Apple has announced that the advertisements will begin to appear on Apple Maps in the United States and Canada starting in summer 2026. Sponsored results will appear when users search within the app, and a new Suggested Places feature can also show recommended nearby locations.
Apple emphasizes that personal data will remain on users’ devices and will not be shared with Apple or third parties. User location data will not be provided to advertisers and interactions with ads will not be linked to an Apple account.
What is changing in Apple Maps?
Ads will appear in two places: search results, where promoted businesses can appear above organic results, and the Suggested Places feature, which will recommend nearby businesses.
Apple has not provided details on how promoted results will be visually distinguished from non-promoted ones or what criteria will be used to decide which businesses appear in Suggested Places.
Historically, Apple Maps has been ad-free. google mapsOn the other hand, it introduced Promoted Pins in 2016 and has since expanded to include personalized suggestions based on travel history and location data. The way Apple plans to implement ads, as described, does not involve using travel history or locations for targeting.
Why Apple is expanding ads to maps
Apple’s services revenue has increased as a percentage of total revenue over the past decade, while hardware revenue has decreased proportionally. Ads are already present in several Apple services, including the App Store, Apple News, and certain Apple TV content. Maps is now used as an extension of that advertising presence, within a core utility application.
Apple has not specified whether the ads will eventually be introduced to more apps or regions beyond the US and Canada at launch, or what the pricing model will be for advertisers.
