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Apple Maps Ads Ban Plumbers and Other Home Services
Apple’s upcoming Maps ads will ban home-service promotions and focus on local businesses, landmarks and points of interest in the US and Canada.
Image: Engadget
Apple’s upcoming Maps ads will not include promotions for plumbers, electricians, locksmiths, HVAC providers, pest-control companies, roofers or general contractors, according to new advertising guidelines published this week.
Apple announced plans to introduce advertising to Maps in March 2026. It has not provided an exact launch date, saying only that the service is coming this summer in the US and Canada.
Apple Maps ads target local discovery
The guidelines include restrictions similar to Apple’s App Review rules. Ads cannot contain defamatory or profane material, promote “illegal or criminal conduct,” or generally involve deceptive, drug-related or political content. They also prohibit ads for bail bonds and cryptocurrency ATMs.
The ban on home services is the most distinctive restriction. Apple states:
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“Ad content that contains or directly or indirectly promotes home services — including but not limited to plumbing, electrical, locksmith, HVAC, pest control, roofing, or general contracting services — is prohibited.”
Local electricians and plumbers commonly appear in Google Maps advertising. Apple’s rules suggest that its service will instead emphasize businesses and destinations associated with leisure and local discovery, such as coffee shops, restaurants, stores and landmarks.
Apple’s Maps advertising page frames the product around helping people find places nearby: “what’s around here?” becomes “I’m on my way.” Limiting categories such as pest control could help the company maintain that positioning while making paid placements feel less intrusive.
Apple expands its advertising business
Advertising is an increasingly important part of Apple’s Services business, which also includes subscriptions and platform fees from in-app purchases. The company already sells ad placements in Apple News and across several areas of the App Store.
In 2022, Apple expanded App Store advertising beyond search results to app pages and Today, the store’s home screen. Apple Maps will add another major surface, but its initial restrictions indicate a more selective approach than the broad range of local-service ads seen on competing map platforms.
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via Engadget
