14 DAY TRIAL // Apple has expanded the reach of its Maps Connect service, a business-centric feature that lets you put your organization on the map, literally. The service now supports new countries and new language options as well.
Released last year with the purpose of enriching its mapping service while also catering to clients’ needs, Apple Maps Connect lets you drop a pin on the world map with your business name on it.
How to put your company on the map
The process of adding your organization to Apple Maps is fairly easy: you just have to agree to the terms of service, name your company, and choose the location of your offices.
Whomever looks you app will see your company displayed on the map. You can choose between various types of businesses.
New countries, new languages
Starting this week, newly supported countries have been added to the roster, namely Canada, France, and Germany. As part of the expansion, French and German tongues are also supported in the Maps Connect interface.
The full list of supported territories is: United States, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, and United Kingdom.
Indoor mapping
In addition to Small Business, there’s a section called Indoor, of which Apple has the following to say.
“Thank you for your interest in Apple's new indoor positioning technology. We have received an overwhelming response on this service and we are prioritizing our efforts to focus on venues with the following attributes.”
The list of characteristics that your firm must meet include being accessible to the general public, having annual visitors in excess of 1 million per year, having complete, accurate, and scaled reference maps, Wi-Fi enabled throughout, and an associated app authorized by the owner of the venue.
Those who track Apple up close will undoubtedly remember that Apple lavished $20 million (€17.61 million) on a company called WifiSLAM in March of 2013. The acquired company specialized in indoor mapping technologies. Apparently, this is one of the ways Apple plans to use their intellectual property.
