ablatner t1_j5sylqu wrote on January 25, 2023 at 10:05 AM

Reply to comment by didsomebodysaymyname in Justice Dept. sues Google over digital advertising dominance by Cyrix2k

Google has owned Waze for years.

rasifiel t1_j5t8xbs wrote on January 25, 2023 at 12:14 PM

And they merged Waze and GMaps team.

didsomebodysaymyname t1_j5uykbk wrote on January 25, 2023 at 7:17 PM

My bad, but the point still stands, when Waze was independent it was popular, and Google was bugged enough by it to buy it.

They didn't start charging for Maps in response to competition, they paid to get rid of the competition.

Cyrix2k OP t1_j5uh5lp wrote on January 25, 2023 at 5:32 PM

It's another reason Google should be broken up though. Google bought Waze for 1 billion dollars in 2013, a move due to Google's extreme wealth, power and influence. That acquisition removed competition from the market, competition that offered what many believed to be a superior product. Even the old Waze CEO commented "Looking back, we could have probably grown faster and much more efficiently had we stayed independent." https://www.timesofisrael.com/waze-ceo-noam-bardin-explains-why-he-left-google-2weeks-ago/

didsomebodysaymyname t1_j5uysot wrote on January 25, 2023 at 7:19 PM

Yeah, the fact they didn't start charging in response to competition and in fact paid to get rid of it shows their argument about having to charge if they're broken up is BS.