Waze’s ex-CEO says app could have ‘grown faster’ without Google

Waze has struggled to grow within Alphabet Inc’s Google, the navigation app’s former top executive said, renewing concerns over whether it was stifled by the search giant’s $1 billion acquisition in 2013.

More than 140 million drivers worldwide use Waze monthly, up from 10 million when it was acquired, according to a Wednesday blog post by Noam Bardin, who left Jan. 31 after helming Waze since 2009.

But Waze usage is flat in some countries as Google Maps gets significant promotion, and Waze has lost money as it focuses on a little-used carpooling app and pursues an advertising business that barely registers within the Google empire, according to interviews with 11 former employees over the last year.