Google Maps and Waze Data

This week Google is introducing the first integrations between its homegrown Google Maps for mobile and its newly owned Waze.

The traffic tab on Google Maps for iOS and Android will now include accidents, construction, road closures and other incidents reported by Waze users. Meanwhile, the Waze app now supports Google search, and Waze map editors will have access to Google Street View and satellite imagery.

Google grabbing Waze for more than $1 billion in June kept the hot startup away from other suitors, but also landed the “more wood behind fewer arrows” advocates in Mountain View, Calif. with two map apps.

Given the substantial overlap between Google Maps and Waze, it’s interesting to see what the company does to bring them together and keep them distinct.

Adding Waze incident reports is the obvious choice, but also a substantial one; Waze users report millions of blockages and accidents per month. “I think it will have a pretty big impact,” said Brian McClendon, VP of Google Maps. “A big fraction of GMM users will see these.”