Apple Maps is getting ads before and after searches, and there's no way to turn them off

[midian182]

What just happened? Apple's long-reported plan to monetize its Maps app using advertising has become a reality. Users in the US and Canada will now see ads both before and after they perform searches – and they can't be disabled. It should come as no surprise to learn that people are far from happy about another service that's become filled with annoying advertisements.

We first heard that Apple was considering strengthening its services revenue by monetizing Maps at the start of 2025. Cupertino confirmed earlier this year that the ads would be rolling out this summer.

True to its word, Apple confirmed to 9to5Mac that it has started rolling them out to users in the US and Canada.

There are two main places where users will encounter ads. The first is before a search is even carried out, when the Suggested Places section on the search screen can include a sponsored listing alongside ordinary recommendations.

The second is after a user performs a search, when ads can appear among the results if Apple determines they are relevant to the query.

Each ad will clearly feature a blue tag indicating it's an advertisement. Apple emphasizes that users' interactions with ads won't be associated with their Apple accounts, and that the data won't be shared with third parties. Also, only one ad will appear in each set of search results.

That's little consolation when there's no way of switching off the ads, though. Even paying for other Apple services like iCloud+ or Apple One won't get you preferential treatment.

One has to wonder whether introducing ads to the app will really be worth it from Apple's point of view. While many people consider rival Google's Maps app to be superior in terms of functionality and accuracy, some still preferred to use Apple Maps for the sole reason that it lacked ads. Now that benefit has been removed, Apple could see a rapid drop-off in users.

The writing has been on the wall for a long time. Back in 2022, reports claimed that Apple wanted to triple the size of its advertising business by bringing more ads to native apps, including Maps, Books, and Podcasts. The company has also been adding more sponsored results to App Store searches, suggesting Maps won't be the last Apple service to become more ad-heavy.

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Apple Maps is getting ads before and after searches, and there's no way to turn them off

 

[yRaz]

Does advertising even work anymore? I avoid products I see ads for. It's funny, since I came to Florida I've noticed almost all the ads I see are for prescription drugs, gambling games on your phone and cell phone carriers.

I have noticed a worrying trend when using Google maps. When I'm searching for something the first result will often be an ad. There are places I have saved as land marks so I don't manually have to enter or remember an address. Type something in like "Oviedo Publix" to get me close where I need to be and then go the rest of the way. Well it will select a different store and since I'm still learning the area I won't notice that it's taking me to some other chain grocery store in a different direction until I'm in an area where I'm supposed to be and think "wait a second, this doesn't look right". But when it decides to do this, it doesn't use the store I always use as a benchmark daily. When it decides to throw an ad at me it rearranges the order of the search results. Android as an operating system has been pissing me off so much these last few months that I have been considering switching to apple specifically for things like this but I guess Apple being the last bastion for the privacy focused and ad averse group is coming to an end. I also don't want to switch to grapheneOS because none of the apps I need like banking apps or authenticators run on it.

I have a galaxy tab S9 ultra and it's been ruining my premium experience by throwing ads in my notifications that I can't remove and Samsung has also locked down their a version of Android so much that apps can use the 1TB SD card I put in it anymore after their UI8 update. I can't tell Firefox to send downloads there anymore, I can't save or edit word documents to from or on it anymore. They only thing I can do with the SD card now is manually move photos and videos to it in the file explorer that is in itself a nightmare.

There is no reason why I couldnt run Linux or even windows 11 on that hardware and use steam to play games on the ARM chip which is actually really powerful. Samsung has the whole thing locked down and I didn't realize that one of their updates locked the bootloader so I cant even root it now. That thing could be a real PC but it will forever be a Samsung Android device.

That's the real tragedy of all this nonsense, these are fantastic devices on paper, but they are handicapped by the manufacturer so you can only do what they allow you to on them. They lock down the device so there is no competition with the apps they want you to use and then crank up the enshitification to squeeze more money out of consumers who are paying for "premium" experiences.

I see all this crap and think if this scene from Idiocracy. Where are here, it's not scifi anymore, this is the world we live in right now.

 

[NumberNine]

Hah! Good luck getting that through carplay, the only way I use Apple maps. They'll need a bit more lobbying for that.

 

[Carlos GarPov]

Use google maps instead!

