Apple confirms that its Maps app will begin showing ads to users "this summer"

One benefit of most of Apple’s hardware and software is that it’s relatively privacy-focused and light on advertising, compared to something like modern Windows or the Roku operating system. But ads have still crept into various apps and services over time, and Apple confirmed today that its Maps app would begin showing ads to users in the US and Canada starting “this summer.”

Businesses that want to show ads in Apple Maps will be able to claim their physical location and upload photos, and then pay to have their business displayed at the top of search results “based on relevance” and also in a “Suggested Places” section of the app. Apple displays similar relevance-based advertisements when users search for apps in the App Store.

Apple says that users’ personal data will still stay on-device and won’t be collected by Apple or shared with third parties. The company also says that ads viewed or opened in Maps won’t be tied to your Apple account or used to track your physical location.

The ability for businesses to place ads in the Maps app is just one aspect of a new service called “Apple Business,” which will launch April 14 and offer company-managed Apple accounts, device management for company-owned Apple devices, and easy app distribution for software that businesses use internally. Microsoft and Google both offer similar administration tools for businesses and other institutions that manage large numbers of users and devices, and Apple says that the Business service will integrate with both Google Workspace and Microsoft Entra ID.

Value ads?

Apple’s Services division encompasses everything from iCloud storage to Apple Music to Creator Studio to AppleCare, and it has been the fastest-growing part of Apple’s balance sheet for a while now. It’s currently the company’s second-biggest category—slightly ahead of combined sales from wearables, the iPad, and the Mac, but still well behind the iPhone. Shareholders of publicly traded companies tend to expect numbers to keep going up in perpetuity, and increasing the ad load is one relatively easy way to do that.