Search giant Google is cutting jobs at its Waze mapping app amid a growing trend in Silicon Valley to cut traffic and drive for efficiency.
Waze is reportedly converting its existing advertising software to Google Ads technology. As a result, the company is reducing roles focused on monetizing Waze Ads. In a letter to Waze employees, Google’s vice president of Geo, Chris Phillips, said that there would likely be job cuts in sales, marketing, operations and analytics, without specifying the exact number.
“In order to create a better and more seamless long-term experience for Waze advertisers, we have started converting the existing Waze advertising system to Google Ads technology. As part of this update, we have reduced those roles focused on the monetization of Waze Ads,” Reuters quoted Google as saying.
Google is cutting jobs at its Waze mapping app amid a growing trend in Silicon Valley
Google announced last December that it would include Waze in its Google Geo division, which includes services such as Google Maps, Google Earth and Street View. The Wall Street Journal reported at the time that this would mark the end of Waze as a standalone app, with no layoffs planned.
Google bought Waze for $1.3 billion in 2013, and the Verge noted that it would remain independent of Google Maps until 2021. However, things changed last September when Google CEO Sundar Pichai said he was working to increase the company’s productivity under pressure from investors.
Google’s parent company Alphabet announced the layoff of around 12,000 employees, or around 6% of its workforce, in January of this year. Google is trying to cut costs amid declining digital advertising revenue.
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