In the immediate wake of all the iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite hubbub, Apple took a step in Yelp’s direction by launching a new service called Apple Maps Connect. Like Yelp, Apple Maps Connect lets people add small business listings to a directory. Unlike Yelp, that entire directory lives inside Apple Maps — for now.
Realistically, Apple’s probably not trying to drink Yelp’s milkshake. As the “Apple Small Business” banner at the top of the sign up page indicates, Apple Maps Connect is geared towards the enterprise crowd and has a lot in common with Google My Business, a listings-based service helps small businesses get found on Google. Both services not only give business owners a quick and convenient way into a directory, but they also give Apple and Google a turnkey advertising tool, should they decide to use it.
If you have a small business and want to be listed on Apple Maps (in all its glory) the process takes about five minutes. I just took it for a spin to set up a semi-fake listing for Gawker Media. Somewhat hilariously, Apple includes categories for broadcast, radio, and print media, but there is no online media option. So I went ahead and listed us as a karaoke bar. If only!
Picture: Apple / Gizmodo