Chazak
macrumors 6502a
Why should Apple leave money on the table for someone else to walk away with? If you think they should, please offer your reasoning.
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Apple Announces Ads Are Coming to Apple Maps
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erikkfi
macrumors 68000
If Apple Maps is going to have ads, I may as well switch back to Google Maps.
Daxmelbourne
macrumors newbie
Alan-in-CO
macrumors member
I've been using Garmin watches for years, love them! I currently have a Fenix 8 with built in maps.
btrach144
macrumors 68040
Apple should offer a way to remove ads if this really is a hill they want to die on.
Like make it ad free for iCloud+ subscribers.
Otherwise, if Apple is just going to force ads on everyone, including their most loyal customers, I might as well switch to Google Maps. It’s the better more reliable, and accurate maps solution. They also give ads so I might as well switch.
Like make it ad free for iCloud+ subscribers.
Otherwise, if Apple is just going to force ads on everyone, including their most loyal customers, I might as well switch to Google Maps. It’s the better more reliable, and accurate maps solution. They also give ads so I might as well switch.
FattiesGoneWild
macrumors 6502a
Bad? Pfffft! Apple will double down placing ads in other places as well. The worst offender is the Apple News+ app when you PAY monthly for it.
Which makes it all the sadder. I like Apple Maps interface better. Not sure about accuracy, but was OK. But ads. NO!
I see it from a corporate greed point of view and that's why they no doubt developed Maps in the first place. So we should have seen it coming.
ikramerica
macrumors 68030
People don’t pay a lot for the Neo and they get years of updates, so I guess this is in preparation for an influx of “ecosystem freeloaders” where alternative revenue sources are the major revenue source.
Apple is pulling a Sony and losing sight of why its customers buy its products.
After Sony acquired large movie and music entertainment companies, it stopped manufacturing electronics that people actually wanted. Sony shifted its focus from respecting its users, and selling functional products for people to enjoy their media. Instead Sony created electronics to restrict how users could enjoy their media without paying Sony a cut. Sony was so preoccupied with protecting its IP with defective products that it missed the entire media player market and went from being the dominant consumer electronics company to a has been.
Similarly, Apple is now letting the services tail wag the dog. People use Apple products because they trust Apple, and know that Apple is serving them, its paying customers. Now, with ads in Maps, Apple is serving another master that is actively working against the user.
Apple is going to make a few pennies at the cost of losing something much more valuable - its customers’ trust and loyalty.
After Sony acquired large movie and music entertainment companies, it stopped manufacturing electronics that people actually wanted. Sony shifted its focus from respecting its users, and selling functional products for people to enjoy their media. Instead Sony created electronics to restrict how users could enjoy their media without paying Sony a cut. Sony was so preoccupied with protecting its IP with defective products that it missed the entire media player market and went from being the dominant consumer electronics company to a has been.
Similarly, Apple is now letting the services tail wag the dog. People use Apple products because they trust Apple, and know that Apple is serving them, its paying customers. Now, with ads in Maps, Apple is serving another master that is actively working against the user.
Apple is going to make a few pennies at the cost of losing something much more valuable - its customers’ trust and loyalty.
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ikramerica
macrumors 68030
Yes. And it’s borderline trademark infringement because you search for an App by name and you are offered a different app, often with a similar name.
Basically companies are paying Apple to piggyback off of brand recognition, confuse the marketplace and steal customers.
In Maps, large companies will pay to Apple to replace your search and hide small companies.
Looking for “Bellas Tacos” might result in an ad for “Taco Bell.”
bLackjackj
macrumors 65816
Wrong! This is VERY Tim!
All about raising revenue for shareholders & ensuring customers are last on the totem poll..
They're sliding down the slope.
First they add subscription services to their forever included, free apps like Numbers and Pages and are now putting ads in Maps.
Being free of this crap was one of the things that made Apple stand out. They already charge a premium for quality and now that quality is diluted by adding advertising.
I've used Maps for navigation for a long time because it integrates with the ecosystem and because other tools have ads.
I can't think of a time I purchased something because of some annoying ad in software, on tv, etc.
I guess I'm an outlier, but whenever I see an ad, my reaction is to quietly swear I will never buy that thing.
If you put ads in a premium product, I like that product and you less.
First they add subscription services to their forever included, free apps like Numbers and Pages and are now putting ads in Maps.
Being free of this crap was one of the things that made Apple stand out. They already charge a premium for quality and now that quality is diluted by adding advertising.
