![Screen Time: John Herrman](https://cdn.magzter.com/1373332177/1693004062/articles/gejwKD1wq1693216017707/SCREEN-TIME-JOHN-HERRMAN.jpg)
LYFT, THE OTHER ride-hailing service, announced a new feature for its app a few weeks ago: commercials. Riders would soon “see ads on their ETA screen, when they match with a driver, and during their trip,” the company said. Its “captive audience” checks their phones “nearly nine times on average” during a ride. Nine unmonetized glances: a grave error, now corrected.
Recasting the process of booking and riding in a car as an advertising opportunity wasn’t Lyft’s idea: Taxi TV beat it to the punch by at least 15 years. More recently, Uber launched its own in-app advertising feature, based on the fact that it commands “two minutes” of rider attention per ride—generating over $650 million in revenue in the second quarter of 2023 and edging the company into its first reported profit. The choice was clear to Lyft, which lost more than $100 million over that period and has never been shy about borrowing from its older competitor.
Your attention is being sold with consent you didn’t so much grant as exhaustedly relinquish.
Uber and Lyft were built to sell transportation to customers. Now, they sell advertisers access to their customers. It’s not a pivot, exactly—while Uber might not have reported a profit without its ad business, it represents a small fraction of the company’s $9.2 billion in reported revenue for the quarter—but it’s an increasingly common move across the stumbling tech industry. Remonetizing captive, paying users with ads can turn a high-revenue, low-margin business into a money-printing machine.
Denne historien er fra August 28 - September 10, 2023-utgaven av New York magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra August 28 - September 10, 2023-utgaven av New York magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
![Blindsided by Breast Cancer](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/3858/1764229/1N0Ed6b0s1721044817332/crp_BLINDSIDED-BY-BREAST-CANCER.jpg)
Blindsided by Breast Cancer
When a mammogram hides a deadly truth.
![Surviving Sweating Season.](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/3858/1764229/mdVMxDjyL1721049197076/SURVIVING-SWEATING-SEASON.jpg)
Surviving Sweating Season.
ON THE OCCASION of this horrifically hot summer, we brought together a particularly sweaty crew of Strategist writers to talk about how they are dealing with the dampness.
![Hip-hop Buddy Comedy](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/3858/1764229/a5w0ublVF1721049026878/HIPHOP-BUDDY-COMEDY.jpg)
Hip-hop Buddy Comedy
An uneven album as astounding as it is annoying.
![The Bear Trap](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/3858/1764229/EL5Vnm3v_1721048889592/THE-BEAR-TRAP.jpg)
The Bear Trap
A season that just can't move forward-like its protagonist.
![Living for the Stage](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/3858/1764229/tbpS0Cl1I1721048733643/LIVING-FOR-THE-STAGE.jpg)
Living for the Stage
The spotlight for Colman Domingo is moving, but it should shine more on his co-stars.
![Glen Powell's Charm Offensive Is Working](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/3858/1764229/-nDSgW9fo1721048188673/GLEN-POWELLS-CHARM-OFFENSIVE-IS-WORKING.jpg)
Glen Powell's Charm Offensive Is Working
He may never transcend Cruise or McConaughey’s level of stardom, but he gets how to play the long game.
![Lev Grossman Takes His Time](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/3858/1764229/Y05oyVNyd1721047939226/LEV-GROSSMAN-TAKES-HIS-TIME.jpg)
Lev Grossman Takes His Time
The best-selling author of The Magicians trilogy is back with his first book for adults in ten years, The Bright Sword. All it took to finish was a transpacific move.
![Going Derry Free](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/3858/1764229/luHfYnuQP1721047607907/GOING-DERRY-FREE.jpg)
Going Derry Free
Saoirse-Monica Jackson on life after Derry Girls and her role in a new Netflix comedy series.
![Here Comes Din Tai Fung, Finally](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/3858/1764229/evaYkh75S1721047500689/HERE-COMES-DIN-TAI-FUNG-FINALLY.jpg)
Here Comes Din Tai Fung, Finally
Some famous soup dumplings arrive on Broadway.
![THE BEST RESTAURANTS OF 2024-SO FAR](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/3858/1764229/4rYFpZF-P1721047060265/THE-BEST-RESTAURANTS-OF-2024SO-FAR.jpg)
THE BEST RESTAURANTS OF 2024-SO FAR
SIX MONTHS INTO THE YEAR, Some stocktaking is in order. Our restaurant critic and \"Underground Gourmet\" columnist have each gone back through their Notes apps and blurry, surreptitiously snapped reference photos to see how the city's newest restaurants are shaping up. These are the eight spots they've loved most up to now.