Apple Maps Ads Move Closer to Launch With iOS 26.5 Beta 2

[Bazza1]

there are no ads on Netflix and Amazon Prime video plus.

Because an ad agency and its client doesn't need to create an ad for a product and a broadcaster doesn't need to look around for ads to pay for the airtime. A subscription means you're doing the work for the broadcaster.

Radio and television were both created to act as an advertising medium - companies paid broadcaster (and in some cases, stations were created by advertisers) to air ads. The programs themselves with the interstitial bits between ads, used to encourage folks to stick around to the next ad. Now we think of the ads as the interstitial bit.

 

[nickdalzell1]

Because an ad agency and its client doesn't need to create an ad for a product and a broadcaster doesn't need to look around for ads to pay for the airtime. A subscription means you're doing the work for the broadcaster.

Radio and television were both created to act as an advertising medium - companies paid broadcaster (and in some cases, stations were created by advertisers) to air ads. The programs themselves with the interstitial bits between ads, used to encourage folks to stick around to the next ad. Now we think of the ads as the interstitial bit.

So why doesn't my expensive cable bill pay for the services in a similar fashion? If anything there are MORE ads than there used to be--they used to be at 15-minute intervals, but lately some shows are truncated for time to make room for commercials every 5 minutes!

 

[Kar98]

Somehow I get the same benefit with a 1988 Radar Detector I found at a vendor mall a year ago. Don't even need internet for that one!

No you don’t. Coppers use lasers these days. By the time even the newest detector signals, you’ve already been got.

 

[nickdalzell1]

No you don’t. Coppers use lasers these days. By the time even the newest detector signals, you’ve already been got.

Still goes off when I'm at least a mile from the nearest cop. I've tested it in operation. Once it signals and all those LEDs light up, there's a cop in my sights, either sitting at a speed trap, behind me or in front of me or in an intersection. I live in an area that never got too 'modern' so perhaps they're still using outdated tech? Chip and Pin is frowned upon by some stores because the confusion when people attempt to use them holds up the line much like writing a check or paying only in pennies. We're still in 1967 with the exception of modern cars and smartphones. Heck, the truckers still use CB when I heard in more up-to-date places they've moved on to something else. I can still pick up the cops and fire departments on a 1970s Police Scanner radio.

I admit when I take a road trip it's shocking the differences I see. We still have bottle vending machines around here that only take coins and not bills, but on the road in other cities I've seen NFC scanners on coke machines with LCD displays, AI drive thrus (no thanks!!! keep it away!!) and grocery stores with coolers that have replaced the glass doors with freaking screens, and ads playing at gas stations yet where I live they still use mechanical pumps with rolling numbers and folks still pump your gas.

 

[Kottu]

OH, so it didn’t just require “a video showing the street sign and the storefront.” Ok. And, if that information is public in THAT way, then Apple would have been able to cross check it too, you just didn’t want to sign up for Apple Maps. Which is perfectly fine.

Nope. It wasn't enough for Apple. Few years back it was much easier. I could add my shops without any problems.

 

[Bazza1]

So why doesn't my expensive cable bill pay for the services in a similar fashion? If anything there are MORE ads than there used to be--they used to be at 15-minute intervals, but lately some shows are truncated for time to make room for commercials every 5 minutes!

Because your cable bill does not (except perhaps for an included 'community' channel) produce its own work. Its pulling from various sources - 'free' OTA stations who run on the traditional model I explained, and cable network providers that sell directly to your cable company, but otherwise use traditional method. Your cable subscription partly pays for that, plus profit to cable company.

And both OTA and cable companies may produce their own work, may commission 3rd Party production companies to do it, or buy syndicated programming. All that costs - though cheapest is to buy rather than create.

All that said, speak to your lawmakers as to why they have granted more airtime for commercials - that's set by them, not your cable company or favourite network. Obviously these companies lobby to generate the additional income, and will take advantage of it when its granted.

And in the case of subscription streamers, in lieu of (more) commercials, they crank the price of the subscription to achieve the same thing. And often profit over quality.

 

[Philip_S]

To be fair, what alternative? The only one I know of also has ads.

There's a few OSM clients (some of which have offline caches and other features missing from Apple Maps), Pocket Earth is pretty good but OSM Maps seems to be OK too. I haven't tested how good their route planning is though.

 

[nickdalzell1]

Navmii (previous NavFree) also had no ads when I relied on it a few years ago. It has maps downloaded offline so you're not using data to 'stream' the map data in like with Google/Apple Maps, and you can use it on a device without WiFi or a SIM card if you wanted, as it only requires the GPS radio itself. For a time I was using a defunct Galaxy Note II (broken SIM tray) as a navigation aid using that app. Also had my MP3 collection on it. Excellent for paranoid privacy lovers. After reading that one story a few years back where someone got arrested and suspected of a crime because Google saw the Maps data where he biked near a recently burglarized home, I started seeing the light myself.

Genius Maps (not sure if it's available for iOS) is another, but I think it wants a subscription fee to access every feature (such as CarPlay/Android Auto support)

 

[ProbablyDylan]

Just got the popup today 🤢