Google Lays Off Waze Employees As It Combines Mapping App's Advertising System With Google Ads Technology

Alphabet-owned Google said on Tuesday that it is laying off employees at mapping service Waze as it integrates the app's advertising system with Google Ads technology, without specifying the number of layoffs.

"In order to provide Waze advertisers with a better, more seamless long-term experience, we've begun transitioning Waze's existing advertising system to Google Ads technology." "As part of this update, we've reduced those roles focused on Waze Ads monetization," said Google, which purchased Waze in 2013 for around $1.3 billion (nearly Rs. 10,700 crore).

Google said in December that it will integrate the Waze and Google Maps teams to streamline operations, including Waze into the Google Geo division, which includes Google Maps, Google Earth, and Street View.

CNBC broke the story earlier in the day, citing an email from Geo division leader Chris Phillips. Google, he added, will contact advertisers and partners about the change on Wednesday.

Alphabet, Google's parent company, announced 12,000 job cuts earlier this year in January. The layoffs were the latest to rock the IT industry, coming just days after rival Microsoft announced 10,000 layoffs.

The layoffs impacted teams across the organisation, including recruiting, certain corporate operations, and several engineering and product teams.

The announcement came at a time of economic instability as well as technical promise, with Google and Microsoft investing in generative artificial intelligence, a young field of software.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai stated in the note, "I am confident about the huge opportunity ahead of us because of the strength of our mission, the value of our products and services, and our early investments in AI."

Google requested India's Supreme Court earlier this week to overturn antitrust guidelines against it for misuse of the Android market, according to two sources, as it pushes its legal battle against the competition watchdog in one of its most crucial countries.

In October, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) stated that Google, whose Android mobile operating system powers 97 percent of India's 600 million cellphones, had abused its dominant position.

It ordered Google to eliminate device manufacturer limitations, including those relating to app pre-installation, and fined the US company $163 million (almost Rs. 1,300 crore), which it paid.

In March, an Indian judgement granted the Alphabet unit partial relief by overturning four of the case's ten instructions.