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Apple Reportedly Moving Ahead With Ads in Maps App

vantelimus said:
You do realize that the executives of a for-profit public company have a fiduciary responsibility to maximize long-term shareholder value, don't you? Leaving money on the table with no plausible business justification would invite an executive team's ouster for breach of fiduciary duty. If the board failed to act, activist investors would. The stock market would beat both the board and the activist investors to the punch, punishing the stock mercilessly to bring its price in line with the expected market return rate.

Jobs would not be horrified by what Apple is doing today on the profit front. I don't know who you think Steve Jobs was, but there was one criticism of him that was constant throughout his industry tenure: He maintained premium pricing and high profit margins, refusing to compete on price. Criticizing Apple for continuing his practice betrays a lack of knowledge of how Apple has always operated.
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Apple has insane margins and massive profits today. A key difference allowing them to do this is their focus on privacy. If they choose to become another ad company, packaging you for profit, they're certainly risking their golden goose and the current incredible profit levels.

I don't inherently see Apple tracking you, measuring you, and selling you as better than Google doing the same thing.
 
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polyphenol said:
Entirely wrong for me in UK.

Google has roads which do not exist - and never have existed.
Google roads are very frequently some distance away from their real locations, often several metres.
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My experience here in the UK is the opposite of yours. I find Apple Maps’ navigation to be embarrassingly bad and only ever use Google. And as for Siri’s navigation – well, it continues to be dire and doesn’t appear to be getting any better.

I’ve been an Apple user since the 1980s and am now seriously considering moving from iOS to Android (having used both over the years). Apple really seems to have lost its way and I don’t see it recovering.

Still, the shares are doing well…
 
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Ads are an unavoidable eventuality. Are you going to fund open source projects? No you will not.

There are two ways you will get free services:
  • If you are the product
  • Ads
Once every other revenue stream is maxed out, even companies like Apple will turn to ads, it's there, and capitalism demands growth.

What needs to be done is ad regulation and standards. Where they are displayed, what is displayed, how much, etc.
 
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Cod3rror said:
Ads are an unavoidable eventuality. Are you going to fund open source projects? No you will not.

There are two ways you will get free services:
  • If you are the product
  • Ads
Once every other revenue stream is maxed out, even companies like Apple will turn to ads, it's there, and capitalism demands growth.

What needs to be done is ad regulation and standards. Where they are displayed, what is displayed, how much, etc.
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Apple has 55 Billion US cash in the bank. They are not hurting for money. If they keep up with this poverty act, people will stop buying products.
 
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boswald said:
This is sad. I really hope they reconsider.
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They embedded years ago.

Turned on ride extension for uber. It prompts me to download AMap, Baidu app, like the screen capture.

I had to turn off ride extension to avoid its app promotion!

Same as the first poster. the premium price for iPhone should include the cost of using Apple quality native apps without seeing adv.

If fine to see adv why not to use android phones?
 

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Cod3rror said:
Ads are an unavoidable eventuality. Are you going to fund open source projects? No you will not.

There are two ways you will get free services:
  • If you are the product
  • Ads
Once every other revenue stream is maxed out, even companies like Apple will turn to ads, it's there, and capitalism demands growth.

What needs to be done is ad regulation and standards. Where they are displayed, what is displayed, how much, etc.
Click to expand...
No. The premium price of apple products should include the cost of not seeing the adv.
 
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I hate ads.

But what I hate more than ads simply being visible is intrusive advertising. Like popups. Like forcing responses. Like taking you on a diversion of ad viewing. Like flashing. Like making noises. Like blocking you from doing anything until the ad lets you. All the nasty tactics they use.

However, I do sometimes snigger a little at ads which do all this but actually are a total waste for the advertiser because what is being advertised isn't even available to me.
 
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hagjohn said:
Apple has 55 Billion US cash in the bank. They are not hurting for money. If they keep up with this poverty act, people will stop buying products.
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We have been waiting since 2011 for this to happen. They can get away with this as they know the ramifications are limited to MR posters threatened to leave Apple Maps or the ecosystem.

I kinda understand but I’m not going to threaten to not use Apple maps and use Google Maps instead (which can broadcast your location to third parties iirc) because if some ads.
 
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I use Google Maps a lot and in my opinion is superiorly better than Apple Maps so I would delay any decision of bringing ads until they work in a similar way. Sad to hear as I'm doing an extra effort to move to Apple Maps in these days, aesthetically is better and I find it a great complement for my Apple Watch. I love the reviews part of Google Maps which is practically non existent at Apple Maps, I like to see photos and comments. Yelp is awful, is this app still being used? I had it like 10 years ago? No street view in most of the UK cities (1st world country and probably one of the biggest Apple markets?) so imagine how this works in Argentina (or any other Latin-American country).

