The new format is the first under Uber’s unified ad division and comes in the wake of a series of incremental steps the company has taken to build out its ads business over the last few years.
In 2020, Uber launched an out-of-home ad division with Adomni, a programmatic advertising platform, and expanded its OOH ads on top of New York taxis. In August 2021, the rideshare company launched display ads in its core app, and that September it hired Grether, the former Sizmek CEO and Amazon executive. Uber this August partnered with e-commerce company Rokt to target users as they are checking out in the Uber app. Around the same time, Uber rival Lyft announced its own ad business.
Uber’s ad options now include sponsored listings and in-menu ads across Uber Eats, sponsored emails for exclusive offers and cartop ads, which are similar to ads that run on top of New York City taxis. Uber is also planning to test in-car tablets—also similar to what you would see in an NYC taxi—in Los Angeles and San Francisco next month.
