Uber tests showing ads for other companies in push notifications for its iOS app
Uber recently launched its new advertising division and in-app ads. Apparently, those ads aren't staying within the app. — Instead, ads from other companies are being sent out as push notifications, much to the chagrin of some Uber users.
Context & Ripple Effects
Two weeks after Uber unveiled a global advertising unit targeting $1B in annual gross ad bookings by 2024 — spanning in-app placements and even ads on top of cars ($1B ad unit launch) — it is now pushing that inventory past the app's boundaries entirely: third-party ads delivered as iOS push notifications. The move extends a playbook Uber started in 2019, when it began selling ads to restaurants inside Uber Eats to lift delivery orders (restaurant ads in Uber Eats).
First-order effects
- Uber users on iOS are receiving ads for other companies as push notifications, and Uber's response is to point them at the app's mobile notification settings rather than pull the test back.
Second-order effects
- Rivals are following the same monetization logic on their own surfaces: Lyft began serving riders in-app ads during waits, matches, and trips with video planned (Lyft's in-app ads), and Uber, Lyft, Instacart, and DoorDash are all testing high-margin ad formats including personalized content and movie trailers (delivery and ride-hail ad tests).
Third-order effects
- If every owned touchpoint — app screens, car tops, and now the lock screen — becomes sellable inventory, ride-hail and delivery platforms shift toward a media-business model where revenue per active device matters as much as per-trip economics, with user opt-outs as the binding constraint.
The trend: Ride-hail and delivery platforms are converting their entire customer communication stack into advertising inventory, pushing monetization from inside the app out to system-level channels like push notifications.