How does the Bullmedia alliance with Uber work?
“We sell advertising through the tablet,” says Kevin Ruiz, director of Bullmedia. The tablet has eight types of different ad formats: from the “Home Banner” that is on the main page and shows a 10-second video; the “banner ad” and “spot” with 10-second ads; to the “brandable spaces”, which are smaller.
All of these are ads paid for by companies and are not personalized with user data. On the other hand, they also have three games: trivia, puzzle, and memory game, as well as a section with TikTok videos. The TikTok videos are a selection from the same entertainment company.
However, users never stop seeing ads and they cannot be skipped or closed. The only way to stop seeing them is to turn off the tablet, whose power button sits unobtrusively on the right side of the screen.
“The little children get excited when they see the tablet,” says Carlos Ramírez, one of the drivers who already has one. According to him, he decided to join this alliance for the extra income that it represents, since it is almost 2,000 pesos a month.
In addition, he also shared that it is a motivator to make more trips, since the greater the number, the greater the income. For example, from 150 to 200 monthly trips the earnings are 800 pesos, while from 251 to 300 are 1,250 pesos and from 401 to 500 trips are 2,000 pesos.
But the naming of the tablet is haphazard and at the invitation of Uber. “Currently this program is available by invitation from Bullmedia to Diamond partners of the platform,” shared the mobility company.
They did not give more details about the selection of drivers for the invitation to participate, but, according to information from Bullmedia, they are often diamond or platinum drivers, who have been using the app for more than four years and with an average rating of 4.97 stars. in order to guarantee a “good service”.
Is the advertising inside the Uber invasive?
Ruiz shared that they have received a positive response from users, since they consider that it gives them “added value” to their trips. On the other hand, from Bullmedia they maintain that it is not invasive advertising because the tablet also has entertainment apps -although you never stop seeing the small ads-.
However, Kiyoshi Tsuru, Founding Partner of TMI Abogado, pointed out that in order not to be considered invasive, the button should be conspicuously placed to allow users to easily turn off the tablet whenever they want.
He also expressed that it is not important for a private transportation service to do this, because “during the journey the user is confined to a reduced space, with no possibility of movement, therefore it is not reasonable to force them to receive images with advertising messages.”
Tsuru makes a distinction between broadcasting services or television, in which the viewer freely chooses to tune in to the signal, under the understanding that this signal contains advertising messages. In the case of Uber, the service that the client hires does not come with advertisements, and it is the user himself who pays for the transportation services.
On the other hand, Luis Mendoza, a philosopher, teacher, and researcher at FES Acatlán and FFyL at UNAM, shared that companies expect that users do not read the terms and conditions of the services of these apps and that, legally, it is not an imposition because the users decided to use the service and they can also turn it off whenever they want.
However, the philosopher considers that these types of initiatives do not improve the user experience because they are proposals made and thought from algorithms and capital, not on the real needs of users.
“I think the last thing women want is to get distracted in the Uber. Sadly, what they want is to be alert. It is a need created by an algorithm, not a real need because in any case, the tablets would have a panic button for any emergency”, she exemplified.
He shared that these types of devices are made so that users do not get bored because for capital, which has to do with the virtual and digital world, “boredom is unproductive. You can’t be bored on your trip. You have to be consuming.”
Tsuru concluded that if the user “is going to be bombarded with advertising, they have the right to be warned that this is paid advertising” and to choose not to see it.
