Watchdogs quiz Google on Waze buy

Google's $1bn (£643m) swoop for the Israeli mapping firm Waze yesterday threatened to fall foul of the UK's competition watchdog.

The Office of Fair Trading said it was considering whether the search giant's deal would result in a "substantial lessening of competition" in the mobile mapping sector under the Enterprise Act.

The Google Maps app features on smartphones across the world but the US firm further strengthened its hand in June with the acquisition of Waze, which uses satellite signals from members' smartphones to generate maps and traffic data, which it then shares with other users to offer real-time traffic information.

The OFT has 40 working days to consider representations and is likely to decide whether to launch a full investigation by the end of October.