Could advertising make Uber & Lyft free?
It worked with games. There are plenty of free to play games out there so what gives?
Driving back from seeing my family, thinking about the cost to get new tyres for the frequent trips, my mind began to drift.
If a racoon and a beaver got into a fight, who would win?
Well, obviously, that depends on where the fight was. I think a racoon would win if it was land based, but anywhere near the water, or near a tree with subtle teeth marks, a beaver might win out.
After this 20 or so minute fight montage playing through my head with various scenarios (accompanied to the backing music of team Americas f**k yea), a rather large pot hole jolted me back to the present.
Well – could advertising cover the cost of cars?
”You're one... ugly mother - f**ker! (Of a business model)
DutchPlayed by that Austrian guy
In the advertising and broadcast industry, there is a term called AVOD.
It stands for Advertising Video On Demand. (Think the cheap prime video membership that shows ads)
Ive written about how they make money with ads in previous musings.
Could you have a AVOD car service – Advertising Vehicle On demand?
I’m not sure you could. And the reason is because in free to play games, about half (48%) of the revenue they generate isn’t from everyone watching the ads, it’s from the whales.
No, I’m not off on another jaunt into my imagination – It’s an industry term for people who spend real money Via microtransactions.
The reason Whales like to spend is often in order to reduce the manufactured grind of gameplay; buy cosmetics; unlock new game breaking items and buy loot boxes.
There have been many articles written into the predatory, often manipulative practices of these games. They are masters at mimicking casino machines.
I would hate to think how that would translate to an unscrupulous exec launching a new automobile AVOD service.
And I hate myself, so of course Ive thought about it. Here is how I would monetise this;
Perk 1|||
Every 15 minutes, the car will pull over, a screen will fold down, and you will have to watch 3 minutes of ads
If the Eyeball metric-O-Matic sees that you are not looking at the screen, you will be jolted with a bolt of focus energy (12v)
If you continue to look away, a grabber will pop out from the top, and gently angle your face toward the screen.
Perk 2|||
During the journey, you are able to tap your phone/card on the reader to buy Premium “Golden Wheel” currency. This will Give you 100 Golden wheels.
You can then spend these on either:
50 to unlock the windscreen view,
10 per each side window view,
100 for boot access
(All Only valid for one journey).
Alternatively, you can unlock lifetime access to the windows for a one-off cash payment.
Perk 3|||
Top speed on motorways would be limited – unless you bought a “Travel Boost” – available for 10 minutes.
This is unlockable for Golden Wheels, OR you can complete 4x questionnaires that brands have commissioned.
Perk 4|||
When the car pulls over and needs charging, the charging is limited to 50% speed, unless you use a special “Charge Boost”
Unlocked the same as the “Travel Boost”.
If you want to unlock the ultimate pack, which includes unlimited window & boot access and 10 Charge and Travel Boosts – you can pay a single fee of £10,000 / $13,333 / €11,700
Perk 5|||
We also reserve the right to sell your data
(Translation: We will sell your data to anyone for any price)
Summary?
Even with these rather shrewd – and frankly unnoticeable – additions, I still don’t think it will work.
Many people pay to avoid intrusive advertising that ruins an experience.
Even an experience like driving.
Take the rise of Netflix as a -prime- example (Ha). Speaking of which, Amazon Prime have an ad-free tier.
Even YouTube has an ad free version.
Perhaps even Golden Wheels could benefit from an ad-free version?
….Oh, that’s actually just an Uber Lyft, isn’t it?
Shameless Plug:
It’s why I co-founded adStripe.ai
We focus on highly effective and non-intrusive ad formats.
Ads shouldn’t compromise content.
