Show me the Waze: Compass partners with navigation app as part of tech push

New ad program will display listings on navigation app

Compass' new partnership with Waze
Compass' new partnership with Waze

Imagine hopping in your car, plugging an address into Waze and driving down the street — only to see an ad for a real estate listing pop up on the navigation app.

Thanks to a paid advertising engagement with Compass, that will be possible starting in October.

“Compass ads will show up as branded pins within the Waze app pointing people to a listing and the Compass sign — like a digital billboard,” a spokesperson for the New York-based brokerage confirmed Friday, after Compass tweeted out the news.

It’s certainly not the first ad program for Waze, the community-based map tool owned by Google that is hugely popular in the suburbs. But it is the first of its kind in real estate, Compass said.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

The program is a paid opportunity for agents who choose to buy Compass’ new, illuminated signs, which are also equipped with QR codes. Compass unveiled the futuristic signs in July. The Waze ads are not included in the cost of the signs, which can run agents around $700.

Compass, which has raised nearly $800 million from investors — including $450 million from SoftBank — is on an ambitious trajectory to capture 20 percent market share in 20 cities by 2020. It is also targeting $1 billion in revenue this year, up from $370 million in 2017.

“The investments have allowed us — and let us — accelerate our growth in marketing and support, in technology and [in new geographic] regions,” Reffkin told The Real Deal last month.