Code uncovered in iOS 27 reveals Apple may be considering including sponsored search results in Visual Intelligence, reports MacRumors.
MacRumors‘ Aaron Perris discovered the code, and said in a post on X that the code indicates Apple may be working on allowing search providers to insert their own sponsored results into Visual Intelligence, rather than Apple selling the ad space itself.
Code in iOS 27 indicates that Apple may be working on supporting ads from search providers inside Visual Intelligence.
This would not be Apple selling the ads, but more so allowing sponsored images like you see in Amazon or Google listings. Unclear if Apple would take a cut.
— Aaron (@aaronp613) September 10, 2026
He compared it to the sadly-familiar sponsored product listings we see plenty of on Amazon and Google. Perris said it’s not clear whether Apple would wet its beak from the ad revenue.
The feature would allow third party search providers to insert items like as sponsored product images alongside the organic results Visual Intelligence already supplies from when a user points their camera at an item to shop for it.
Apple has been looking for new revenue streams from its Services category, and had been steadily expanding its advertising business across the App Store and Maps. The company began showing additional sponsored slots in App Store search results in March, and ads began appearing in Apple Maps in the United States and Canada in August.
Visual Intelligence allows owners to use the camera to learn more information about the world around them. The feature can also read text aloud, translate text, summarize text, perform Google searches for items, and more. It already routes shopping queries to services like Google Image Search and retailers such as Etsy, Amazon, and Anthropologie, so any new ad supported results from those partners would simply be building on functionality that already exists in iOS 27.
