by andrew_null on 3/30/15, 5:01 PM with 50 comments
by ayushgta on 3/30/15, 5:25 PM
by jjulius on 3/30/15, 5:34 PM
by Karunamon on 3/30/15, 5:33 PM
How would you ad-support a full ride, anyways? A ~$20 CPI is pretty insane.
by pbreit on 3/30/15, 6:46 PM
by prawn on 3/30/15, 10:09 PM
by krschultz on 3/30/15, 9:34 PM
* There is a price war going on and some of the providers are losing money. In the short term this will continue, but long term it will correct itself.
* I believe the regulations on company -> contractors a la Uber will increase and that will cost Uber more per ride.
* Even if you think the drivers will be replaced with self driving cars, those cars will be more expensive than present day cars.
I don't think any of that is a problem for Uber as a business charging money. I do think it precludes ad-supported rides.
by m52go on 3/30/15, 5:20 PM
What? Why?
------------------
While we're at it, why not post ads along the sides of houses and apartment buildings in the Bay Area to reduce housing costs?
Maybe if we make the ads small enough, we could fit enough ads on a single surface to make rent free!!!
/sarc
by kak9 on 3/30/15, 5:46 PM
by mbesto on 3/30/15, 11:03 PM
> For example, targeting travelers who are arriving from the airport, to target them with highly personalized hotel/tour offers. Or targeting hardcore movie or concert-goers for their next night out.
This is the basic premise of the OP's advertising argument. Does anyone book hotel or conferences ad hoc? Anything that is "event" based selling opportunity is a no go, because most event organizers want high up front guarantees of attendees (due to high fixed costs) and usually sell last minute excess at very low margins, so paying a converted CPM at $20 (or heck even $10) is most likely going to bring a negative return.
by WhitneyLand on 3/30/15, 8:45 PM
The fallacy is that these apply to everything or that it seems easier to apply than it actually is.
In the case of free Uber, the most I can stretch is to imagine it's possible when the targeting gets so good that a lead is very valuable (weren't cancer class action click throughs going for $200 at one point?). Or as part of some partnership with another company such that other economics are at work besides watch ad = ride free.
So not only is it not inevitable, it would require some pretty special conditions.
by dotcoma on 3/30/15, 7:14 PM
by sebastialonso on 3/31/15, 1:40 AM
Money or any monetary transactions plays two roles in these kind of business. The unrecognized one is that it plays the role of guarantee (ideally, but in reality is something like 'more or less'). What guarantee do I have as a driver or as a client if I use an ad-supported billing system, which we all know is next to crap? This is a really poorly-thought idea. Uber's strength is in the elegance of its business model.
by yellowapple on 3/30/15, 7:11 PM
Also, is there a way to make these companies just pay me to look at their ads? It'd cut out the middlemen, and seeing how many ads I'd probably be confronted with on a daily basis without things like AdBlock Plus, I could probably turn it into a career if the figures in this article are accurate.
by BIair on 3/30/15, 10:22 PM
by nijiko on 3/30/15, 5:50 PM
The real annoyance is surge pricing.
by brianbreslin on 3/30/15, 9:56 PM
Also the install driven ad market has its limits. These are all funded by startups buying customers with their VC money.
by bgnm2000 on 3/30/15, 5:40 PM
by niche on 3/30/15, 8:57 PM
by codazoda on 3/30/15, 8:53 PM
by xb on 3/30/15, 8:04 PM
by pjc50 on 3/30/15, 8:51 PM
by ghobs91 on 3/31/15, 3:25 AM
by aslewofmice on 3/30/15, 5:42 PM
by mitul_45 on 3/30/15, 10:21 PM
by igammarays on 3/30/15, 5:14 PM