Although iOS devices have much fewer built-in system ads than domestic Android devices, Apple is indeed gradually increasing system built-in ads. For example, the Apple App Store has previously launched keyword search ads for other developers to promote their applications.
The new news now is that Apple plans to add merchant advertising to the map application. Its operating logic is similar to that of Google Maps, that is, merchants can pay to have users see themselves in map search results, which can significantly increase the exposure of merchants.
It is reported that Apple will also try to display search results through a better user interface and use artificial intelligence to help merchants that pay advertising fees stand out in user search results and gain more traffic. This is also a profitable business for Apple.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said this may be part of Apple's larger strategy to add more ads to iOS. After all, adding ads to Maps is neither the beginning nor the end, and Apple may add more ads elsewhere in the future.
In addition, Apple Maps in the Chinese market uses map and navigation data provided by Amap. In other foreign markets, Apple has its own map and surveying team to provide complete map services, so adding advertisements to map applications may not affect Chinese users.