INDEX / DIRECTORY / WAZE / ECONOMIC

Waze ECONOMIC

ECONOMIC AUDIT UPDATED 2026-09-07
Economic Score 7.50 /10 A Waze - BDS-1000 864
Economic 7.50

Evidence-only forensic audit. Scoring happens downstream - see the main dossier for the composite assessment.

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Domain: Economic (Economic nexus)
Entity scope: Waze Mobile Ltd, the Waze navigation service, and its direct Israeli operating footprint. Google/Alphabet activity is treated as parent-level context unless evidence specifically attributes it to Waze.1, 2, 3
Compiled: September 2026.

Supply Chain & Sourcing Relationships

Waze is a digital navigation, traffic-information, search, and location-advertising service rather than a producer, retailer, importer, distributor, or manufacturer of physical goods.1, 4, 5, 6, 7 Its relevant commercial inputs are user-submitted route and incident information, map/place and business-search data from users, Google, and other partners, and data exchanges with road and municipal partners.5, 8, 9

No public evidence identified of Waze purchasing, importing, distributing, white-labelling, or selling agricultural products, Israeli-origin goods, or settlement-origin products.1, 4, 5, 7, 9 The completed searches also identified no importer-of-record structure, agricultural supplier, seasonal procurement arrangement, goods reseller, customs/import-export record, or Waze-controlled Israeli operating company connected to physical-goods sourcing.1, 10, 7, 11

This researched absence is limited to the reviewed public records and targeted searches; it does not establish that Waze has no ordinary vendor or office-procurement relationships outside public records.1, 10

Product Origin, Labeling & Regulatory Compliance

Waze’s origin-related exposure is digital and cartographic, not conventional goods labelling. A 2018 route-testing report documented that Waze could calculate West Bank routes, including routes passing through Israeli settlements, and reported an Area A/high-risk-area warning feature.12 That evidence is pre-2020 and was not independently retested in the supplied research; continuation after 2020, including after July or November 2024, is unknown from the retrieved sources.12

No public evidence identified of Waze selling physical products, applying country-of-origin labels, or being subject to a goods-origin, customs, DEFRA, or comparable product-labelling action concerning Israeli or settlement-origin goods.1, 4, 5, 7, 9 no public evidence identified of a Waze corporate policy concerning sourcing or labelling products from occupied territories.1, 4, 5

Investment, Capital & Financial Exposure

Waze was founded in Israel in 2008 by Ehud Shabtai, Uri Levine, and Amir Shinar and was acquired by Google in 2013.13, 14, 7, 11 Alphabet’s 2013 Form 10-K records completion of the Waze Limited acquisition in June 2013 for $969 million in cash consideration; this primary accounting figure should be preferred for consideration disclosed by Alphabet over the approximately $1.1–1.15 billion transaction estimates in retained secondary reporting.13, 14, 7

The acquisition created a substantial historical Israeli economic benefit through founder, investor, employee, and tax outcomes reported at the time, including reporting of a significant Israeli capital-gains tax payment.13, 14 Waze is an acquired Israeli-origin operating technology business within the Google/Alphabet group, rather than an Israeli investment vehicle or passive portfolio holding.2, 3, 7, 11

No public evidence identified that Waze itself holds Israeli sovereign bonds, Israel Bonds, defence-company investments, or financial-sector underwriting, lending, or insurance positions.1, 2, 3, 7 no public evidence identified of Waze acquisitions of, or controlling interests in, additional Israeli operating companies.1, 15, 10, 11

Google/Alphabet’s Project Nimbus and CapitalG-related Israeli activity remains parent-level context and is not established as a Waze act.16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 Who Profits identifies Waze within Alphabet’s corporate group, but its profile concerns Google/Alphabet and does not establish that Waze performs Project Nimbus or supplies related cloud services.17, 19

Operational Presence & Market Activity

Waze’s current Terms identify the service provider as Waze Mobile Ltd, company and VAT number 514100056, incorporated and operating under Israeli law, at 98 Yigal Alon Street, Tel Aviv, Israel.1, 4 A secondary registry presentation reports the company as an active Israeli private company incorporated on 11 February 2008, with an annual report filed in 2026; an official shareholder or company extract was not retrieved.15, 10

