Apple Maps to Reportedly Have Ads, but They Will Likely Be Displayed in a Non-Intrusive Way
Since Apple focuses on user experience, ads on Apple Maps will likely not be displayed in the traditional banner style like most websites and apps show. Instead, those ads are expected to be a part of paid search results. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman wrote in his Power On newsletter that work has begun to launch ads in the future. As MacRumors points out, a fast food chain could pay Apple to appear at the top of the results when the user searches for something related to fast food items, such as fries, burgers, or milkshakes. Apple Maps competitor Google Maps already offers such a feature, as do review apps like Yelp. Ads can currently be seen in the Apple App Store, but instead of fast food chains advertising their business, app developers are given the opportunity to promote their apps to users who search for programs using relevant keywords. Apple also has plans to start placing ads in the App Store’s ‘Today’ section, and in a new ‘You Might Also Like’ section at the bottom of app listings. Apple Maps will likely see a similar integration and as long as it does not ruin the user experience, so what is there to complain about?