Apple to implement ads into Apple Maps

Let's just hope it doesn't spread to other areas of the OS.

Mark Gurman recently detailed how Apple is planning on expanding the presence of brick-and-mortar stores on Apple Maps by allowing them to pay to promote themselves in search results. This is very similar to what Google Maps and other maps apps do already. Apple also already does something similar in the App Store, where developers can pay to promote their apps in search results.

Supposedly, the interface will be cleaner and it will use AI to "show relevant results" according to TechCrunch. This would not be a shock to many people that it would blend in since the App Store ads are very natural and blend in extremely well.

That does not mean that adding ads to operating systems is always the best decision. While it is common f0r companies to put ads in their apps since the app is their main source of revenue, or for small phone manufacturers put ads in their OSes since the devices are so expensive to manufacture, it is hard to think that companies like Apple really need to put ads there. Apple is a multi-trillion dollar company, and their cheapest iPhone right now is the iPhone 16e for $599, which is much higher than many other companies' "budget phones". Users more often than not will expect an ad-free experience – especially with their reputation of no ads--, so while the current ads are probably fine, adding more may not the best decision.

However, supporting small businesses is important and allowing for them to get on the map (literally) is important for business and understandable. So while users could be mad about ads in iOS, they could not even notice it or even possibly support it.

Apple putting ads into iOS could be a wrong turn for iOS, or it could be subtle and unnoticeable. We will have to wait and see what Apple does soon.