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Waze Ads : All You Need to Know

Sim Wan Yong • October 5, 2018

If you have used this navigation app while you were getting around places, you would most likely have seen a Waze ad while you are stopped at a traffic light or searching for places nearby. You might have been prompted to save the location for later, or have the option to reroute and drive to the ad destination immediately. How do these ads work? Are they charged on a pay-per-click basis or are they charged based on impressions? Here's what you need to know.

Did you know that Google has bought Waze for roughly $1 billion back in 2003? Since then, Google has started monetizing the traffic app by providing branded pins, search ads and takeover ads.

Why not launch these traffic ads on Google Maps?

Apparently, Google did try to monetize their app - which is used on a much bigger scale globally, but it did not achieve much success in comparison to Waze ads. Is it the cuter graphics and social functions, or something else? We wonder too.

Whatever the case might be, it might be notable that Waze Ads are not part of Google Ads, but rather exists as a separate platform on its own. There has not been news of these two platforms being integrated so far.

Types of Waze Ads Available

Zero-Speed Takeover Ads

When you sign up for Waze ads, your location could appear when users are near your location. Takeover ads as depicted in the picture above would take up about 1/3 of the user's phone screen, displaying your location when said user is stopped for at least 3 seconds. Users would have the option to save your location for later visit, save your offer and drive there - that's just a few of the possible actions that your users can take!

Paid Search for Waze Ads

Your ads could also appear as part of a promoted search - when searching for petrol stations nearby, for example, you might see a Petronas ad. When you search for a McDonald's outlet near you, you might also see a paid search result for the nearest branch. The paid search ad for your company would appear when keywords similar to your business name is being searched.

Branded Pin

Last but not least, the branded pins would appear as you drive. You might see a small location pin with Volkswagen's logo depicting its outlet within close proximity to you as you drive. Not only can you get your company a potential clients' consideration to visit - these simple branded pins can help your business branding as well! Users nearby can tap the pin to reveal your advertising graphic, and another tap can prompt them to visit your location.

How Are Waze Ads Charged?

Unlike your typical search engine marketing bidding strategy, Waze ads charges on a cost-per-thousand impression basis. This means that you are charged a certain amount whenever your branded pins, paid search or takeover ads are shown a thousand times.

How Do Waze Ads Benefit Me?

Waze ads might not prompt users nearby to immediately visit your business - after all, they are likely to be on their way elsewhere already when they see the ads. However, Waze ads can help to build awareness by heaps and bounds - have your ad depicting your current promotion ready and Waze users nearby are bound to remember seeing your brand - at least subconsciously!

How Do I Measure my Ad Success?

When you run Waze ad, you can access the number of navigation saves, website visits, unique reach and frequency, driver loyalty and/or return visits among many other important stats! You can also compare your ad performance to the Waze benchmark for your business industry.

Interested to know more about Waze ads and other digital marketing solutions? Contact us through any means below to get started!


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