Google acquires social mapping company Waze for $1.3 billion

And for weeks now it is that apparent that social mapping software company Waze would be acquired by one of the Silicon Valley giants. Google, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft were all tossing their hats into the ring to acquire Waze, but only one can emerge victorious.

This morning Google has announced that it has acquired the Israeli company for a reported $1.3 billion. Google says that the Waze product development team will remain in Israel and operate separately for the time being and added "We'll also work closely with the vibrant Waze community, who are the DNA of this app, to ensure they have what's needed to grow and prosper."

For those unfamiliar with Waze, it is a social traffic and navigation app that is based on a large community of tens of millions of drivers around the world who share real-time road and traffic info with other Waze users. The app has just under 50 million users which is up over 10 million since February.