? They've been running agency-placed ads in the app forever. Anyone complaining about this ruining the product must not actually use it.

Dope to see Waze finding relevant ways to monetise i think this is a great update that could serve as a gateway to greater things.

Pros:

waze starts making ad money

contextual ads based on journey

discover hidden gems

good for businesses

Cons:

driver distraction potential

New and platforms to test. Is my version of Christmas. What can I spend pennies on and make dollars?🤔

Leave the driver out of attracting his eyeballs.. Should be good enough for passengers travelling in a local. Taxi or autorickshaw

Really trying to capitalize on small businesses lack of understanding of the consumer I see.... Wack

When we use a GPS, we're trying to get to a specific place. That may be a clothing store or a gas station. Showing an ad for a law firm is highly unlikely to result in the driver saying, "Forget the gas, I need to file bankruptcy!" Even if you're offering another gas station, people aren't brand loyal in most cases, at least enough so that they're going to go further than the closest station just to check out the advertised one. Seems unlikely these ads will be impactful. That won't stop many from trying them anyways. With CPM, most won't have a great measure of the return these ads provide. That should help Waze keep selling them as they keep advertisers in the dark.

I'd conceptualized a similar AR feature for @rhizmarket for business search, but scrapped it for the same driver distraction concern. Love the creative potential for other scenarios (walking in metro areas), but not sure this is it.

announcements while you are driving? or did I understand wrong?

If waze needs money, just make a premium offer that gives more features to the one who pays, you'll be rich enough in no time.

Hey Google, leave us alone for once

Pros:

What the hell

Cons:

As it's a GPS, it seems clear that:

- Ads won't have any impact for businesses

- It might distract the driver

- We don't want ads anyway

I love that landing page so much.

The mobile site needs a biiiiiiit of tweaking...

Cool. I have actually click on an ad before in Waze. They only come up when you are stopped for a couple of minutes. Can't complain for a free service.

Make paid options or paid accounts, but do not distract drivers

Pros:

Good and fast product

Cons:

Messages are very distracting from driving by car

Now with their shared carpooling movement, this could be even bigger. Plus it's owned by google

Pros:

Great for: Open houses Events Restaurants Businesses in need of local traffic Not much competition yet 100 million users

Cons:

Cost per impression for specific tier Another distraction for drivers