Apple now has public place pages — but what exactly are they for?

Apple is apparently now publishing public place pages for selected landmarks, according to a post on 9to5Mac. Below is an example (via Allan Miller):

If you’ve got the latest MacOS update “Sierra” installed you can access these pages from the Safari toolbar. On “El Capitan” a smaller drop-down page without a URL shows up for similar kinds of queries.

In all likelihood these URLs, which Andrew Shotland identified as “Apple Maps ID + Lat/Long + Name,” are intended for sharing, especially with users of non-Apple devices and platforms. They may also be for indexing on Google and Bing.

Presumably these pages can and ultimately will be indexed. Currently they don’t show up in search results. Shotland said today in the Local Search Workshop in advance of SMX East that he thought these pages could rank well if they were indexed.

The story in 9to5Mac characterized the pages as being for “landmarks and some points of interest.” In my mind it makes limited sense that Apple would selectively create these pages for landmarks but not for businesses.

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