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Uber wants you to watch ads while you book a taxi and order food
- Uber plans to run video ads inside the Uber app, Uber Eats, and Drizly.
- These ads can be up to 90 seconds long and will be positioned at key waiting spots in the apps and websites.
- They will start appearing for users in the US this week, with the rollout extending to more countries by the end of this year.
Uber gets to take credit for revolutionizing how we use cabs to get around. What was once considered a fairly cumbersome and wildly variable exercise got digitized to become convenient and standardized, with some surge pricing sprinkled on top for flavor. Uber is back with new ideas for refreshing the taxi-booking experience, and it involves watching video ads on its apps.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Uber is bringing full-length video ads to its apps. These ads will come to the primary Uber app, the Uber Eats app, and the Drizly app.
When booking a taxi on the Uber app, users will now have to watch full-length video ads while they wait for their drivers to arrive. These ads will also appear in the app during the trip. If you thought you could escape them, these ads will also appear on tablets installed inside certain Uber cars. These ads can be up to 90 seconds long.
Want to order food through Uber Eats? You will soon have to live with video ads playing after you place your order, and until your food arrives. Drizly, the company’s alcohol sales platform, will run these video ads in search results on the app and the website, and other areas of the website.
Ads aren’t completely new to the company’s apps. Static ads have been displayed on Uber Eats since 2019, in Drizly since 2021, and in the main Uber app since last year. We presume these have worked well for the company to consider dipping into video ads too. A company representative has been quoted in the report to say that they are on track to meet their goal of $1 billion in ad revenue in 2024.
Full-length video ads in Uber apps will debut in the US this week, before expanding to other markets like the UK, France, Australia, and more countries later this year. The report mentions that the company will also install in-car tablets city-by-city in the US.
Uber promises that the company doesn’t share individual users’ data with advertisers, but processes it itself to serve targeted ads. Advertisers get access to aggregated data, according to the report. Users can opt out of receiving ads that draw on behavioral and demographic data such as gender and ride history, but they cannot opt out of advertising altogether.