Your Next Lyft Journey Will Be Full of Ads

Regular users of Lyft need to prepare themselves for a barrage of ads hitting the ride-hailing service’s app this week.

As The Wall Street Journal reports, Lyft has integrated ads into every stage of the journey. So users will see them when waiting for a ride, when they match with a driver, and during the journey. Relaxing during your ride is going to become even more difficult before the end of the year because Lyft is also planning to introduce video ads and TV screens in vehicles.

It’s hard to believe someone would look at the Lyft app enough to make ads a viable money-making exercise. However, according to the company’s chief business officer, Zach Greenberger, Lyft users check the app an average of nine times per ride. Combine that with detailed (anonymized) user data, and the potential for targeted advertising to generate additional revenue is there.

Lyft isn’t the first to realize the potential for ads in a ride-hailing app. Last year Uber decided it wanted to generate more revenue through its app and setup an advertising division. As well as ads popping up in the app, Uber puts them in sponsored emails, and of course, Uber takes advantage of personal data to ensure accurate ad targeting.

If the ads become too invasive, perhaps it will push more people to invest in their own, ad-free electric vehicle instead.