Remember our earlier stories in the week on how there were whispers from sources close to Google that the Internet search giant could eventually shell out a pretty handsome amount of money to purchase Waze? Well, those whispers were eventually confirmed by Google in principle, before an official acknowledgement was made to the public over the $1.3 billion purchase. The thing is, this particular acquisition has ruffled the feathers of some folks out there, who are now seeking the help of U.S. antitrust agencies to block Google’s proposed acquisition of Waze, touting that this particular deal would more or less remove the last major competitor in the mobile maps segment, leaving Google as the only 800lbs gorilla left around.
Hmmm, I guess that particular assessment also says much about the other navigation apps on mobile devices and their prowess (or rather, the lack of it), no? According to Consumer Watchdog who wrote letters to the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, “Google already dominates the online mapping business with Google Maps. The Internet giant was able to muscle its way to dominance by unfairly favoring its own service ahead of such competitors as Mapquest in its online search results.” What do you think of this move – will it actually entice the respective agencies to act, or will the letter be dismissed?