Apple Plans Sponsored Results in Visual Intelligence, Code Suggests
Code in iOS 27 indicates Apple may let third-party search providers insert sponsored results into Visual Intelligence, the iPhone's camera-based search tool. The move would extend Apple's advertising push beyond the App Store and Maps, though the company has not confirmed the feature.
Bottom line — Visual Intelligence would become Apple's third ad surface, alongside the App Store and Maps, opening a new revenue stream.
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- The code was discovered by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris in the iOS 27 developer beta, per MacRumors.
- Apple would not sell the ad space itself; instead, providers like Google would insert sponsored product images alongside organic results, similar to Amazon and Google listings, according to the code.
- It is unclear whether Apple would take a cut of the ad revenue, MacRumors reported.
- Apple began showing extra sponsored slots in App Store search results in March, and ads went live in Apple Maps in the United States and Canada in August, per MacRumors.
- Visual Intelligence already routes shopping queries to partners like Google Image Search, Amazon, Etsy, and Anthropologie, so sponsored results would build on existing functionality, said iThinkDifferent.
- Apple has not commented publicly on the code, and the feature may never ship or be delayed beyond iOS 27, noted iThinkDifferent.