Apple Maps, The New #2 In Local Search?

Thanks to a great report from the folks at Map Labs, we now have strong data confirming who is in the #2 spot after Google in local search. Every car detailing and window tint shop is hyper-focused on Google, and many ignore the other search engines—providing an opportunity for you to rank #1 on secondary search engines.

But which one is truly in the 2nd spot? Yelp used to hold that position, but as we will see in this report summary, Apple may have displaced them and may even start to gain some ground on the mighty king Google.

The report's findings should not be brushed aside since it is based on a mountain of data collected over 6 months via 100 businesses.

The New Apple Business Connect In A Nutshell

The 2012 release of Apple Maps is considered one of the biggest product launch failures by a major tech company and is often used as a point of reference for other failed launches. Being compared to "Apple Maps bad" is a clear indication that there has been a severe mistake in your product launch.

In 2014, Apple launched "Maps Connect" to improve the accuracy of the information on its Maps. Through this platform, businesses could claim their profiles and update the database to enhance the details provided by Apple Maps. Apple Maps used reviews and images from other websites, such as Yelp, to fill in the rest of its profiles.

Apple announced its updated platform, Business Connect, in January 2023. The new platform is an improvement from the previous Maps Connect platform and comes with new tools such as Showcase Posts, Call To Actions, Analytics, Native Reviews, and Photos & Logos.

Until this update with the Analytics report, it was difficult to quantify the potential user base that businesses could reach through Apple Maps, which has millions of users across the U.S.

The Battle of Giants: Apple VS. Google and Yelp

Apple VS. Google

Map Labs findings show that Google is still the king, by generating 24X more views, 9x more calls, and 10x more website visits.

Apple VS. Yelp

Now onto the good stuff: does Yelp still hold its #2 spot from the early 2010s? The report's findings are clear: Apple is by a large margin the second-largest local search engine in the USA, with close to four times more phone calls and 1.6 times more website visits.

Results against Bing Places are even starker with 223 more calls and 145 times more website visits!

What Opportunity Does This Present To You?

Until this year, no shops could see how many calls, views, and website visitors Apple Maps generated. Because of that, many ignored investing time and resources in optimizing their Apple profiles, and many will be slow to adapt.

This opens up an opportunity for you to focus more energy on Apple Maps, now that we know there is value to be captured by holding a top-ranking spot on Apple. It can also help you to reorganize your resources away from Yelp and towards Apple Maps, as it is less crowded and holds more active potential customers.

Alternatively, you can let our Local SEO experts rank your Apple Business Connect Profile for you; meanwhile, you could focus on selling more tint, details, or paint protection!