Report: Facebook in talks to buy map app Waze

The following is an excerpt from an article in USA Today that quotes Management Professor Brian Proffitt on Facebook buying Waze. To read the entire article visit:Report: Facebook in talks to buy map app Waze

Facebook is reportedly in talks to buy map app Waze.

Based in Israel, Waze has been in acquisition talks for months and could be valued at $800 million to $1 billion, according to Calcalist, a business publication in Israel that first reported about a possible deal.

Waze has been growing in popularity by providing free turn-by-turn directions and crowd-sourced information – police presence, traffic conditions and car accident alerts – that are uploaded by its users.

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Waze’s unique ability to incorporate users’ input could be jeopardized if Facebook is successful in its acquisition attempt, says Brian Proffitt, an author of technology books and instructor of management courses at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. “As mapping data continues to be acquired by larger and larger vendors, it will become harder for businesses and consumers to update errors in that data or gain free access,” he says.

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