Too insignificant: Apple Maps and Apple Ads not gatekeepers in the EU
For Apple's map service and advertising platform, stricter competition rules will not apply in the EU – at least for now.
(Image: Sebastian Trepesch / heise medien)
Apple Maps and Apple Ads are not gatekeepers. The EU Commission announced this on Thursday following an examination. Consequently, the two Apple services will not fall under the stricter competition rules of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in the future. Neither Apple Maps nor Apple Ads are "important access points for business users to reach end customers," the competition authorities explained, referring to "comparatively low usage" of Apple Maps in the EU and the "limited size" of Apple's advertising platform.
Regulators to monitor market development
Should significant changes occur with Apple Maps and Apple Ads, the regulators intend to "continue to monitor market developments." The existing gatekeeper classification of Apple's other platform services (iOS, iPadOS, App Store, and Safari) remains unchanged, as the Commission notes. Observers have been speculating for some time that Apple plans to display advertising banners in its map service via its Ads platform in the future. An expansion of App Store advertising slots is already specifically planned for March.
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According to Apple, the usage of Apple Maps and Apple Ads exceeded the thresholds set by the Digital Markets Act towards the end of last year. These are 45 million monthly active end users and/or 10,000 annual business users within the EU member states. At the time, Apple also appealed against a gatekeeper classification: both products would only have limited usage compared to the competition – the Commission has now followed this. With a similar justification, Apple's messaging service iMessage also escaped the stricter competition and interoperability rules some time ago.
Apple must further open iOS in the EU
Apple is currently further opening up the iPhone operating system under pressure from the EU Commission: iOS 26.3 provides the basis for better data transfer to Android and apparently also creates the foundation for delivering messages on another smartwatch in full. In addition, Bluetooth devices should be able to be paired just as easily as AirPods in the future.
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