Google just officially confirmed in a blog post that it has acquired mapping company Waze with some big plans to integrate the Israel-based company’s traffic related features into Google Maps.
As for what specific traffic features you might see come to Google Maps, Google’s Vice President of Geo Brian McClendon notes “The Waze community and its dedicated team have created a great source of timely road corrections and updates.”
Google had been rumored several times in recent weeks to be acquiring the company with the latest reports claiming the deal would be somewhere in the $1B range.
It was previously revealed that Waze was one of many mapping companies providing data for Apple’s new in-house Maps apps in iOS 6 and Apple was at one point rumored to purchase the company.
Waze’s mapping app, currently available for both Android and iOS, is a “community based mapping” solution that focuses on social elements and user reporting while collecting “real-time traffic & road info.” Waze maps include features for users to actively report events such as local traffic problems or gas prices and also offers Foursquare check-in integration.
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