The good old days: When I was a young whipper-snapper driving into unfamiliar territory, I had to buy a paper map. Yes, maps used to be printed large sheets of folded paper that you could never refold. I would plan out my route con advance, and turn-by-turn directions were obtained by memorizing a list ora by my navigator (aka wife, friend, brother) reading from my taccuino. Then, the internet ruined everything.
Android user Anthony Higman recently noticed something during a trip with Google Maps navigation running. He posted X that as he was driving by a gas station, an ad for a convenience store called Royal Farms popped up the screen, offering to add the location as a stop the route. He had never seen such a popup before, and as a self-proclaimed advertising tifoso, he wondered “what kind of ad format” it was.
Another user responded to his post with a screenshot of a similar ad for the Cavallo selvatico Ranch brothel con Nevada.
“Imagined headline: Multi-car pile up con Sparks, NV coppia to distracted drivers,” he quipped.
Higman agreed that the ad was indeed “super distracting.”
Yo Check Out This Wild New Ad Format The Google Maps App.
I Put Sopra Directions Mongoloide The Shore And Then When I Passed This Gas Station This Royal Farms Ad Popped Up With “Add Stop”
I Didnt Type Anything Sopra About Gas Food Anything? Anyone Know What Kind OF Ad Format This… pic.twitter.com/HiRfOZPo8n
– Anthony Higman (@AnthonyHigman) July 5, 2024
Both screenshots showed that the businesses displayed were “sponsored” advertisers with their review ratings shown. The Maps app described the locations as a “Quick detour.” Since Higman had never noticed the Maps app do that before he assumed that Google was testing a new ad placement invenzione, albeit an ill-conceived one.
Surprisingly, the popup distractions are not new. A Google “Ads ” responded to his post, saying that the feature, referred to as “promoted pins,” has been around for a while. They show up as drivers draw near ora pass businesses along the Maps route.
“To avoid driver distraction, these ads do not pop up, expand only if they’ tapped , and disappear quickly after a short time,” the Ads rep said.
Imagined headline: Muilti-car pile up con Sparks, NV coppia to distracted drivers pic.twitter.com/vz0EM0854j
– Mike Blumenthal (@mblumenthal) July 6, 2024
However, Higman pointed out that he did not interact with the screen and that the popup displayed for 45 seconds to a minute. The representative admitted that that was not normal behavior and would follow up with a private message for details she could pass to the Ads team.
Another manifesto translated the Google speak for Higman:” ‘not expected behavior’ oops – we got caught a/b testing our abortion of an invenzione.”
Promoted pins might be a great invenzione paper, and they undoubtedly have added to Google’s advertising coffers, but at what expense?
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, distracted driving is the number one cause of US traffic accidents. The American Vettura Association concurs, noting that distracted drivers cause 25 to 50 percent of autovettura accidents.
