Get Ready For Video Ads In Uber And Uber Eats

Uber is the largest player in the cab-hailing and ride-sharing business, and its name is used synonymously with on-demand ride-sharing. Its parent company — Uber Technologies Inc. — ended the previous quarter with its highest earnings since being listed as a public company. That may not be enough, as it now eyes a more significant revenue with video ads inside its apps.

Uber Technologies will be utilizing real estate to serve video ads inside its apps, including the eponymous ride-hailing app, food delivery app Uber Eats, and the alcohol delivery app Drizly, according to The Wall Street Journal. Users will see video ads in the ride-sharing app when they are waiting to be picked up or during their commute. Likewise, video ads inside Uber Eats will be displayed after the users place their food orders and wait for them to arrive, while Drizly will get ads in the search results inside the app, and on different parts of the website.

Additionally, Uber is also looking to utilize customer-facing screens inside its cabs to run these ads. The company will also initiate a drive to install these screens inside the cars on a "city-by-city basis," as per Uber's ad division's chief Mark Grether.

Uber has been dabbling with ads inside Uber Eats since 2019, and started testing ads inside the primary Uber app since October 2022, when it launched "Journey Ads" — its advertising arm to tap into the potential business of selling ad space inside the apps and the cabs. The company launched its ad service with 40 prominent brands last year, and now has more than 345,000 businesses buying ads across different platforms.

These new video ads can reportedly run up to 90 seconds, and will rely on your Uber Eats and Drizly order history. Meanwhile, the ride-sharing app could use your destination to serve relevant ads. Grether told WSJ that Uber is now looking to merge advertising streams across the three services, as the company eyes a total ad revenue of $1 billion by 2024. Uber also mentioned these ads would initially be on a per-ride basis, where you are likely to see ads from a single brand during one ride for the apps, while the in-car screens will show multiple ads.

Uber remarks it reserves users' information to itself and doesn't share it with advertisers, but this may still raise concerns. While users can opt out of sharing private demographic data about things like gender, they will not have the option to shut ads out completely. Video ads inside Uber apps are set to go live in the U.S. this week, and will expand to Australia, France, and the U.K. later this year.