I've used Maps for navigation for a long time because it integrates with the ecosystem and because other tools have ads.
I can't think of a time I purchased something because of some annoying ad in software, on tv, etc.
I guess I'm an outlier, but whenever I see an ad, my reaction is to quietly swear I will never buy that thing.
If you put ads in a premium product, I like that product and you less.
Isn't this the same as Google's approach? Google does not sell your personal information either - they also use it to sell ads shown to you, based on groups you're in.
Ads are bad, and this significantly reduces Apple as a premium brand. And of course - not only is this bad by itself, but opens a really bad road ahead, when they want more ad revenue. Junk everywhere.
The_Gream
macrumors 6502
Ah. Yeah. I was to broad in my word choice, should have made it more centered on tech companies.
Seeing as most of them now days have something to do with ads and treating their consumers as products.
Meta, Google, Amazon etc all make great money in consumer profiles that drive their ad revenue
I’ve stuck with Apple, because of the lack of ads. The products have always been expensive, but it was worth paying to be in a better ecosystem. If they are lowering themselves to this type of stuff, then what am I paying a premium for? Also, Maps is inferior to Google Maps for navigating Japan by train. I still preferred Maps, because I like staying in the Apple ecosystem, but this will push me out.
This makes me really angry. I never thought they would bring in ads. That was one distinctive separating feature.
The corporate overlords demand endless growth. Even for a company as fabulously profitable as apple, there's no such thing as enough.
If ads were just suggestions, they wouldn't be ads.
Someone's paid money to have their business crammed ontop of your feed, and that's definitely nothing to do with apple intelligence thinking that it's in your best interest to know about it.
1984
macrumors 6502a
From the premium prices they charge for their hardware. That’s always how it worked. Now they are just being greedy.
1984
macrumors 6502a
Because if you annoy your customers enough they’ll walk away and you’ll lose a hell of a lot more money in the long run than you’ll make injecting ads everywhere. (see Microslop and Windows 11)
As expected, Apple has officially announced that ads are coming to the Apple Maps app on the iPhone and iPad in the U.S. and Canada starting "this summer."
Apple says businesses in the U.S. and Canada only will be able to place ads in search results and at the top of a new "Suggested Places" section in the app.
"Ads on Maps will appear when users search in Maps, and can appear at the top of a user's search results based on relevance, as well as at the top of a new Suggested Places experience in Maps, which will display recommendations based on what's trending nearby, the user's recent searches, and more," says Apple.
Similar to the ads that are already shown in App Store search results on the iPhone and iPad, ads in Apple Maps will have an "Ad" label, and Apple promises strong privacy protections. For example, Apple says a user's location and the ads they see and interact with in Apple Maps are not associated with a user's Apple Account.
"Maps with ads is just as private as Maps without ads," says Apple. "Where you go and the ads you see and interact with are not associated with your Apple Account. Personal data stays on your device, is not collected or stored by Apple Ads, and is not shared with third parties."
The introduction of ads in Apple Maps will obviously help to further increase Apple's services revenue, but the move will disappoint some customers.
Businesses will be able to set up ads in Apple Maps via the new Apple Business platform. More details are available on Apple's website.
Article Link: Apple Announces Ads Are Coming to Apple Maps
I’d say time to switch back to Navigon, but.. sadly…
Sigh
Because it reduces the quality of the product (not to mention cheapens it). On a map, ads and other sponsored results inherently crowd out other points of interest. I've already seen this with searches like "best burger..." and all I see until I zoom in are the chain restaurants and the like. I now have to do more work to get the top restaurants to counteract results prioritized by kickbacks.
In exchange for more money for Apple, the world gets:
-Lower quality search results
-More restaraunt revenue going to overhead rather than food and service
-More chain restaraunts
Good news!
They’ll do both of those in addition to adding these ads!
Isn’t that insanely great?!?!?
Sigh.
Mrkevinfinnerty
macrumors 68040
Reason 1. Because it cheapens the user experience. Unless the user also owns Apple stock or is an employee of the company why would they care about Apple hoovering up every single cent at all costs?
Reason 2. Because Apple Maps in particular is only available on Apple's expensive hardware, with Google services you may not like the privacy trade off but those services at least allow, if you so choose, to buy the cheapest hardware available to run them. Many are willing to pay the premium for Apple devices because they feel they will be less littered with ads than the alternatives.