Apple is introducing ads to Apple Maps as soon as next year.
This is according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who initially predicted it a few years back and doubled down on the prediction early this year.
According to Gurman, this will be exactly what you'd expect: Restaurants and other businesses will be able to pay Apple to have their locations featured more prominently in Maps. The company will also leverage AI to make sure the results remain relevant.
The difference in the new report is that we now actually have a possible date for this change; Gurman claims it could happen as early as next year.
Ads in maps can be done tastefully, though Apple is risking quite a bit here given that its chief competitor, Google Maps, is significantly more popular already.
The effort is part of Apple's wider plan to better monetize iOS, meaning that ads in Maps is just one step towards this goal. The report doesn't reveal, however, which Apple app or service might be next to get ads.
