Reports of 'pop-up ads appearing while navigating on Google Maps' have attracted attention, but Google has stated that 'this is unintended behavior and pop-up ads do not appear while navigating.'



Users have reported that while using the navigation function in Google Maps, a pop-up ad suddenly appeared on their screen. After multiple media outlets reported on this pop-up ad, Google released a statement saying, 'It was just an accidental tap on the display, and ads do not appear during navigation.'

Google Maps is not adding pop-up ads during navigation
https://9to5google.com/2024/07/08/google-maps-pop-up-quick-detour-ad/



Heads up, Google Maps is testing intrusive mid-drive pop-up ads
https://www.androidpolice.com/google-maps-ads-could-soon-take-a-turn-for-the-worse/

The incident started with the following post by Anthony Higman. He reported that while using the navigation function in Google Maps, he passed a gas station and saw a pop-up ad for Royal Farms (an American convenience store) that said 'Add a stop.' He hadn't entered any information about gas or food, but the pop-up ad suddenly appeared.




In response, a Google ad relations representative said, 'Hi Anthony, Promoted Pins in navigation are nothing new. They show users relevant ads for gas stations, restaurants, stores and more along their route. To avoid distracting drivers, these ads don't pop up - they only expand when you tap them and then disappear after a while.'




In response to 9to5Google, which reported on the incident, Google issued a statement saying, 'There are no pop-up ads on Google Maps.' According to Google, what appeared on Anthony's smartphone was not a pop-up ad but a promoted pin, which has existed for some time and is not a new advertising-related feature. As mentioned above, promoted pins recommend advertisements for gas stations, restaurants, etc. along the route during navigation to users, but the advertisements will not be displayed unless the user actually taps the pin.

However, Anthony claims that the ad suddenly appeared while he was driving, even though he had not tapped the smartphone display, and then disappeared within 45 seconds to a minute. Therefore, Google's advertising relations department said , 'Hmm, that's unintended behavior.' 9to5Google reported, 'It's likely that Anthony either accidentally tapped the display or some kind of malfunction occurred.'




In addition, Waze , a navigation app acquired by Google in 2013, has been displaying pop-up ads during navigation for some time now. Therefore, at the time of the initial report, when there was no explanation from Google, it was reported that 'Google has finally introduced Waze pop-up ads to Google Maps on a trial basis.'

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in Mobile,   Software, Posted by logu_ii