Tech
Ads are coming to Apple Maps, as Apple expands its business offerings
Apple on Tuesday announced that it will begin to allow advertisers to target customers on Apple Maps, starting in the U.S. and Canada later this summer. The ads will be available to any size business that has a physical location and has already created a business listing on Apple Maps. Users, meanwhile, will see the ads appear next to relevant search results.
The ads are part of a revamped business offering Apple is calling Apple Business, which includes an integrated email, calendar, and directory service, as well as tools for managing employee devices.
Apple says it will only show users one ad in its Maps’ search results. The ad will also be clearly marked with a small blue halo around the pin on the map and will be clearly labeled as an ad in the list of Suggested Places, similar to how ads appear on the App Store.
Bringing ads to one of Apple’s flagship first-party applications offers the company an opportunity to generate an additional, and potentially sizable, revenue stream without having to radically change its product or disrupt the user experience. Already, consumers are poised to expect ads in places like maps, after years of using Google Maps, which has long had ads as a major component. The offering could add billions to Apple’s bottom line as its ads business continues to grow globally.
The company said that its ads will protect users’ privacy, as data about the ads that users interact with isn’t associated with their Apple account. Users’ personal data stays on the device, isn’t collected or stored by Apple, and isn’t shared with third parties, Apple said.
To create an ad and run a campaign, a business must first have an Apple Maps listing. They can then upload photos, add a promotional message, and set a budget that works for them. Apple uses automated matching to place the ad in front of users who are actively searching for a similar business. The advertiser can choose to start or stop their campaign at any time.
Larger advertisers can choose to do more advanced customization, like scheduling times their ad will run or targeting specific locations.
The addition of ads in Maps was previously reported by Bloomberg, which noted that ad placement would involve a bidding process. Apple today confirmed the ads will use an auction-based pricing system, as is standard in the industry. Advertisers only pay when they get a desired outcome, like a view or tap on their ads.
The expansion of Apple’s advertising business comes alongside a broader change to its business offerings, which sees the company combining its different business tools and services into one.
Instead of having to visit different URLs for things like Apple Business Connect, Apple Business Essentials, and Apple Business Manager, the whole suite will now just be called Apple Business. It will be offered in 200 countries and regions as of April 14, 2026.
For the first time, businesses will have access to an employee directory and a new set of productivity tools, including an email and calendar under the business’ domain. Employee accounts come with 5 GB of free iCloud storage, and U.S. businesses can buy upgraded plans starting at $0.99 per user per month (up to 2 TB of storage per user). Companies can also choose to pay for added support with AppleCare+ for Business, priced either per user or per device, starting at $6.99/month.
The new offering includes a variety of free tools for businesses of all sizes, including an MDM product for distributing apps to employees, which has been improved with new features and will now also be offered for free (before it was a paid product).
Smaller businesses will be able to use preconfigured “Blueprints” to help them set up their employee devices without the need for advanced technical expertise. Business owners or admins will simply pick the apps they want to provide staff, and the settings will already be configured on their behalf. Larger companies will be able to manage app deployments via an API, according to Apple.
Tech
Glean’s top line crosses $300M as AI budget cutting becomes its major selling point
Glean, a company often described as the Google for enterprise, said it has reached $300 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR), a three-fold increase from the $100 million milestone it reached just 15 months ago.
While many AI startups are growing at a blistering pace, Glean’s progress is particularly remarkable. After years of essentially being the only player in the category, the seven-year-old startup is accelerating its growth as tech giants enter the enterprise AI search market with rival products.
“The first four or five years of our existence, we had no competition,” Glean CEO Arvind Jain told TechCrunch. “Given how important search is to make AI work in the enterprise, every single company in the world wants to be in this space.”
Tech heavyweights building Glean-like tools include Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic, Salesforce, and Atlassian.
Jain maintains there’s value in being a first mover in the space, but that it’s also equally important to offer a better product.
