Maps May Lead Google Inc (GOOG) Astray

Maintaining market dominance

Purchasing Waze to maintain Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s position as the leader in online map software is pretty straightforward. Through the purchase, Google denies Waze to both Apple and Facebook while adding the most innovative mapping startup to itself. If Waze has anything that Google wants, then  Google gets to integrate it into Google Maps. This brings us to the second reason for the purchase.

Using what Waze has

Google has promised to run Waze as an independent company even after the purchase, and Waze has stated that not much will change. There will be one change in each product, however. Google will integrate the real-time data from Waze into Google Maps, and Waze will be rolling out Google-based search features.

Conclusion

Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) made a billion dollar purchase for a single feature and as a blocking maneuver for the competition. Adding more real-time data and building a maps community could have been done without spending a billion dollars.

Just like Facebook did not need Instagram, Google got worried about the speculation that a competitor was serious about purchasing Waze. This prompted the company to buy Waze itself. Though Waze may improve Google Maps, it was clearly a rushed and defensive acquisition.

David Danna has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Apple, Facebook, and Google. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple, Facebook, and Google. David is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network — entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.

The article Maps May Lead Google Astray originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by David Danna.

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