Tech giant Apple is reportedly planning to show search ads in its Maps app on the iPhone starting next year.

In his newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that he believes the engineering work is already underway, reports MacRumors.

"I believe the engineering work is already underway to launch search ads in the Apple Maps app, and we should begin to see it be implemented sometime next year," wrote Gurman, in the subscriber-only version of his "Power On" newsletter.

Ads in the Apple Maps app would not be the traditional banner ads that you see on websites but rather paid search results, the report said.

For example, a fast food chain could pay Apple to appear near the top of the results when a user searches for "burgers" or "fries". Many similar apps already offer search ads, including Google Maps, Waze, and Yelp.

Apple already displays search ads in the App Store, allowing developers to pay to promote their apps to users who search for relevant keywords.

The tech giant is also planning to show ads in the App Store's "Today" tab and a new "You Might Also Like" section at the bottom of app listings, while banner ads are displayed in Apple's News and Stocks apps.

Last week, Gurman said Apple plans to expand its advertising business over time significantly.

In his newsletter, he said that Apple's advertising division is generating about $4 billion in revenue annually and that Apple's advertising chief Todd Teresi wants to increase that figure to at least $10 billion annually over time. (AA/IANS)