If there’s an option to disable this “feature”, then it’s probably not advertising.

Good thing Apple Maps doesn’t subtly repeat biz names to me until I remember them. If this ever happens, I’ll move back to paper maps.

I don’t care if I have to pull over, it beats this mental manipulation and my mind being an advertisers plaything.

To be fair, for some turns that is a better experience.

I don't think that's an ad. I think Google just knows that a giant restaurant sign is a lot easier to see than a tiny street sign

Can't it be both? Google's entire career is combining something useful (gmail) with something shady (reading your emails to sell ads).

This sounds exactly like that.

You really think no money changes hands to power this feature? The last ~decade of tech teaches one to assume otherwise…

True, but instructions based on intersection features are better than both. Apple maps does this with instructions like "go past this light then at the next one turn right"