Drivers are voicing safety worries about a new format for Google Maps ads. During navigation, the advertisement shows up as a pop-up notification that takes up half the screen and makes suggestions for unneeded detours.
Anthony Higman brought attention to this surprise advertisement on X (formerly Twitter). Higman claims that even though he hadn’t looked for a gas station while configuring his navigation, the advertisement suddenly showed as he was passing one. This begs the question of whether the pop-up interferes with navigation and might divert motorists.
The location name, rating, and expected arrival time are shown in the “Sponsored” advertisement. Users have the option to accept the diversion as a stop or to ignore it completely.
Interestingly, Waze, a navigation program well-known for similar pop-up adverts, appears to have influenced this ad pattern. Nevertheless, it has been noted that Waze advertisements show up at the top of the screen, which may be less annoying than Google Maps’ methodology.
Furthermore, according to some user accounts, Waze advertisements might only show up when the car is stationary possibly a safer strategy.It’s yet unclear if Google Maps will follow suit and restrict these advertisements to stationary cars, or if drivers would have to deal with potentially annoying pop-ups while using the app.
