Uber is planning a global expansion of its advertising division, led by former Amazon executive Mark Grether, as part of plans to create a $1bn business within the next two years.
The move, which will see the ride hailing company offer ad space within its own app, on cars and seats, expands on its current business which consists mainly of ads within its Uber Eats app.
Brands will also be able to send marketing emails to Uber’s 122 million active users globally, or place ads on the homepage of the Uber Eats app.
Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi has said his firm was targeting $1bn in gross ad revenues by 2024, on an annualised basis, insisting its existing ad business achieved sales of $350m in Q2 alone. He said: “Through our advertising division, we can help leading brands grow their relationships with consumers by connecting them at a moment when a customer is uniquely attentive.”
The advertising platform is now live in dozens of countries with plans to expand its international footprint over the next 12 months.
The company said: “Over 40 marquee brands have already partnered with Uber to run Journey Ads including NBCUniversal, Heineken, and United Artists Releasing.”
To display relevant ads, the company’s privacy policy says it will tap data such as “approximate location, trip information and history, usage data, demographic data (which may include inferred gender), and device or user identifiers”.
Uber has tested the ads with users, and claims that “consumers were exposed to the ad content for approximately two minutes, resulting in two to six times the brand-performance lift compared to other benchmarks”.
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