GasBuddy
{{Short description|Tech company}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{COI|date=August 2016}}
{{Advert|date=August 2018}}
}}
{{Infobox company
| name = GasBuddy
| logo = GasBuddy logo.svg
| logo_caption = The GasBuddy logo used since 2017
| type = Subsidiary
| founded = {{start date and age|June 11, 2000}}
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
| founders = {{Unbulleted list
| Dustin Coupal
| Jason Toews
}}
| hq_location = 14241 Dallas Parkway
| hq_location_city = Dallas, Texas
| hq_location_country = U.S.
| area_served = United States and Canada
| key_people = Patrick De Haan (Head of Petroleum Analysis)
| products = Business Pages
| parent = PDI Technologies
| homepage = https://gasbuddy.com/
}}
GasBuddy is a technology company headquartered in Dallas that offers mobile applications and websites for tracking crowd-sourced locations and prices of gas stations and convenience stores in the United States and Canada. Their platforms offer information sourced from users, gas station operators, and partner companies. They also provide business-to-business services to gas stations and convenience store owners.
History
GasBuddy was founded in Minneapolis in 2000 by Dustin Coupal, Jason Toews as a community website for sharing gas prices.
In 2004, they filed as a for-profit corporation in Minnesota under the name GasBuddy Organization Inc.{{cite web|url=https://mblsportal.sos.state.mn.us/Business/SearchDetails?filingGuid=e2dee121-88d4-e011-a886-001ec94ffe7f|title=GasBuddy Organization Inc.|publisher=Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State|access-date=Oct 10, 2012}}
In 2009, GasBuddy launched OpenStore, a platform that allows convenience stores to build and manage their own mobile apps.{{Cite web|url=https://www.csnews.com/industry-news-and-trends/technology/year-app-part-1|title=The Year of the App, Part 1|last=Negraval|first=Samantha|date=October 30, 2013|website=Convenience Store News|access-date=August 9, 2016}}
In 2010, the company launched its own mobile apps that allowed users to input gas prices from their smartphones.{{Cite web|url=https://blog.gasbuddy.com/posts/GasBuddy-Turns-15/1715-614514-3093.aspx|title=GasBuddy Turns 15!|website=GasBuddy Blog|access-date=August 9, 2016}}
In 2013, Oil Price Information Service (OPIS), a subsidiary of UCG, acquired GasBuddy.{{Cite web |title=IHS Completes Acquisition of Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) {{!}} IHS Online Newsroom |url=http://press.ihs.com/press-release/corporate/ihs-completes-acquisition-oil-price-information-service-opis |access-date=2016-08-31 |website=press.ihs.com}} OPIS is a provider of petroleum pricing and news for businesses.
In 2016, IHS acquired OPIS, separating from GasBuddy, which remained with UCG as a subsidiary company. {{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}.
Initially only available in the United States and Canada, GasBuddy launched in Australia in March 2016.{{Cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/gasbuddy-the-app-which-finds-you-the-cheapest-petrol-launches-in-australia-today-2016-3|title=GasBuddy, the app which finds you the cheapest petrol launches in Australia today|date=March 6, 2016|website=Business Insider|access-date=August 9, 2016}} Also in that year, GasBuddy released a completely redesigned app, its first major redesign since its release in 2010. GasBuddy also unveiled a new logo and launched GasBuddy Business Pages. GasBuddy shut down the Australian version of their app in 2022.
In 2017, GasBuddy launched a gas savings program titled "Pay with GasBuddy" intended to let consumers save at gas stations in the United States.{{Cite web|url=https://www.gasbuddy.com/NewsRoom/PressRelease/456?fvm=1|title=GasBuddy Unveils First-of-its-Kind Gasoline Savings Program Giving US Drivers a Discount on Virtually Every Gallon of Gas They Will Ever Pump|date=August 28, 2017|website=GasBuddy|access-date=February 19, 2018}}
In the same year, GasBuddy was involved in a lawsuit with Reveal Mobile, a location-based marketing company, over the sale of user location data. It was revealed that GasBuddy sold information on more than 4.5 million users to Reveal each month for $9.50 per 1000 users.{{Cite web |title=Location data from a gas station app sold for $9.50 per 1,000 people |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/location-data-from-a-gas-station-app-sold-for-9-50-per-1000-people/ |access-date=2023-05-07 |website=CNET |language=en}} According to CNET, that information included "users' latitude, longitude, IP address, and time stamps on the data collected," which sparked concern in the media and between its users.{{Cite web |date=2022-06-08 |title=GasBuddy Can Be a Privacy Nightmare. Here's How to Limit Your Exposure. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/ways-to-find-cheapest-gas/ |access-date=2023-05-07 |website=Wirecutter: Reviews for the Real World |language=en-US}}
In 2021, the GasBuddy app rose to the most popular app on both Android and iPhone platforms in the wake of the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/12/gasbuddy-tops-apple-app-store-amid-colonial-pipeline-gas-shutdown.html|title=GasBuddy tops Apple App store amid gas shortages from Colonial Pipeline shutdown
|date=May 12, 2021|website=CNBC|access-date=September 11, 2023}}.
PDI acquired GasBuddy in 2021.https://www.cspdailynews.com/technologyservices/pdi-acquires-gasbuddy
References
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