Apple Maps Now Accepting Data From Small Businesses

As part of an ongoing effort to improve its own Maps service, Apple is now allowing small business owners to submit their own business data through a new service called Maps Connect. In doing so, businesses will make it easier for potential customers to locate them.

Apple has been frantically working to improve Maps since the platform made its debut alongside iOS 6 back in 2012. It was greeted with overwhelming criticism for its inaccuracies and lack of data, forcing Apple to issue an official apology to its customers.

But over the past two years, Maps has gotten a lot better, and crowdsourcing data with programs like Maps Connect — like Google does for its own (vastly more reliable) Google Maps service — will only continue to improve its reliability.

Using Connect, which is currently only available in the U.S., according to SearchEngineLand, small businesses can add and edit their establishments to Apple Maps and update their profiles to add things like websites, Facebook pages, Twitter handles, and Yelp data.

Connect also gives businesses the opportunity to sign up for iBeacon installations, which uses Apple’s indoor tracking technology to interact with iOS devices. However, at this time, Apple is said to be prioritizing businesses that offer free Wi-Fi with over a million views a year.

If you’re a business owner, there’s no good reason not to submit your data to Apple Maps today using Maps Connect.