Everyone hates ads, but they are the price we pay for all the free apps out there. However, it’s one thing to watch them when you are using a free app, and it’s a whole other story to be bombarded with ads through push notifications even when you are not actually using your phone.
Recently, Uber launched a new advertising division and is now displaying banners in its app. However, it appears that the company is also currently testing a way to advertise various things through push notifications, which is something it didn’t even mention when it announced its decision to put ads in its app.
In recent days, many users shared on Twitter that the Uber app has started sending them push notifications for ads of other companies. This would be somewhat ok if users were using the app at this time; however, it appears that Uber was sending them these notifications when they weren’t.
Thankfully, Uber said that these push notifications were part of a limited test, and users can always set their notification preferences in the app’s settings. However, the company needs to specify how many people have been included in the test, how long it will last, and whether it would decide to make push notification ads a permanent experience.
At the moment, Uber is using the so-called “journey ads,” which advertise one single brand throughout a user’s travel. Usually, users see an ad while waiting for their ordered car to arrive, while traveling, and when they reach the designated destination. Advertisers personalize ads to users based on their travel history. Currently, there is no information on whether Uber used the same data to choose what ads to display as push notifications.