Apple Maps Turning Into a Billboard? Ads Reportedly Coming Soon
Apple is preparing to debut ads inside its Maps app as early as next year, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, in his Sunday PowerOn newsletter. The move is part of the company’s overall plan to expand its ad business across iOS.
The new system would let restaurants and local businesses pay to appear higher up in search results on Apple Maps, similar to how developers currently pay for top placement in the App Store. Gurman reports that Apple plans to use artificial intelligence to make sure promoted results stay relevant and useful to users.
While Apple says it’s focused on improving discovery for businesses, the change could cause blowback. Some users already complain that iPhones feel increasingly cluttered with promos for Apple services like Apple Music, TV+, and Fitness+, along with ads inside Apple News.
Gurman reported back in 2022 that Apple was planning to expand its ads business, which also included the likes of Apple Maps. Now it seems that may be coming sooner than later. All we need now are people to actually use Apple Maps.
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I use it all the time cause of the apple watch turn by turn feature, were helpful
It = subject of article = more ads in Apple Maps.
I fail to see how more ads helps you turn by turn.
Ads = I stop using it.
I'm baffled why you continue to use it before the ads.
I haven't used Apple Maps for more than 60 seconds since it was developed. Sure, I occasionally "test" it out but I never use it longer than that. Despite Google Maps being annoying now, I will use it or TomTom. Only obsessed sycophants continue to use it despite the ads.