In his latest weekly newsletter, Gurman says that Apple could soon show ads in the Apple Maps app. Gurman wrote, “I believe the engineering work is already underway to launch search ads in the Apple Maps app, and we should begin to see it be implemented sometime next year.” So starting next year the Maps app could serve ads to Apple users.
How will the ads appear in the Maps app?
As per Gurman and other reports, Apple will not show the regular banner ads that are visible on many websites. Instead, these will be paid search results that restaurants or businesses can pay for to promote their establishments. In case you are unaware, apps like Google Maps, Yelp or even Zomato and Swiggy already show such ads. It’s not too surprising to see Apple also following suit as such ads are already visible in the App Store. Developers do pay to promote their apps and Apple may further bring more ads to the App Store. Apple News already has banner ads but that remains a paid subscription service available in a select few countries.
Why is Apple rumoured to push ads in its apps?
Earlier this month, a report by XDA Developers revealed that Apple’s advertising VP, Todd Teresi is reportedly planning to increase the company’s advertising revenue “from $4 billion annually to billions in the double digits.” It is an opportunity for Apple to increase revenue but we aren’t sure how happy users will be to see such ads.