I'm travelling to Asia next week and planning to use a lot of public transport, finding business, etc. I'll give it a try but Google Maps will be my safe option for sure.
 
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I7guy said:
Who said Apple is selling user data. Is user data being sold due to ads in the App Store?
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I didn’t say Apple was selling user data. I’m saying there is a spectrum of the “Google” model versus the “Apple” model. Apple putting ads in Apple Maps inches us closer towards the Google model and away from the Apple iOS model that’s been established over the past 15 years
 
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robfoll said:
Apple News has been ruined by Advertising even if you pay for Apple One premium plus plus plus you still get these bloody obtrusive ads. And half the time theyre absolute junk served by some third-party ad service.
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I am not seeing obtrusive ads. I see ads for the app related to the news source or ads asking to sign up. They aren't anywhere near the level of intrusiveness as one sees on the front page of MacRumors.
 
xyz01 said:
Apple has insane margins and massive profits today. A key difference allowing them to do this is their focus on privacy. If they choose to become another ad company, packaging you for profit, they're certainly risking their golden goose and the current incredible profit levels.

I don't inherently see Apple tracking you, measuring you, and selling you as better than Google doing the same thing.
Click to expand...

We will have to wait to see what Apple does with these ads. There are ways to do ad personalization that don't adopt the Google model of tracking you across sites and selling you as a commodity to the highest bidder. If they simply use locale and search term information and do not collect, track, and sell information about you, that is completely different from what Google, Meta, and scores of other tracking companies do. The difference is night and day.

Now, if Apple does adopt the Google/Meta/etc. model of building a dossier on you and selling it, then they will lose their product differentiation. I don't think they want to do that. Stranger things have happened. In this case, I would hope the Apple board and executives are smart enough to realize that changing model and abandoning privacy would not be in the long-term financial interests of the company.
 
hagjohn said:
Apple has 55 Billion US cash in the bank. They are not hurting for money. If they keep up with this poverty act, people will stop buying products.
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Apple executives have a fiduciary duty to increase long-term shareholder value. Your opinion of whether they already have enough cash is irrelevant to their legal responsibility.

What you seem to be missing is the fact that there are ways to give you targeted ads without selling your information. In this particular case, if Apple knows you are in San Francisco and you've just typed in a search term looking for a Kebab restaurant, putting a "Sponsored" link to a nearby restaurant as the first response is really not much different from their current Yelp-generated results. They don't have to sell information about you, just choose the ad based on 1) geographic locale and 2) search term, with no other information about you. Targeted doesn't mean tracking and selling information.

Of course, if it bothers you that much, then switch over to Google Maps, where they will also give you sponsored links based on your location and search terms. Just know that in addition they will remember your search, remember the location you chose for directions, and make that a part of your profile to be sold and used across the web. Oh, and they'll also remember all other location information your freely allow them to collect about you for addition to your dossier.
 
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vantelimus said:
I am not seeing obtrusive ads. I see ads for the app related to the news source or ads asking to sign up. They aren't anywhere near the level of intrusiveness as one sees on the front page of MacRumors.
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Maybe they run differently in Australia I have seen ads for weight loss, push-up bras and all sorts of low-life trash BUT funnily enough, I went to News just now to have a look, and the ads are now much as you described, so maybe they've changed some things. :rolleyes:
 
I still need some stuff from Apple, some I have ditched such as HomePods etc. and I'm very happy with that.

There's no Apple Store where I live, and honestly I don't even want one today either,

It feels much better to deal with/buy from/trade in/ with and from retailers instead of Apple today,
and they have many times better service as well.
It warms my heart to know they must earn some money from it that Apple otherwise would've got.
 
Amazing Iceman said:
If they do that, how can we can't trust Apple is not doing data mining on us?

Back to Linux!
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Yeah considering Microsoft, Google, and Apple ALL are (if I spelled it out I’d get banned again) I downloaded the latest MINT iso and plan to disengage as much as possible from those three ecosystems.
 
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This news has caused me to download Organic Maps:

Organic Maps is a privacy-focused offline maps and GPS app designed for hiking, cycling, and driving. It is completely free, ad-free, and does not track user data, making it a great choice for those who prioritize privacy. The app is powered by OpenStreetMap data and offers a blazing fast offline experience, allowing users to navigate without an internet connection. While it currently lacks features like public transport and satellite maps, it is continuously being improved with community support. Users have praised its user-friendly interface and extensive features compared to other mapping apps.
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