Summary created by Smart Answers AI
In summary:
- Apple Maps is launching ads this summer in the U.S. and Canada, with Macworld tracking this development since February 2025.
- New advertising policies prohibit home services like plumbing and electrical work, cryptocurrency ATMs, and bail bond services from appearing.
- Medical service ads will undergo individual case-by-case review by Apple as the company implements strict content guidelines.
We’ve known for some time that adverts are coming to Apple Maps. The leaker-analyst Mark Gurman claimed as long ago as February 2025 that Apple was exploring the idea, and it became official when the company announced its new Apple Business platform in March of this year. Now the project is becoming a reality, with the publication of rules which advertisers will need to follow.
In the updated document, advertisers are told to steer clear of the usual forbidden topics: drugs, profanity, discrimination, crime, politics, sex, guns, violence, and anything that competes with Apple hardware. But there are new prohibitions in the section devoted to Apple Maps.
Most notably, no adverts will be accepted for home services. This includes “plumbing, electrical, locksmith, HVAC, pest control, roofing, or general contracting services.” The document doesn’t explain why such services cannot be advertised in Apple Maps, but it may be related to liability if a user is physically injured or financially harmed by substandard work. Confusingly, however, Google Maps absolutely does accept ads in those categories; a quick search for “roofing” gave me two sponsored results for roofing companies before I got to the organic results.
The section also states that Apple Maps will not carry adverts for cryptocurrency ATMs and bail bond services. And while ads for medical services may be accepted, the company reserves the right to evaluate these on a case-by-case basis.
It isn’t yet clear when exactly the ads will start to appear in Apple Maps. They aren’t currently showing for anyone in the Macworld team, and are still labelled as “Coming soon” on Apple’s website. Apple has said only that they will launch this summer, beginning in the U.S. and Canada.