 

[mgilbert]

Just one more reason to avoid all Apple products...

 

[Axeia]

"The ¡diots guide to making the green line go up for tech companies"
- Add ads
- Add subscription to remove ads

 

[antiproduct]

Hah! Good luck getting that through carplay, the only way I use Apple maps. They'll need a bit more lobbying for that.

Shhhhh, don't give them ideas!

 

[yRaz]

"The ¡diots guide to making the green line go up for tech companies"
- Add ads
- Add subscription to remove ads

-add ads to subscription shortly after launching no ads subscription and release higher tier zero ads subscription
-raise price annually on zero ads tier

 

[Pwnjuice]

Does advertising even work anymore? I avoid products I see ads for. It's funny, since I came to Florida I've noticed almost all the ads I see are for prescription drugs, gambling games on your phone and cell phone carriers.

I have noticed a worrying trend when using Google maps. When I'm searching for something the first result will often be an ad. There are places I have saved as land marks so I don't manually have to enter or remember an address. Type something in like "Oviedo Publix" to get me close where I need to be and then go the rest of the way. Well it will select a different store and since I'm still learning the area I won't notice that it's taking me to some other chain grocery store in a different direction until I'm in an area where I'm supposed to be and think "wait a second, this doesn't look right". But when it decides to do this, it doesn't use the store I always use as a benchmark daily. When it decides to throw an ad at me it rearranges the order of the search results. Android as an operating system has been pissing me off so much these last few months that I have been considering switching to apple specifically for things like this but I guess Apple being the last bastion for the privacy focused and ad averse group is coming to an end. I also don't want to switch to grapheneOS because none of the apps I need like banking apps or authenticators run on it.

I have a galaxy tab S9 ultra and it's been ruining my premium experience by throwing ads in my notifications that I can't remove and Samsung has also locked down their a version of Android so much that apps can use the 1TB SD card I put in it anymore after their UI8 update. I can't tell Firefox to send downloads there anymore, I can't save or edit word documents to from or on it anymore. They only thing I can do with the SD card now is manually move photos and videos to it in the file explorer that is in itself a nightmare.

There is no reason why I couldnt run Linux or even windows 11 on that hardware and use steam to play games on the ARM chip which is actually really powerful. Samsung has the whole thing locked down and I didn't realize that one of their updates locked the bootloader so I cant even root it now. That thing could be a real PC but it will forever be a Samsung Android device.

That's the real tragedy of all this nonsense, these are fantastic devices on paper, but they are handicapped by the manufacturer so you can only do what they allow you to on them. They lock down the device so there is no competition with the apps they want you to use and then crank up the enshitification to squeeze more money out of consumers who are paying for "premium" experiences.

I see all this crap and think if this scene from Idiocracy. Where are here, it's not scifi anymore, this is the world we live in right now.View attachment 90976

Look at Temu.

 

[toooooot]

This is something I would never allow in this app. I use searches very often. To be interrupted by ads is ridiculous.

 

[acrossthestars]

Each ad will clearly feature a blue tag indicating it's an advertisement. Apple emphasizes that users' interactions with ads won't be associated with their Apple accounts, and that the data won't be shared with third parties. Also, only one ad will appear in each set of search results.

Isn't Apple's entire schtick that they don't have ads in their software stack?

Also, "interactions with ads won't be associated with their Apple accounts", um *cough*bullsh*t*cough* no. That's kind of, y'know, the whole point of ads now, isn't it? I mean, what, so companies are going to pay Apple just to appear in a generic, non-targeted ad for something vaguely-adjacent to their field of industry, just on the off-chance that leads to a 1% increase in sales? As opposed to a Google Search or even using TikTok, which operates under no such pretense and just advertises right to you? How is the algorithm going to know the difference between "intended ads" and "accidental ads". Say, you want to get "food"; there's a convenience store closer to your house than the nearest supermarket. If the convenience store is advertising on Apple Maps for searches involving "groceries", is it going to supplant a Vons or Aldi's―either of which would probably have been the intended destination?

I get the feeling there is one set of "facts" for customers and one of facts for corporate. This is just the line they feel the sheep, to placate and soothe their very-valid anxiety about their "privacy-by-default" platform becoming more monetized.