Waze, the community-based traffic and navigation app that got a boost after a mention in Apple CEO Tim Cook’s Apple Maps apology letter, is taking a big step toward monetization today with its announcement of a location-guided advertising platform called Waze Ads.
This platform offers businesses the opportunity to pay for a branded pin on Waze’s maps, which have an audience of 30 million users. Businesses can choose the logo, icon or other images to be displayed with their pin. Waze says “it’s like a billboard, only interactive too.” Businesses will also have their name included as a branded search result with their logo atop results lists when their name is searched for.
Waze summarizes the benefits of advertising on its maps as follows:
1)
Network
