Advertisers are always looking for new ways to get their logos in your face and it seems that one of the next major frontiers is through mapping software, both in terms of handhelds and looking up locations on your home computer. Relevantis has created what they believe to be the first advertising platform supporting paid icons for interactive maps and navigation systems.

In this way, instead of seeing a simple icon representing a nearby restaurant, your map will actually display the golden arches of McDonald’s. Furthermore, if you were to click on this icon, you may be presented with the opportunity to print out a coupon for use at this particular establishment. Other deals could easily be forged with companies like Starbucks, Shell, Pizza Hut, Hertz, and so on.

The payment model can be adjusted for individual applications, but an advertiser would generally pay each time their icon is display, each time it is clicked, or each time a user prints out one of the provided coupons. The map publisher, in turn, would get a cut of this advertising revenue.