What Glean does better than its competition, according to Jain, comes down to the deep understanding that its AI tools have of customers’ business needs. Glean’s AI achieves this knowledge — a concept captured by the new, popular term “context graph” — by connecting to and learning from enterprises’ internal software systems.
Jain claims that Glean’s context graph also helps enterprises cut AI computing costs.
“If you connect your AI to Glean, it gives you all the information that you need to do your work, and that results in AI consuming far fewer tokens compared to if you unleash AI onto your systems directly,” Jain said. That’s because with Glean, AI ends up performing fewer operations, he added.
At a time when many companies are blowing through their AI budgets, those token cost savings have become a major selling point for the company.
“One of the things you know our customers really like about Glean is the fact that we can reduce your AI bill significantly,” he said.
The company, which was last valued at $7.2 billion when it raised a $150 million Series F last June, offers various pricing structures to its customers, which include Databricks, Reddit, Pinterest, and Samsung.
According to Jain, Glean offers both a consumption-based model, where clients pay per use, and a hybrid model that combines a fixed monthly fee for active users with separate usage fees for model consumption.
Glean is definitely not the first company to do this, but it’s worth pointing out that the company’s $300 million milestone cannot be fully described as traditional ARR, because a consumption model by definition doesn’t have a strictly recurring component.
Pure consumption pricing models depend on fluctuating user activity rather than predictable subscription renewals, therefore a portion of Glean’s top line is more accurately described as an annualized revenue run rate.
Glean did not immediately respond to a request for comment; this post will be updated if the company replies.
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Tech
Final 24 hours to save up to $410 on your TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 ticket
This is it. The countdown is almost over. You now have until tonight at 11:59 p.m. PT to lock in Early Bird savings of up to $410 for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 before prices increase.
If Disrupt has been on your must-attend list, this is your final chance to secure the lowest available rates before the next price jump hits. Once the deadline passes, so do the savings.
Register now and join 10,000+ founders, investors, operators, and innovators at Moscone West in San Francisco from October 13–15 for three days packed with networking, startup discovery, and conversations shaping the future of tech. Bring a plus-one at 50%, or bring a group to get an up to 30% discount.
What makes Disrupt worth attending year after year
TechCrunch Disrupt is where startup momentum accelerates. The event brings together the people actively building, funding, and scaling what’s next across AI, fintech, SaaS, climate, cybersecurity, consumer tech, and beyond.
Attendees come to Disrupt for:
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With 300+ exhibiting startups, Startup Battlefield 200, curated networking experiences, and multiple stages of programming, Disrupt is built to help attendees make meaningful connections and real business progress.
Built for the people shaping what’s next
Disrupt is designed for founders raising capital, investors sourcing opportunities, operators scaling companies, and innovators looking for an edge. Whether you’re launching your next startup, growing your network, or tracking the future of technology, Disrupt puts you in the room with the people driving the industry forward.
Hear directly from tech leaders shaping the industry
Every year, Disrupt brings together hundreds of influential voices across startups and venture capital. Past speakers have included leaders from the companies and firms shaping the future of AI, enterprise software, fintech, consumer tech, and more.
This year will deliver the same high-caliber experience, with 200+ sessions across six industry-focused stages, plus roundtables and breakouts covering scaling, AI, fintech, infrastructure, robotics, and emerging technologies. Explore the growing agenda to see the latest sessions and speaker announcements.
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Savings of up to $410 end tonight at 11:59 p.m. PT
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Tech
Today is the last day to apply to speak at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026
TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 returns October 13–15 to Moscone West in San Francisco — and applications to speak are open for just a few more hours.
We’re inviting founders, investors, operators, and technology experts to apply for a chance to take the stage at one of the most influential tech events of the year.
More than 10,000 startup and VC leaders will gather at Disrupt 2026 to explore what’s next in AI, scaling, fintech, infrastructure, robotics, and the future of innovation.
Applications close tonight at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply now to share your expertise and help shape the conversations defining the tech industry.
Pick your session format
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