There is no denying that Google Maps is a great service. It is not ideal for ads to be displayed, usually in the form of sponsored or promotional locations on the map interface. In my experience, I occasionally find something really interesting. That's why I had three chihuahuas on my lap in a cafe in Edinburgh. If you ever meet them in person, you'll hear about it.

What Google Maps doesn't do is display ads while you're driving. Because that is an absolutely horrible idea. Because it could cause you to lose track of where you are going and become a dangerous distraction. Google-owned Waze accomplishes this with location-based ads, but these ads only flash when the car is stopped.

I bring this up because it was recently reported that Google Maps may have started adding ads to your drive, even though Anthony Higman of X claims that they don't put anything in the search bar about gas or food when you drive by. He claims that he saw an ad for Royal Farms. Without knowing this, he would be quite annoyed to suddenly see this ad.

However, according to Google, these promoted pins in navigation are not really new, as officially known. According to Google's AdLiaison account, these ads are designed to "display relevant ads for gas stations, restaurants, and stores along the route. However, "to avoid distracting drivers, these ads do not pop up; they expand only when tapped and disappear after a short period of time."

Essentially, these ads are supposed to be present but delivered in a way that does not distract attention from the road. Higman, however, claims that when the Royal Farms ad popped up on his screen, he was not tapping anything on the screen, he was just driving. Apparently, this was "unexpected behavior" and probably should not have happened.

Those familiar with conspiracy theories may have their own theories as to why this happened, but for now I'm inclined to take Google's word for it. After all, I have been using Google Maps for years and in multiple countries, and never once has the Promote pin shown up this way in the navigation.

Google would love to bombard map users with as many ads as possible, but Hanlon's Razor would apply in this situation. I'm still not sure why Waze has gotten away with this for so long, especially since blocking a key part of the navigation interface when the car is in motion is a very quick way to direct people to a rival platform.

So you won't have to worry about Google Maps interrupting your navigation to see what business or gas station ads are coming your way in the near future. However, if one of these ads pops up, make sure not to panic and try to dismiss it only if it is safe to do so. It should go away soon, and let's hope Google fixes whatever problem is causing these ads soon.