Report: Google Cutting Jobs at Waze While Merging Map Products

Google is reportedly laying off an unspecified number of employees at its mapping app Waze.

The tech giant, which acquired Waze in 2013, is consolidating the unit with its own map products, Seeking Alpha reported Wednesday (June 28).

Google did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

A company spokesperson told Seeking Alpha: “In order to create a better, more seamless long-term experience for Waze advertisers, 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 and are providing employees with mobility resources and severance options in accordance with local requirements.”

It was reported in December 2022 that Google was merging two of its mapping teams — Waze and Maps — as it was under pressure to reduce costs.

The company will merge the more than 500 people working on Waze with Geo, the organization that handles Maps, Google Earth and Street View, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Dec. 8.

There were no layoffs planned, the WSJ reported at the time.

The layoffs reported Wednesday come about six months after Google parent Alphabet said it was cutting 12,000 jobs across its product areas, functions and regions.

“Over the past two years we’ve seen periods of dramatic growth,” Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said in a Jan. 20 message to employees. “To match and fuel that growth, we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today.”

The announcement that the latest cuts will focus on roles around Waze Ads monetization comes as Google has reported mixed results in advertising.

During the first quarter of 2023, Google also experienced a 1% decrease in advertising revenue growth, but its search advertising division saw a 1.7% growth in revenue.

Philipp Schindler, Google’s senior vice president and chief business officer, said in April during an earnings call that the “search and other” revenue within Google Advertising grew by 2% year over year, mainly due to an upswing in the travel and retail verticals.

Schindler also said that despite the challenging economic climate, the company’s tools and solutions have proven to be valuable for online and omnichannel retailers, allowing them to attract high-value customers.