Google and Apple compete on many fronts: Pixels vs. iPhones, Android vs. iOS, Chrome vs. Safari, YouTube Music vs. Apple Music, and, of course, in navigation with Google Maps vs. Apple Maps.
And when you look specifically at Apple Maps versus Google Maps, one of Apple Maps’ biggest advantages over the years has been its lack of ads. You can search for places nearby without being pushed toward sponsored results based on whoever paid the most. Meanwhile, Google Maps has long leaned into sponsored search results.
However, while Apple Maps has remained ad-free since its launch in 2012, that may not last much longer.
According to Bloomberg, Apple is planning to introduce ads to Apple Maps soon, similar to how it already handles advertising in the App Store. In practice, that would let businesses bid for special placements in search results, basically the same model Google Maps uses today.
Apple hasn’t officially confirmed anything yet, but the move wouldn’t be the most surprising, given Apple’s broader desire to grow its services business, which now generates over $100 billion annually from things like Apple Music, Apple News, Apple TV, and App Store purchases.
How ads in Apple Maps will affect your experience
Expect to see ads when you search for places like restaurants
While there’s no exact date yet for when Apple will bring ads to Apple Maps, Bloomberg reports the announcement could come before the end of the month, with a rollout potentially starting this summer.
As for how this will actually affect your experience, not much should change on the navigation side. If you’re just getting directions from point A to point B, everything will likely work the same as it always has. The difference shows up when you’re searching for places.
For example, if you search for restaurants, you’ll likely start seeing sponsored listings closer to the top of the results, the exact same way Google Maps already works. The ads could appear in all kinds of search results in Apple Maps, depending on your area, such as “coffee,” “pizza,” “gyms,” “game stores,” “gas,” or “mechanic,” with businesses bidding to secure top search results.
From a business perspective, this is a simple way for Apple to increase revenue from Maps. The platform has a huge reach, with more than 80 million users estimated in the US alone, making it an easy way to instantly display ads to a large audience.
…would it be better if Apple Maps remained ad-free? Absolutely.
And this isn’t exactly new territory for Apple, either. The company already runs ads in the App Store, which you’ve probably seen before. For example, when I searched for “music” in the App Store recently, the top result wasn’t even Apple Music; it was an ad for Amazon Music. And in the App Store, Apple clearly labels these ads with a blue box that says “Ad,” and it’ll likely do the same in Maps, just like Google does with “Sponsored” tags at the top of its results in Google Maps.
Overall, I have mixed feelings about this. The implementation doesn’t seem too intrusive, and as someone who has used both Google Maps and Apple Maps extensively, ads have never been a dealbreaker for me in Google Maps. At the same time, would it be better if Apple Maps remained ad-free? Absolutely. But this shift seems inevitable as Apple continues to expand its services revenue and borrow more of Google’s ad strategy. Again, it’s worth reiterating that Apple hasn’t officially announced ads coming to Maps yet, but based on Bloomberg’s reporting, it could happen any day now.
