Apple Maps Is Getting Ads. It’s Apple’s Riskiest Bet Yet

Oh the humanity

On Tuesday, Apple announced updates to its Apple Business program

Apple Business isn’t so much a new thing as a consolidation of what used to be two separate products–Apple Business Manager and Apple Business Essentials–into one. The new platform includes device management, company email and calendar at your own domain, an employee directory, and brand management tools across Maps, Mail, Wallet, and Siri.

The device management piece used to cost money and was only available in the U.S. While you still pay if you want to add iCloud storage or AppleCare+ for business, the core business tools are now free. “We’ve unified Apple’s strongest business offerings into one simple, secure platform,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Enterprise and Education Marketing.

There are a number of ways this is a smart play for Apple. The company has been growing its share of small businesses, and having a suite of tools to help those businesses manage devices and software is a big part of that. And it’s even smarter than it might look, because the goal is to make Apple devices the default option at work. Once your company email, device management, and employee directory all run through Apple, leaving gets a lot harder.

All of that is actually helpful context for the new thing Apple announced: ads are coming to Apple Maps this summer in the US and Canada. That means that local businesses with a physical location can claim their listing through Apple Business, upload photos, set a budget, and run a campaign. Apple’s automated system runs an auction and delivers ads, much in the same way ads work on Google or Instagram. Advertisers only pay when someone views or taps their ad.

What’s most notable, however, is how Apple is approaching ads in its Maps app differently from Google Maps. The company says it will only show one ad per search, and won’t allow competitor search targeting, meaning you can’t buy an ad that shows up when someone searches for the coffee shop down the street.

“A user’s location and the ads they see and interact with in Maps are not associated with a user’s Apple Account,” Apple said in its announcement. “Personal data stays on a user’s device, is not collected or stored by Apple, and is not shared with third parties.”

That’s a distinction that means a lot because, generally, consumers aren’t huge fans of ads. Partly that’s because they’re usually just in the way of finding whatever you were actually looking for, and partly because where there are ads, there’s usually data tracking.

Apple’s model is meaningfully different from how Google Maps advertising works. If you’ve opened Google Maps lately and searched for a local business, it’s not uncommon to see several sponsored results for other businesses before you see the one you actually searched for. I get that there’s money there, but it’s an absolutely garbage experience. If I type in the name of a business, there should never be paid results before the thing I asked you to show me.

Source: Inc.

NB: "It’s Apple’s Riskiest Bet Yet" No, it's not.…

Whereas Apple probably landed a strong value proposition to its small business offering, the commentary is hyperbole around the idea of ads in Maps. Apple went to great lengths to clarify how it works but it does not matter, the doom must be layered on thick. To suggest that it's "the riskiest bet" Apple made should be coupled with the enormous upside that would follow. Why would Apple take "the riskiest bet" without "the biggest payoff" as an objective. The article itself contradicts the writer's thesis.