Apple Increases Its Fight With Google Maps Via Business Connect

Apple today unveiled a brand-new feature called Business Connect that is primarily targeted at physical establishments like restaurants and retail stores. With it, companies may access and alter the data contained in the cards that serve as their representation in software like Apple Maps. At businessconnect.apple.com, a new web gateway will be used to accomplish that. They can look through Apple's database of locations and claim theirs or create a new one from scratch after registering an Apple ID or signing in with an existing one. They will then change information like the operating hours, the address, the search categories and subcategories, the "about" text, and so forth. To reflect the location of their entry, they can even change the precise location of the pin on the map. Photo Credit: 9to5 Mac Business Connect provides a mechanism to upload photos, configure cover images, and brand location pages in addition to the already available information. Additionally, the precise "Actions" that are offered on the card can be changed. For instance, a grocery shop may add a "Action" to place an Instacart order, or a venue may add an Action to reserve a parking space through SpotHero. Last but not least, the "Showcases" area of the card can be used as a catch-all for highlighted or prominent actions or information, such as temporary offers or incentives or important notifications. Apple has increased the locations where a card or information from it appears in recent years. The cards also show up in Wallet, Messages, and search results from Siri or Spotlight in addition to Maps. All of these locations, not just Maps, will receive any adjustments that business owners make to their cards. Apple's focus is still growing. The connection between Apple and Yelp, via which Apple historically obtained some of this information, is still in place. As a result, many cards will continue to contain Yelp data, including user reviews and images. Photo Credit: MacRumors Despite this, Apple is now directly in competition with Google and Yelp, which will divide the time and effort of marketers and small business owners. Apple also provides an insights page with stats like "tap on this location in search results" or access to certain search terms that people used to find the business in order to reward businesses. Apple thinks that companies that sign up will be pleasantly pleased by the volume of referrals they receive from these places and will thus find the time spent updating and maintaining the cards to be worthwhile. Apple will launch a Business Connect API for major companies with numerous locations; listing agencies will also have access to this API. Photo Credit: Apple However, they are a part of a bigger movement within the corporation to focus more on data, search, and services in addition to product experiences. For the time being, Apple isn't charging businesses to use any of these capabilities. The immediate benefit for Apple is probably better perceived utility for both Siri and Maps in comparison to services from Google and others, as well as higher quality and confidence for search results from one of the most frequent users for both.