Lyft is getting serious about advertising

Because advertisers just love a hostage captive audience, more ads are coming to Lyft.

Announced yesterday, the ride-sharing company has created Lyft Media, a new division that’ll expand its advertising offerings.

So far, inventory includes rooftop ads (because nothing is really new), in-car tablets, out-of-home display panels alongside bikeshare stations in cities like New York, and in-app display ads.

It also offers previously available features like Lyft Skins, which turn the miniature Lyft cars found within the app into Vita Coco coconuts, Cardi B, and even the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile.

• The ad business will target based on time and location and won’t rely on personal data for targeting “at this time,” Lyft spokesperson Katie Kim told Marketing Brew in an email. Currently, its rooftop screens can be bought programmatically.
• Lyft declined to comment on ad-revenue expectations, however, a “portion of revenue from the display and tablet ads” will go to drivers, according to the Wall Street Journal (though it declined to say how much).

Zoom out: Uber, Lyft’s largest competitor, has sold advertising since 2019, both in-app and atop driver vehicles. Earlier this year, the company’s general manager of its advertising business said it hoped to hit $1 billion in ad revenue by 2024.

Because if you could, why wouldn’t you?

Related, unrelated: If you’re curious why anyone would ever cover their car in an advertisement, read on here.—RB