Prime Highlights
- Uber has expanded its advertising business beyond its own platforms through new partnerships with Google and Meta, opening additional channels for brands and advertisers.
- The company also introduced new advertising formats, including sponsored rider offers on the Uber app and premium brand placements on Uber Eats.
Key Facts
- Uber’s advertising division has surpassed $2 billion in annual revenue, emerging as one of the company’s fastest-growing business segments.
- The company generated $52 billion in total revenue last year, highlighting the scale of its platform and advertising reach.
Background
Uber is pushing its advertising business well beyond its own platforms, striking deals with Google and Meta to sell offsite ads and rolling out new formats that give brands deeper access to its rider and food delivery audiences.
The move marks the first time Uber has sold advertising outside its own apps. Until now, the ride-hailing and food delivery giant kept its ad business entirely within its own ecosystem, building it into a $2 billion annual revenue stream before making the leap to external partners.
The Google and Meta partnerships open up new inventory for brands looking to reach Uber’s user base across a wider range of digital surfaces. Uber Advertising will work with both platforms to extend its reach well beyond the Uber and Uber Eats apps.
Alongside the offsite push, Uber introduced new advertising formats within its existing apps. Brands can now offer sponsored discounts directly to riders through the Uber ride-sharing app, creating a performance-driven format that ties promotions to real journeys.
Uber Eats is also getting brand takeover placements, giving advertisers a high-visibility option within the food delivery platform. Kristi Argyilan, global head of Uber Advertising, summed up the business trajectory in direct terms, telling ADWEEK the company is on a tear.
Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi echoed that confidence during a February earnings call, spotlighting advertising as one of Uber’s strongest growth areas.
Uber posted $52 billion in total revenue last year, making advertising a relatively small but rapidly expanding slice of the overall business. The latest moves suggest the company sees significant headroom to grow that share by combining its first-party ride and delivery data with the reach of two of the world’s largest digital advertising platforms.