Apple will reportedly bring ads to Apple Maps — much like it did with the App Store. Efforts to show advertisements to Apple Maps users have supposedly picked up pace within the company.
Apple will let businesses pay to feature their sponsored listings more prominently in its Maps app.
Get ready for ads in Apple Maps
Apple introduced App Store search ads in 2016. This enabled developers to pay a fee to prominently show their listings in App Store search results and on the product page for a specific app.
A report from 2022 also mentioned that Apple plans to show ads inside Apple Maps by 2023. Thankfully, that did not happen, with the company seemingly giving up on the idea temporarily.
But Apple’s plans to bring ads to its Maps app appear to be back on track. Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman reports in his Power On newsletter that “effort(s) is gaining traction — with a plan to start the ads as early as next year.”
Google already shows similar ads within Maps, enabling businesses to promote their storefronts. Apple’s implementation will seemingly have an edge, as it will supposedly “have a better interface than what Google and other companies offer inside of mapping services.” And the company even plans to use AI to display relevant and useful results.
Apple’s slow slide into ad territory
Longtime Apple fans often criticize Google and Android phones for showing ads in system apps and services. Over the years, though, Apple has taken the same path.
It now aggressively promotes its own services through push notifications and intrusive banners in the Settings app. Ads in Apple Maps will just be an extension of that.
This is despite company executives themselves being at odds over App Store ads, as it was against Apple’s messaging.
