Even though we’ve learned to live with advertisements everywhere at this point, I’m quite sure that most of us don’t like them. This time, it seems that Uber wants to make its app worse as the company has been experimenting with push notification ads.
Users complain about ads in the Uber app
As noted by Michelle Grant (via TechCrunch), the Uber app is now sending users unrelated advertisements via push notifications. In one of the examples shown by Grant, Uber sent a notification to promote a two-month free Peloton subscription offer. Unsurprisingly, this has upset many users as they’re now receiving unwanted notifications from the app.
TechCrunch notes that the advertisements come after Uber introduced an advertising division last month. The company confirmed that it was working on a new “in-app ad experience,” but sending push notifications to users while they’re not interacting with Uber is clearly not an in-app experience.
Uber told the report that this was a “limited test” and that users can manage and choose which notifications they want to receive within the Privacy settings of the Uber app. There are no details about the number of users included in this test or how long it will last.
Of course, users can also turn off all notifications from the Uber app, but this also turns off useful notifications like alerts for when the driver is arriving.
With its new in-app ads experience, Uber promotes a single brand during the entire trip. Users will see different ads from that same company while waiting for a car, during the ride, and upon arrival at the destination. Advertisers can customize ads for each user based on their trip history and chosen destination.
Apple has also been pushing ads
It’s not only Uber that has been investing in advertisements. Apple recently announced that it is expanding ad placements in the App Store. However, once the update was rolled out to users, it was widely criticized for promoting questionable gambling and dating apps.
Following many complaints, Apple has suspended ads from these apps indefinitely. But unfortunately, it seems that these types of ads are here to stay, either in Uber or in the App Store.
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments section below.
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