GasBuddy

GasBuddy is a technology company headquartered in Boston 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.

GasBuddy
TypeSubsidiary
FoundedJune 11, 2000 (June 11, 2000)
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Founders
  • Dustin Coupal
  • Jason Toews
Headquarters14241 Dallas Parkway,
Dallas, Texas
,
U.S.
Area served
United States and Canada
Key people
Todd Gunderson (General Manager)
Mark Coffey (Business Development)
Patrick De Haan (Head of Petroleum Analysis)
ProductsBusiness Pages
ParentPDI Technologies
Websitehttps://gasbuddy.com/

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.[1]

In 2009, GasBuddy launched OpenStore, a platform that allows convenience stores to build and manage their own mobile apps.[2]

In 2010, the company launched its own mobile apps that allowed users to input gas prices from their smartphones.[3]

In 2013, Oil Price Information Service (OPIS), a subsidiary of UCG, acquired GasBuddy.[4] 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. .

Initially only available in the United States and Canada, GasBuddy launched in Australia in March 2016.[5] 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, Pay with GasBuddy, that let consumers save at gas stations in the United States.[6] Also that 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.[7] 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.[7][8]

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[9]

References
  1. "GasBuddy Organization Inc". Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved Oct 10, 2012.
  2. Negraval, Samantha (October 30, 2013). "The Year of the App, Part 1". Convenience Store News. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
  3. "GasBuddy Turns 15!". GasBuddy Blog. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
  4. "IHS Completes Acquisition of Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) | IHS Online Newsroom". press.ihs.com. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  5. "GasBuddy, the app which finds you the cheapest petrol launches in Australia today". Business Insider. March 6, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
  6. "GasBuddy Unveils First-of-its-Kind Gasoline Savings Program Giving US Drivers a Discount on Virtually Every Gallon of Gas They Will Ever Pump". GasBuddy. August 28, 2017. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  7. "Location data from a gas station app sold for $9.50 per 1,000 people". CNET. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
  8. "GasBuddy Can Be a Privacy Nightmare. Here's How to Limit Your Exposure". Wirecutter: Reviews for the Real World. 2022-06-08. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
  9. "GasBuddy tops Apple App store amid gas shortages from Colonial Pipeline shutdown". CNBC. May 12, 2021. Retrieved September 11, 2023..
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