Following months of speculation, Google (GOOG 2.01%) has officially acquired crowd-sourced traffic data specialist Waze, it announced today. The search giant will integrate Waze into Google Maps in an effort to bolster its traffic information in order to help users plan their routes more effectively.
The Israeli-based start-up will remain in Israel for now and continue to operate independently, but the two companies will enhance each other's services. Waze's community of users has quickly grown to 40 million, and it recently announced expansion into Latin America.
No price was disclosed, but prior media reports suggest that Google might be paying up to $1.3 billion.
