Apple is revisiting the idea of placing ads in Apple Maps

In 2022, Mark Gurman warned that Apple was considering putting advertisements in Apple Maps (and in other areas of the iPhone), but that ultimately didn’t happen. Now it looks like Apple is revisiting the idea, according to Gurman’s most recent Power On! newsletter.

Apple already shows ads in the Apple News and Stocks app, and Gurman says “Apple is giving this notion more thought.” The company said it’s exploring potential monetization avenues, but there are no concrete plans or a timeline yet.

In theory, businesses could pay to appear higher in search results or to make their icons appear larger on the map itself. It also opens the door for Apple to offer ad-free services for an additional fee, or perhaps roll that benefit into its existing Apple One subscription.

Placing specific businesses higher in Apple Maps raises the question of how this decision would benefit users. The system would likely work similar to the way Google’s ad results. The business would likely show a tag marking it as a sponsored advertisement, with the more relevant search results lower on the page. However, if Apple chooses to use a more traditional ad system, it risks alienating users who have enjoyed an ad-free experience until now.

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In a situation like this, ad blockers wouldn’t work. Tools like uBlock and others restrict outside content from being shown on the page, but an ad setup like the one Apple proposes would deliver ads from the same source as its normal content. This is the same way ads work for certain streaming services, and it makes it difficult for an ad blocker to do its job.

If Apple does implement this plan, it won’t be for some time yet. Gurman says no “active engineering work” is being done, so it would likely be several months, if not a year, before the ads come to fruition.