Apple Maps Adds Ads: If you, as I once did, endured the inferior quality of Apple Maps because you preferred an interface not yet larded with ads, let this be the official notice that you can finally give up the ghost. On Tuesday, Apple announced that after fourteen years, ads would be coming to Apple Maps this summer. The move is part of a broader initiative from the Cupertino outfit to bolster its growing advertising business, which is on track to generate around $8.5 billion in revenue this year.
The Eater App Retools: Eater announced a dramatic redesign of its mobile app on Tuesday, debuting an entirely reimagined interface whose primary purpose is helping users find restaurants, according to Jill Denhert, its senior vice president and group publisher. The new product foregrounds map-based discovery, enables delivery through Grubhub, and will soon roll out robust community features and ads. When I covered the launch of the first Eater app, in October 2024, I contextualized the move as part of a broader trend from publishers toward serving their users as utilities. Since then, such moves have only become more commonplace, with media increasingly acting as a wrapper for businesses with better unit economics.
Social Media Week Returns: In just a few weeks, ADWEEK will once again be hosting Social Media Week, by far the coolest event in our portfolio and one whose insights can legitimately help make or break your brand. I will be on-site, moderating panels and trying not to look washed, and would love to see you there. So join ADWEEK, on April 14 – 16 in New York, to tap into the cutting-edge tactics powering social for the top brands, media outlets, agencies, and creators in the world. Click here to learn more.
Pulled Quotes
“Hypocrisy is the tribute vice pays to virtue.”
Upper Middle author Andrew Burmon, quoting François de La Rochefoucauld, explaining Ted
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“And sometimes a story that’s too good to be true is just that.”
The Atlantic journalist McKay Coppins, on the cartel Olympics
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“AI is not very popular in the US right now.”
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, speaking at a BlackRock conference
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“Startups apparently need taste like A.I. needs data centers.”
New Yorker writer Kyle Chayka, on the rise of “taste” among the Silicon Valley set
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Quote/Unquote
Neil Vogel is the chief executive of People Inc., the company formerly known as Dotdash Meredith, one of the biggest digital media companies in the world and the steward of iconic titles including Food & Wine, People, and Better Homes & Gardens, among others.
