The ads only show up when the car isn't moving, such as when it's stopped at an intersection.

I hate this. Focusing on the road, even when at an intersection is still the duty of the driver. You have to be active and engaged the entire time you are behind the wheel, not use red lights as an excuse to type out a quick text. I can't tell you how many times I had to honk the horn because a damned distracted driver had their heads down at a green light. This is unsafe as well. Additionally, what if a drunk driver plows through the intersection and comes at you head on? Instead of any chance of reacting + surviving, you are dead. What if an ambulance comes, and you are blocking the left turn lane and you didn't notice because you were too busy looking at a phone or app?

As an aside -- we have 100% proven we simply cannot be trusted with smartphones or electronics behind the wheel. I know most will think this is too extreme but I am all for outright banning them from being in the hands of a driver at. all.

I'd prefer if drivers watched the road and not pop up ads on Waze.

Now Waze has an incentive to choose the route with the most red lights. The driving version of the "slideshow" listicle.

'You can skip this intersection in 15, 14, 13...'

A drive would still be distracted while stopped at an intersection.

My wife refuses to use Waze due to the ads. I prefer Waze b/c I'm in motion almost my entire commute (95% freeway).

How long until Waze collaborates with Waymo (Wazemo?) and the ads are just for the captive passengers, not the driver?

Portable VR headsets are going to have a killer app. Not having to pay attention to self-driving car ads.

I'm imagining Google releasing an AR app that perfectly represents the reality around you, except stripped of all ads.

(Except the subtle consumer friendly ones that they put in, of course.)

I thought the ads only pop up when the car is stopped?

Drivers should be paying attention to their immediate surroundings while stopped. Especially because the signals may change, or they may need to move for emergencies services or to evade a careening car heading their way.

And also to not incite road rage from their fellow drivers because they are sitting stopped at a green light. You could also cause a fender bender because other drivers, who also may be distracted slightly, are expecting the cars to move and then are startled when they look away for a brief second because the car in front of them had to brake for the car stopped at a green light. Some states hand out tickets for being braked at a green light.

and the one time I feel comfortable looking at Waze to scan the route ahead is when I'm stopped, and an annoying ad is in the way. It's utterly obnoxious and given Google's warchest is unnecessary.

I don't think it's reasonable to assume that other Google properties will perpetually subsidize groups like Waze.

Waze ads are an area where I feel an audio ad would be a better approach.

I think if Waze did audio, they'd cause more accidents - usually I have Audible or Music running at the same time if I'm using Waze.

Perhaps that's why they're partnering with Spotify (well other than you can't run Waze on Carplay)?

I may be dating myself, but why would a waze audio ad cause accidents more than a radio ad? There might be logic to make sure the ad doesn't overlap audio navigation guidance, but that seems like a feasible constraint.

But who is preventing them from watching the road? If a driver is so confused by notifications or popups on a tiny screen occupying probably < 5% of their field of view, I think they should put the phone upside down and rely on audio.