Apple will be severing its ties to Google maps and will soon launch its own map app for the iPhone and iPad on its iOS 6 update. This update will be coming to users in the fall and will be Apple’s first mobile operating system without the preloaded Google Maps app. Initial reports show that Apple’s map app looks like and functions similarly to Google Maps including the local search function. Apple’s map app follows Siri as the company’s second recent step into search.
By tightly combining Siri and the new map app, Apple has put itself into a strong position to grow in local and mobile search once iOS 6 launches. Mobile search is becoming a major search tool and local search is also a growing search function. Apple will be able to use its large share of the Smartphone market as a foothold to make a major move in local and mobile search. There was no mention of the map app being available on desktop computers, but even if the app and its search functions are only present on Apple’s mobile devices, this would mean that the app’s local search function would become one of the main ways mobile users make local searches.
So where will Apple be getting its local results, and how can companies make themselves more visible to the Apple map app search function? Apple has partnered with Yelp! to provide Siri’s recommendations and reviews. The Apple map app will be providing pictures and deals as well as business information and review. Yelp! currently offers all of this, but Apple’s announcement only mentioned that the app would include this information and did not specify that Yelp! would be providing all this information. Apple will also be working with the listing site Localeze as well as unnamed third parties. As of this initial announcement, appearing on Apple’s local search depends on creating quality listings on listings sites. Boston Web Marketing will help you navigate the world of Yelp!, Localeze, and other local listing sites in order to optimize your business’s visibility across local, mobile, and web searches.
-Andrew Wise
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