4 Reasons Google Bought Waze

For Waze, mapping software proved to be a road of riches. The company's nine-year journey culminated on Tuesday, when Google agreed to pay a reported $1.03 billion to acquire the company. That price may have been inflated by a bidding war among Google, Facebook and Apple, according to rumors.

Waze claims around 45 million users, but there's a good chance you're unfamiliar with the company and its app. If you're wondering why the Israeli firm became such a hot property of late, here are a few theories:

1. There aren't that many mapping software companies. Waze didn't have any real competitors. "I'm usually in sectors where there are 14,000 startups," says Scott Rafer, CEO of Lumatic, which provides mapping software for walkers, not drivers. "But in maps, you can't do it lean."