Apple Maps Begins Showing Ads in U.S. and Canada

Apple has begun displaying advertisements in its Apple Maps application for users in the United States and Canada, marking a significant shift for a service that had previously avoided in-app promotions. The rollout, which started in the last few days of August 2026, follows an announcement Apple made in March about its plans to introduce ads to the navigation platform.

The advertisements appear in two primary locations within the app. They are shown in the "Suggested Places" section when a user initiates a search, and they can also appear at the top of search results after a query is made, if a business has purchased an ad for a relevant keyword. Apple has confirmed that the ads are clearly labeled with a blue "Ad" tag and that only one advertisement will be displayed per set of search results. The company stated the rollout is in its early stages and will gradually expand to more users in the coming weeks.

Apple has emphasized that the new advertising system is built on its privacy-first principles. According to the company, a user's location and the ads they interact with are not associated with their Apple Account. Personal data remains on the user's device and is not...