Historical reporting describes Waze’s Israeli R&D presence, including Ra’anana as the app’s birthplace and core engineering location and a Tel Aviv presence associated with Google’s campus.22, 23, 24 The current legal terms establish Tel Aviv as the disclosed service-provider address but do not establish that Ra’anana remains Waze’s current legal headquarters or provide a current workforce figure.1, 4, 25

Google announced in December 2022 that Waze would be combined with its Geo/Maps organization, and reporting in June 2023 described staffing reductions associated with consolidating Waze Ads into Google’s advertising organization.23, 24, 25 Waze nevertheless remained an active product: a July 2026 Waze announcement was authored by Gai Berkovich, VP & GM, Waze, and current Waze materials continue to maintain Waze Ads, Waze for Cities, and business-development channels.26, 27

Waze’s current advertising model is location-linked. Google Ads describes promoted places displayed to drivers navigating or searching and click-based advertiser charges, while Waze’s search results draw on user, Google, and partner information.5, 9 Current official Google Ads documentation describes Waze advertising inventory as available in the United States, with expansion to further markets planned during 2026.5, 28, 29 Accordingly, the prior general proposition that Israeli advertisers can currently buy Waze advertising is not confirmed by the supplied current evidence.5, 28

Waze for Cities describes data exchanges with municipal and road-operator partners involving road closures, incidents, events, business and parking locations, vehicle feeds, and aggregate anonymized GPS-based traffic data.8 no public evidence identified of a Waze-specific Israeli state, IDF, settlement-authority, or settlement-business contract, including after July or November 2024.1, 10, 18, 19

A June 2025 report stated that Israeli authorities shut down navigation applications including Waze during Iranian strikes, evidencing live Waze use in Israel at that date but not a Waze state contract or continued operation in occupied territory.30 Israel’s national mapping authority was also reported to have tendered for a sovereign navigation platform to reduce reliance on Waze and Google Maps.31

No current public source retrieved quantifies Waze revenue attributable to West Bank settlements, identifies settlement-specific paid advertising, or establishes settlement-specific Waze operations after the stated 2024 reference dates.5, 28, 8, 12

Corporate Structure & Foundational Ties

Waze Mobile Ltd is an Israeli-incorporated service provider within the Google/Alphabet corporate group.1, 4, 2, 3 Waze’s Terms define “Waze” to include Waze Mobile Ltd together with its Google affiliates and subsidiaries, while Alphabet reports on a consolidated-subsidiary basis and identifies Google LLC as an Alphabet subsidiary.1, 4, 2, 3

A historical USPTO-hosted litigation filing described Waze as Google’s wholly owned subsidiary, supporting the historical ownership conclusion.32 No current primary document retrieved states Waze Mobile Ltd’s exact ownership percentage, so current percentage ownership should not be treated as independently confirmed by the supplied evidence.1, 2, 10, 32

The founders’ Israeli origin and the 2013 acquisition remain historical foundational ties.13, 14, 7, 11 Google stated at acquisition that Waze’s product-development team would remain in Israel and operate separately at that time.11

No public evidence identified of a separate Waze parent outside the Google/Alphabet chain, Israeli state or sovereign-wealth shareholding, governmental board appointments, a golden share, or a Waze-specific critical-national-infrastructure designation.1, 2, 10 The supplied full-text checks found that Waze was not named in the specified 2023 and 2025 OHCHR database updates or in A/HRC/59/23; those document-scoped results do not establish absence of activity by Google/Alphabet or from other sources.33, 18, 34

Profit Repatriation & Economic Contribution

Waze’s location-advertising revenue and its Israeli tax position are not separately disclosed in the supplied Alphabet or Waze materials, and no current Waze-only revenue, profit, tax-residency, or tax-payment figure was identified.2, 3, 35 Waze’s advertising and product activity are integrated with Google systems, while its Israeli service-provider identity and Tel Aviv address remain current.1, 4, 5, 28

