.
My phone isn't a Google phone, but it's running Android 11. These aren't conventional pop-up ads that open a separate popup window, these are plastered all over the map as text, some with links. Open Google Maps, zoom in a bit, Here's what's plastered all over the UI at various businesses (that have obviously paid Google for the extra info to show up):
----------
"Santa Monica Audi: E-Tron offers"
"Lexus Santa Monica: New Lexus ES inventory"
"Colapasta: Top-rated"
"St. Paul's Lutheran Church: All are welcome at God's table"
"Slovenian Hair Extensions: Russian hair extensions store. Premium Extensions for Pros"
"North Italia: Enjoy the best sips of summer"
"El Pollo Loco: Famous fire-grilled catering"
"Tees Unlimited: Print your own designs"
"Walgreens: Pick up in as little as 30 minutes"
"FIrestone Auto: Coupons available 10% off"
"Modern Core Health & Wellness: Pelvic floor physical therapy"
----------
And as you zoom in trying to see which side street to turn onto in a business district, the UI updates with fresh advertising trash like all of the above examples, making it difficult to see the lines of the actual streets & their names. Google Maps has become a nightmare in terms of a ridiculously cluttered UI, at least on my phone, and there's nothing special about my phone at all, so I assume everyone sees the same crap I'm seeing on their phones.
.
Yes, Google Maps is technically very competent, but as far as user experience on mobile, it's an absolutely annoying POS. From what I understand, Maps is different on desktop, in that supposedly one can turn off the extra advertising layer or whatever. I've never put Google Maps on my Ram's nav screen, because I don't want Google in my underwear sniffing around trying to determine what I ate for dinner last night. That's how invasive Google is, with Maps, email, photos, texts, etc. Combine that invasiveness with the ridiculously cluttered Maps UI for generating revenue for Google, and I'll use anything else except Google Maps if I possibly can. G-Maps is always my last resort, and I use it reluctantly.
.