Summary
- Apple plans to launch ads on Maps in 2026, allowing stores and restaurants to pay to be featured.
- The company will use artificial intelligence to make ads more relevant, similar to the App Store model.
- The initiative may generate criticism, as occurred with advertisements in the Wallet app and the App Store.
Apple will allow restaurants and other establishments to pay to appear more prominently on Maps. The program should be launched in 2026, according to information from Bloomberg.
According to the sources heard by the report, Apple Maps ads will have a better interface than those of Google Maps and other location services. The apple company also intends to use artificial intelligence to make advertisements more relevant and useful.
The logic of Maps ads will be similar to what the company already practices in the App Store. In the app store, developers can pay to appear in prominent spaces in search results. It is worth remembering that this advertising platform arrived in Brazil at the beginning of 2024.
Apple bets on advertising to make money
According to journalist Mark Gurman, who has good experience behind the scenes at the company, Apple has a plan to include more ads on iOS, opening new avenues to generate revenue. News about this movement has been circulating for a few years.
The move includes a risk of negative repercussions among users. In 2022, iPhone owners complained about advertisements for betting and gambling platforms, as well as paid recommendations unrelated to the customer’s favorite applications.
A similar episode happened a few months ago. The Carteira (Wallet) application started displaying advertisements for F1: The Movieproduced by Apple TV itself. In the United States, the campaign included a push notification with a discount on cinema tickets, which caused outrage among some customers.
In Brazil, a similar offer does not seem to have caused the same discomfort. In any case, Apple itself now offers an option to disable ads in Wallet.
Source: https://tecnoblog.net/noticias/apple-planeja-colocar-anuncios-no-maps-em-2026/
