Filed under: Business, Apple, Google
It's no secret that Google's in the ad business, but it looks like they've snuck ads into an unexpected place: the Maps app on the iPhone. Maps is powered by Google - for now, anyway, because Apple has purchased its own map company, PlaceBase - and so Google has the ability to drop "Sponsored Links" into the system. You might not see them everywhere, but you can test for yourself by searching for things like food, sushi, and diners in NYC. You'll see some automatically highlighted results pop up, marked as sponsored. None of the sources writing about this development seem to know whether Apple is getting a cut of the profit from these advertising placements, but Apple and Google have a complicated relationship. Although it's tempting to think that Google is trying to be pesky to Apple on the iPhone because Apple rejected the iPhone version Google Voice, I suspect there's something more going on. For now, though, we'll have to wait for one of the companies to comment, and see what Apple does with PlaceBase.
[via The Apple Blog]
iPhone Maps app now showing "sponsored links" originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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