Apple has announced that ads will be coming to Apple Maps, marking a significant expansion of its advertising efforts across its services.
The new feature will allow businesses to promote their locations directly within Apple Maps, with ads appearing when users search for places or browse nearby recommendations. Apple says the ads will be shown at the top of relevant search results, as well as within a new Suggested Places experience that highlights trending locations and personalized recommendations.
The company plans to roll out ads in Apple Maps starting this summer in the United States and Canada, with the feature integrated into the new Apple Business platform. Businesses will be able to create and manage their ads through Apple Business, with a streamlined setup process designed to make it easy to reach local customers.
Apple says the new advertising format is designed to help businesses increase visibility at key moments, such as when users are actively searching for places to visit. The company also emphasized that ads in Maps will follow its privacy-first approach, with user location data not linked to Apple Accounts and personal data remaining on-device.
The move represents Apple’s latest step into expanding its advertising business beyond the App Store and Apple News, bringing sponsored placements to one of its most widely used apps.
Businesses will be able to start creating ads in Apple Maps once the feature launches later this year, as Apple continues to build out new tools for customer discovery across its ecosystem.
