Ads while navigating?

I've never experienced that.... That would be insane...

I've seen them. The ones I have seen are more like pins on the map for locations that clearly say Ad on them.

I've seen this in search results where there is a promoted top result. I've never seen it while navigating, and I use it daily.

A quick search confirms that they do exist so I wonder if they're not rolled out, or potential non legal, in Europe.

I get audio ones, I haven't seen screen ones.

"Turn right at McDonald's" and such.

(It's possible that that's not an ad, just something they thought was a convenient feature, but it sure sounds like the thing that they'd figure out a way to monetize even if it didn't start that way.)

That's not an audio ad. They've identified recognizable signage using street view and then use that to help guide you, because usually it's easier to see the McDonalds than the small street sign behind it.

Seems like leaving money on the table if they aren't getting paid for that. It's brand advertising gold for the shops.

Anyway, my family doesn't care for them. No thanks for another machine sticking brand names into our lives. Hopefully Apple doesn't adopt the same feature.

Especially since - and this is the part that makes it feel most like an ad - it's really seems only to be for certain big brands. "Street name, street name, street name, WENDY'S, street name..."

Oh c'mon, like jedberg said, fast food chain restaurants and gas stations usually have good signage for driving (hat tip Learning from Las Vegas), so it makes sense to use them as visual milestones.

I love Naomi Klein and all, but sometimes looking for small side street sign while everyone's going at least 45mph on a stroad is nearly impossible.

> No thanks for another machine sticking brand names into our lives. Hopefully Apple doesn't adopt the same feature.

I actually find it super useful. I remember the first time it happened to me, because I was surprised but also super pleased.

I was driving and it said "turn into the driveway after the Good Earth sign". And sure enough, I would have totally missed the nearly hidden driveway right past the Good Earth, but the sign on the restaurant was so big it was impossible to miss, even on the 45mph stroad I was on.

I disagree. I absolutely see it as an ad, using driving directions as the trojan horse to sneak it in.

Well, it's not. And they're not paid for it.

Whether or not it's intended as an ad, and whether or not they're getting paid for it, kinda doesn't really matter. I perceive it as a kind of advertising, probably because it came around when maps was adding all sorts of other advertising as well, and advertising was the final straw that drove me away from Google Maps.

I also find it a much less useful way of indicating directions, but I recognize that's just because my brain works differently. That's not a criticism of doing it that way.

It's literally the only thing that matters to the question of whether or not it's an ad. Imagine telling your grandma 30 years ago you don't appreciate her advertising to you because she used a business as a navigational reference giving directions to her house. Absurd.

Eh, to each his own. My grandma is not Google. Google has earned a high degree of suspicion and mistrust. My grandma has not.

Besides, she wouldn't have done that. She would have been more likely to give me directions in a way that is more useful to me than that, because she knows me.

This is definitely NOT the behavior of Google maps in any android device (always default rom) I ever had, never saw any ad as you describe, and I keep using them daily... don't you have by any chance crapware-infested-from-manufacturer brand like Xiaomi or Huawei?

My Waze app shows me ads when I'm stopped too. On my iPhone.

Google maps doesn't do this and that is what the op was stating.

The original comment referred to Google/Waze doing this, which is why I chimed in.

Google owns Waze, so it is "Google/Waze".

Apple Maps also rarely tells you to make unprotected left turns against traffic, whereas Waze will happily give you nearly impossible but theoretically faster directions.

Agree the quality of Apple Maps has improved to the point of acceptability in my experience. In addition to privacy reasons, I end up using Apple Maps because Google Maps has been having a lot of really terrible bugs for me lately. Probably 10+ times over the last few years it re-routes me down random side streets or back country roads, for no reason: sometimes even when it itself thinks doing so will add a significant amount of time to my travel! But for business search and reviews, Gmaps is still unparalleled, so it stays installed.

Certainly my experience (UK based) is that whilst Apple Maps has got much better, it's still pretty terrible and gives outright wrong lane guidance and motorway exit information quite often... Waze is virtually faultless in all the time I've used it.

I use Apple Maps extensively when I’m in Scotland and have not gotten bad directions even on single-track roads in the Highlands (IIRC, its directions to the Fairy Glen on Skye are impeccable; the directions to the Fairy Pools are only slightly worse, but that’s because the parking lot went through fairly recent construction a few years ago).

My wife (used to) swear by Apple Maps and was driving us to the NEC a few weeks ago - when exiting us off the A14 we would have gone completely the wrong way and up the M6 past Birmingham and northbound if we'd followed it's lane guidance - it also had the exit number completely wrong.

If it wasn't for me being slightly familiar with the route and advising my wife to ignore it that's what would have happened.

I've had similar problems, again mostly with lane guidance on exiting/splitting motorways, in Kent as well so I won't touch it with a barge pole now... I can't recall Waze ever letting me down

I have never tried Waze, forgot there was a third option. Will have to give it a try after reading this thread; maybe it avoids some of the bugs in gmaps I keep running into