Why should Ola/Uber launch an ad platform?
The other day I was reading about how everytime we login with facebook on any app/site, the app gets a lot of information about us, our interests, likes, friend list, etc. While we are not cognizant of this, the app uses this information to do personalized targeting to us. So, if I have shown interest in a particular place, a travel app can throw me deals for that place. Knowing my friends, an app can show me their reviews at the top. The possibilities are limitless and I believe only the tip of the iceberg has been scratched so far.
On similar lines, the other thought which came to my mind was the amount of data I leave almost everyday with an Ola or an Uber booking that I do. And what are the possibilities/avenues for them to use it and create a win-win ecosystem? For example, an Ola knows I watch a movie every Saturday because I book cab to a particular cinema hall. It knows I go for grocery shopping to Big-Bazaar every alternate weekend. It knows I book an outstation trip every long weekend and generally visit destinations within a 300 km range. It knows the kind of properties I stay in during my holiday, the kind of places I visit for food. My pattern of bookings tells it if I am a deal seeker (do I book share/micro/auto) or a luxury customer (sedans).
Now imagine if an Ola can start making sense of this data and my patterns and provide this information to another app. It can be a great platform for other apps to use my travel patterns and target me. For example, when I am out to a mall, it can market me specific food joints I could visit. When I am in a mall, it can act as a nearby app and push me relevant notifications from offline stores. It can partner with a holiday booking app and recommend me properties based on my previous patterns of outstation stays.
Tripadvisor has integrated with Uber/Ola and I can now book the cab from within the tripadvisor app. The other way round would also be a win-win partnership, wherein when I book an outstation cab with Ola, the signal is sent to Tripadvisor (of course with customer consent) and I get recommendations of places I could cover while in the city. If done right, Ola/Uber’s data powered ad platform can become a much more personalized one than some of the other ad platforms.
Some may argue that the primary objective of Ola is to help the customer make a seamless cab booking and extending beyond that may add to clutter. My counter to that would be it would depend on ‘how’ the product is designed whether the customer gets blocked for the cab booking or if the two things are distinct actions for the customer.
The possibilities are endless..
