What Is Waze?
Founded in 2008 by Ehud Shabtai, Amir Shinar and Uri Levine, Waze was bought by Google in 2013 for over $1 billion. Clearly, Waze passed the ‘toothbrush test’ – a term first used by former Google CEO, Larry Page to describe apps that are used at least once or twice a day and make your life better. Users in over 185 countries are now averagely spending just over 7 hours a month on Waze. In this post, we take a look at what makes this platform unique and how to advertise on Waze.
The biggest asset to Waze is its community. Waze relies on its 90 million active global users for real time traffic information. Active reporting allows users to report what is going on around them, providing real time information for other ‘Wazers’ on potential disruptions to their journey, whether it be a hazard, traffic, roadworks or a collision. Additionally Passive GPS reporting helps Waze to understand traffic patterns and thanks to its tracking algorithm, Waze will always take the fastest route.
Waze Carpool
Waze’s newest feature, Carpool helps Wazers to find other people to car share with. It analyses drivers’ routes and destinations to match Wazers going in the same direction. A preset payment system helps Wazers to share the cost of travel and the app will transfer it from one Wazer to the other. Already up and running in a few countries, if adopted at scale, Carpool could mean less congestion and less pollution – always a good thing.
What Advertising options does Waze offer?
There are various ways in which you can advertise on Waze.
Waze Local is an ad solution ideal for small and medium businesses. The navigation app puts the company’s location on the map, connecting local businesses with nearby drivers.
Waze for Brands connects large national and global brands to nearby drivers with Waze for brands. It allows brands to ride ‘shotgun’ at the exact moment Wazers are nearby their business providing a highly targeted ‘out of home’ opportunity. Waze can also predict driver behaviour and help to target users when they are most likely to navigate to a business.
There are 3 Ad formats available on Waze: Branded pins, Promoted search, and Zero-speed takeovers.
Branded pins help to increase location awareness, enabling users to see a business on a map as they drive along.
Promoted ads stand out on a crowded route. They include a business’s brand logo and show at the top of search results.
Zero-speed Takeover ads are pop ups which appear nearby a driver’s location when they are stopped for more than 3 seconds.
What does it cost to advertise on Waze?
Promotion and pricing for Waze runs on two options; Starter and Plus. The starter account works for businesses with 10 or less locations. The starting price per day is $2. The Plus account is suitable for bigger companies and has a minimum spend of $100 per day.
Want to consider Waze as part of your overall digital strategy?
Here at Pratt Digital, we work across multiple platforms and are always happy to discuss new ideas to help your customers find your business. If you’re thinking about your digital strategy and how you might include Waze, please get in touch.