[jeffasinger]

I think one of the "benefits" of the new version of the maps is that they can more easily customize the output per user.

This means that they can show different businesses to you based on your searches, and possibly some day charge businesses to be "put on the map".

[GauntletWizard]

Sponsored listings and ads in map search are already a thing on mobile. If I search for certain common terms ("Smog Check", for example), some pinpoints are already highlighted differently because they correspond to ads in the search results list.