Angry users react as Apple reportedly considers bringing ads to Apple Maps

The latest Power On newsletter from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that Apple is trying to boost its services revenue by bringing advertisements to Apple Maps. The Cupertino giant's shift toward its services segment began around 2015, as iPhone sales growth started to plateau, leading the company to expand its focus on services like the App Store, Apple Music, TV+, and Fitness+.

This strategy seems to have worked for Apple so far, as the company reported nearly $25 billion in revenue from services in Q3 2024 alone. Ads are nothing new for Apple. The company has been trying to increase its advertising revenue by placing ads in the App Store, Apple News, and the Stocks app.

Gurman reports that although Apple has considered bringing ads to Maps in the past, it has begun giving the idea serious thought. The initial plan, which is still under consideration, was for ads in Maps to work similarly to those in Google Maps, where businesses pay to appear higher in search results. Apple's latest plan builds on Google's approach.

There is no timeline for when this will launch on Maps, but that hasn't stopped angry and disappointed reactions. One user (@hnlmorg) commented:

I get that Apple is looking at doing this tastefully, but this is a slippery slope where bean-counters realize they can get extra revenue for little effort. The entire point of paying a premium for Apple products is to avoid side hustles—except for Apple upselling its own services, which I’m honestly not okay with either.

 

If I wanted my hardware to be subsidized by advertisers, I would have stuck with Android.

A particularly biting comment came from 'Rohansi', who claimed that, unlike other companies, Apple isn't even subsidizing hardware costs with these ads: "You're paying the premium, and they aren't even subsidizing the hardware costs."

Other users argued that ads are an unavoidable reality in maintaining a service as complex and costly as Apple Maps, but even this reasoning couldn’t override the prevailing sentiment of disappointment.

The backlash is not surprising. Recently, Threads users angrily responded to Adam Mosseri's announcement that ads were coming to the platform, with some arguing that ads will ruin the experience.

Gurman’s newsletter also discussed other topics like Apple's push into humanoid robotics and the potential competition it could spark with Meta, as well as the censorship of Apple Intelligence in China.

Source

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