A coffee detour you never asked for: Google Maps starts pushing ads mid-drive

Android Auto users say Google Maps now interrupts active navigation with sponsored stops, taking over nearly half of the screen mid-drive.

Android Auto users have started complaining about a new type of ad in Google Maps. They say the navigator displays a pop-up card with a promoted place and suggests adding it as a stop on the current route.

The problem isn’t the ad itself, but its format. The card reportedly takes up nearly half of the navigation screen and sometimes appears while the car is already moving. Drivers have to take their eyes off the road to work out whether it’s a new route hint or a sponsored offer, then dismiss the window.

One user described seeing a Dunkin’ Donuts ad on the way to the airport, with Google Maps offering a route to the coffee shop. At that moment, the navigator starts steering you somewhere you never planned to go, and it takes a few seconds to figure out what’s happening.

There’s no confirmation yet that Google has rolled out the format for everyone. Screenshots are scarce: drivers say it’s because they were behind the wheel. Still, several users have reported similar ads over the past week, and not only on Android Auto beta builds.

Ads in Google Maps are nothing new — usually they show up as promoted places in search. But if pop-up suggestions really are appearing on top of active navigation, that’s a whole different level of interference. For a driver, a navigator isn’t a recommendation feed but a safety device. The less it gets in the way of the route, the better.