Google Maps to introduce advertising

Are you fed up with roadside advertisements? Well, now the same ads will face you before you leave the house, with Google Maps set to experiment with in-map ads within weeks.

The company is set to experiment with logos for advertisements for businesses such as fast food chains, hotels, coffee shops, sporting goods retailers and travel agents.

Australian users will be the first to experience the program in a global pilot for the project.

But Google declined to say which companies it will advertise, although they will be “easily recognisable brands,” a spokesperson told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Google also declined to say whether the ads would be permanently displayed on the maps rather than appearing in response to search queries. Currently, logos for schools and hotels hover permanently over the maps.

Australian businesses spend around $700 million each year buying ads for popular terms entered into Google’s search engine.