The most evidenced Israeli economic contribution remains Waze’s Israeli-origin R&D and operating presence, together with the historical wealth transfer associated with the 2013 acquisition to founders, investors, employees, and Israeli tax authorities.13, 14, 22, 11 The current record establishes continued Waze product activity and Israeli incorporation, but does not quantify current Israeli employment, R&D expenditure, local taxes, or profit retained in Israel.1, 26, 25

Who Profits maintains a Google/Alphabet profile that names Waze as a subsidiary rather than a standalone Waze profile.17, 19 Parent-level Google Cloud and Project Nimbus material should therefore not be presented as Waze revenue, Waze profit repatriation, or a Waze-specific public-sector contract without direct evidence.18, 19, 20, 21

Footnotes

  1. https://support.google.com/waze/answer/12373727?hl=en ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17 ↩18

  2. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1652044/000165204426000018/goog-20251231.htm ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  3. https://abc.xyz/assets/70/a3/43ba8a804b49ac2fa2595c3c6704/2024-annual-report.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  4. https://storage.googleapis.com/support-kms-prod/LXyYxfTCl5A1ArjOCP13wd4lCbLNQMWQLUoD ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  5. https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/3246303 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10

  6. https://www.neaman.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Report_Report_Israel-Economy-and-Industry-V5.pdf ↩

  7. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1288776/000128877614000020/goog2013123110-k.htm ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  8. https://web-assets.waze.com/cms/Waze%20for%20Cities-Two-Pager_DIGITAL_Final.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  9. https://support.google.com/waze/answer/11942300 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  10. https://www.gov.il/en/service/company_extract ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  11. https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/maps/google-maps-and-waze-outsmarting/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  12. https://7amleh.org/ms/Mapping%20Segregation%20Cover_WEB.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  13. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/business/2014-01-13/ty-article/.premium/googles-tax-bill-for-waze-373m/0000017f-e56f-d62c-a1ff-fd7f5bcd0000 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  14. https://globalventuring.com/ma-exit-of-the-year-waze/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  15. https://www.checkid.co.il/company/%D7%95%D7%95%D7%99%D7%99%D7%96-%D7%9E%D7%95%D7%91%D7%99%D7%9C-%D7%91%D7%A2~%D7%9E-514100056 ↩ ↩2

  16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Nimbus ↩

  17. https://www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/7400 ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  18. https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?l=en&s=A%2FHRC%2F59%2F23&t=pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  19. https://www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/7400/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  20. https://bdsmovement.net/no-tech-oppression-apartheid-or-genocide ↩ ↩2

  21. https://bdsmovement.net/no-tech-apartheid ↩ ↩2

  22. https://archello.com/project/waze-head-office-tel-aviv ↩ ↩2

  23. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/bktjhfyoo ↩ ↩2

  24. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/sy8nprt003 ↩ ↩2

  25. https://www.ivc-online.com/Google-Card?id=c64606cb-d305-e411-b941-80c16e7d3630 ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  26. https://blog.google/waze/waze-updates-gemini-motorcycle-mode/ ↩ ↩2

  27. https://www.waze.com/contact ↩

  28. https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/16710258?hl=en-GB ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  29. https://www.waze.com/discuss/t/waze-ads-are-back-in-the-united-states/386395 ↩

  30. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-857946 ↩

  31. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/sy00jrfdor ↩

  32. https://ptacts.uspto.gov/ptacts/public-informations/petitions/1481678/download-documents?artifactId=12OvYJXoYvPguGw3HMDT2x3hByBvOSjhW0BAR83AkgHPtQwN4aYUnhA ↩ ↩2

  33. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session31/database-hrc3136/23-06-30-Update-israeli-settlement-opt-database-hrc3136.pdf ↩

  34. https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/PS/A_75_532_AUV.pdf ↩

  35. https://abc.xyz/assets/99/21/46cafdba41089a12a2d86ea47d44/goog026-annualreport2024-web.pdf ↩