NOT A CHANCE I want this on Apple Maps. 
It's already bad enough when I'm bombarded with ads in Waze.
It's already bad enough when I'm bombarded with ads in Waze.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Has Internally Tested Injecting Ads Into Maps App Search Results [Updated]
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Sad, if true. This will end my era with Apple products and ecosystem.
And lord forbid you tell Apple you don't want to be tracked. Every ad becomes a stupid seniors health insurance scam ad. News+ is literal garbage.
As we absorb those endorphins from the screens of our idevices, we forget about the interminable gravity exerted on us by the Apple execs. Pushers... 😁
I will never say the above. What I will say is that for me, apple products offer the best bang for the buck with the least amount of compromises.
More like Meta and Google in what sense exactly?
It bears remembering that Apple brings in about $400 billion of revenue a year. They are currently estimated to bring in about $3-4 billion in ad revenue a year, which makes up a relatively minor part of their total earnings (about 1%). Even if their ad revenue grows to $20 billion, it's still not a major part of Apple's core business (~5%), and completely demolishes any argument about how Apple is turning into an advertising and services company.
This is in complete contrast to Meta and Google who are wholly reliant on advertising revenue, and thus have every incentive to track their customers for all they are worth. There is no reason at all for Apple to do what Facebook and Google are doing, and risk hundreds of billions of dollars of hardware revenue just for the sake of a few extra billion dollars.
The reason Apple is doing this, just like the reason why Apple has Apple Music and TV+, is because they view this as an excellent opportunity to add value to the overall ecosystem, while espousing their core values of security and privacy.
I have stated numerous times that Apple is in a good position to offer a solution which allows businesses and developers to reach consumers, while still protecting consumers' security and data privacy. I have seen nothing to suggest that Apple is backpedaling on this promise of theirs. Apple is using first party data which includes your Apple ID account info, App Store search / download history and device info. Hardly what I would call invasive tracking compared to what Meta and Google are doing.
So yeah, I don't see anything which would make me want to stop using Apple products anytime soon.
Previous reports suggest that Apple is entering areas like live sports, which are a natural fit for advertising as well. I think there is credence in ads possibly coming to Maps one day, and maybe even podcasts as well. In fact, this sounds pretty close to what Neil Cybart of AboveAvalon (a paid newsletter service) had previously reported on this on 3 Aug 2022, and if I didn't know any better, I will say that Mark Gurman is simply repackaging existing information from other writers and publishers and spinning them off as his own.
I no longer subscribe but Hulu also had commercials that you could skip before the end. I was surprised that a pay to watch streaming service had a level that still had commercials. I don’t know if they still do, as this was 18-24 months ago at a minimum. Paramount can stream commercials during live tv and has short commercials for some of its streaming only shows: “With Premium, you'll enjoy premium viewing of on-demand shows, free from commercials. Please note that live TV streams have commercials, and a few shows include brief promotional interruptions to keep you in the loop on new and upcoming Paramount+ programming.”
I am obviously counting promotional interruptions as commercials here.
I see. Never watched or paid for live streaming TV. Only watched movies and series mainly on Netflix and Disney+ and I have never seen commercials on these. I require ad-free to pay.
Right now I don't subscribe to any streaming service though. Moved out of home and didn't bother to get a TV. 😄
Last edited:
This is macrumors, not macfacts. As such, Gurman has a comparably high accuracy.
I know, I never use it either. For GPS I use my car's. So that's a good point, it doesn't effect me I guess, so forget what I said before.
Riiight, and you'll get what exactly? I am afraid that unless you want to pull an old Nokia from your dusty drawer and go back 20 years in terms of features and compatibility, you'll end up with ads on your phone no matter what brand you switch to.
What an empty threat...
On Android you can actually block all ads system-wide...
Or you can flash privacy friendly firmware. There are options.
It may be less about purchasing something else and more about not purchasing anything new. Might stick on older HW and older OS versions for a while.
I’ve been with Apple for years. If they f* up Maps with ads, may take a look at using google maps or reevaluating android
This is so sad.
This is so sad.
Basically anything. You can get android phones with similar enough specs for a fraction of the price. If my phone is swamped with ads, why would I pay $1500 for it? I've used Apple Maps every now and then simply because it integrates so easily with Siri/CarPlay but it's simple enough to launch Google Maps, too and my car supports Android Auto so let's see where this is going. If there are ads in Apple Maps I won't use it. If I can't get ad free experience out of iPhone, I won't pay the extra price for it.
Plus Android phones also come with a lot of issues
Super deal tbh
ESPECIALLY if they make it really intrusive like what Waze does whenever your car is stopped at a stoplight intersection. 😒😑🙄