Uber will begin selling customer data to marketers, according to a report by Business Insider. The company’s ad division just launched a new insights platform called Uber Intelligence that’s tasked with hoovering up and selling trip and delivery data.
The data will technically be anonymous, via the use of a platform called LiveRamp. This will “let advertisers securely combine their customer data with Uber’s to help surface insights about their audiences, based on what they eat and where they travel.”
Basically, it’ll provide a broad view of local consumer trends based on collected data. Uber gives an example of a hotel brand using the technology to identify which restaurants or venues to partner with according to rideshare information.
The company also says it’s planning on using this tech to directly advertise to consumers, saying it could be used to identify customers who are “heavy business travelers” and then plague them with ads in the app or in vehicles during their next trip to the airport. Fun times.
“That seamlessness is why we’re so excited,” Edwin Wong, global head of measurement at Uber Advertising, told Business Insider. Uber has stated that its ad business is already on track to generate $1.5 billion in revenue this year, and that’s before implementing these changes.
As for Uber in totality, the company made $44 billion in 2024, which was a jump from $37 billion in 2023. It’s also notorious for raising fares. Uber has raised prices for consumers by around 18 percent each year since 2018, which has outpaced inflation by up to four times in some markets.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/uber-will-start-selling-trip-and-takeout-data-to-marketers-171011769.html?src=rss
