Maps in iOS 8.3 lets business owners claim POIs, removes select TripAdvisor reviews

Apple Maps was updated as part of Apple's iOS 8.3 release on Wednesday, adding a tweaked "Report a Problem" tool that lets business owners claim marked points of interest in-app, while at the same time removing select TripAdvisor data that started showing up up last week.

With iOS 8.3, released earlier today, small business owners can apply to manage Maps POI data directly in-app via an enhanced Report a Problem pane. The menu option shows up at the bottom of a pop-up window accessible by tapping on POI markers, such as a restaurants, hotels, stores and more.

To claim a POI, Apple Maps users must verify that they do, in fact, own the business in question by answering a series of questions that are later reviewed. Business verification appears to be an offshoot of Maps Connect, a tool introduced by Apple last year to help owners submit new POI listings and claim existing businesses pulled from mapping data aggregation services.

Along with Report a Problem changes, it appears Maps' POI review system is also in flux. Since Maps launched with iOS 6, Yelp has been Apple's sole provider of consumer written reviews and business information, but on Sunday local searches for specific hotels returned user reviews and pictures from TripAdvisor and Booking.com.

As of this writing, a number of POIs that just days ago featured TripAdvisor and Booking.com information have been replaced by Yelp-backed versions, like the example seen above. It is not clear if the non-Yelp listings are evidence of upcoming partnerships or were merely included by mistake, perhaps as residual data from a third-party service.