Following years of speculation, Apple has confirmed it intends to introduce advertising in Apple Maps — specifically a business-focused offering designed to grab a chunk of the estimated $296 billion location-based ads market.
Announced alongside big changes in Apple’s services for business, including international introduction of services previously available with Apple Business Essentials in the US, Apple’s Maps ad plan should generate more cash for Cupertino’s coffers; the company promises user privacy will not be for sale.
Ads on Maps begins this summer in the US and Canada. Aimed at small business, the idea is that these ads will appear when users search in Maps. These will be presented at the top of search results (when relevant) and within a new Suggested Places section in Maps. Ads will be clearly marked, so you’ll know when your search experience has generated one of the things.
Business users gain a suite of Apple tools
Apple has combined these new Ads on Maps services with other existing business-focused services, including Apple Business Essentials and Apple Business Connect, making all of these available via a new portal at Apple Business.
When it comes to ads in Maps, business users will be able claim their location and create ads via that portal, which requires confirmation of who they are and the status of their business to help prevent fraud.
Brand management tools allow companies to:
- Manage brand name, logo, and key details consistently across Maps, Wallet, and other Apple features and services.
- Customize their Map entry with Rich Place Card, offering images, information and other useful details. These will then appear across Maps, Safari, Spotlight and so on.
- Highlight deals, special offers, new products, or seasonal items on place cards in Maps. Add custom actions like order or reserve to direct customers to a preferred website or app.
- Utilize a series of analytical tools to get business insight into their performance on Maps.
When Apple Business is available in April, businesses will need to first claim their location on Maps before they are able to use Apple’s fully automated ads creation tools.
Current Apple Ads advertisers and agencies will be able to book ads through their existing portal, which will gain additional options for their campaigns. Ads on Apple Maps will be available to businesses starting this summer in the US and Canada. For more information, visit ads.apple.com/maps.
The privacy thing
While it remains unclear why, or if, anyone really needs ads across their online experience, Apple likely feels the need to create a new income stream as it faces the inevitable end of any search-generated income it may have received from Google. It’s also true that highly localized and contextualized advertising for stores and services has become popular, particularly for business users seeking to connect with local customers.
The devil will be in how these ads are served. From what I’ve seen, the ads are quite discreet and clearly labelled with a small blue icon that says “Ad,” so you are unlikely to feel fooled into clicking something you don’t want to see.
Apple also promises that Ads on Maps maintains Apple’s broader privacy-first approach to advertising. That means a user’s location and the ads they see and interact with in Maps are not associated with their Apple Account. It also means personal data stays on a user’s device, is not collected or stored by Apple, and is not shared with third parties.
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