Google is merging teams from Google Maps and Waze to cut costs

Google is merging the development teams behind Google Maps and Waze. The American search giant wants to save costs and avoid duplication of work. According to Google, the navigation app will continue to exist separately after this restructuring.

The Waze division counts according to The Wall Street Journal more than 500 employees. Those will reportedly be housed in Google’s Geo division. There, Google products such as Google Maps, Google Earth and Google Street View are also being worked on.

There would be no layoffs, according to the American newspaper. The CEO of Waze, Neha Parikh, would have a different role. Google states that nothing else will change for Waze users. For example, the navigation app will continue to exist separately and all functions and services will also continue to be supported. Waze is a free navigation app and was released in 2006 by an Israeli start-up of the same name. The service was bought by Google in 2013. The deal was valued at $1.1 billion.