Apple could explore a way to allow search engines to display sponsored results in Visual Intelligence, according to code discovered in iOS 27.
The find comes from WoozadAaron Perris, who said in an article on
The feature would allow third-party search providers, such as Google, to insert things like sponsored product images alongside the organic results that visual intelligence already returns when a user points their camera at an item to purchase it. That would set it apart from the advertising efforts Apple has run directly in its own apps over the past year.
Apple has continued to expand its advertising activities on the App Store and Maps. The company began showing additional sponsored placements in App Store search results in March, and ads went live on Apple Maps in the United States and Canada last month.
Visual Intelligence already routes shopping queries to services like Google Image Search and retailers like Etsy, Amazon, and Anthropologie, so ad-supported results from these partners would rely on features that already exist in iOS 27.
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